Iran Crisis Update, January 25, 2023

Kagan January 25, 2023, 6:00 pm ET The Iran Crisis Updates are produced by the Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute with support from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). [...] The protest movement has largely culminated at present, as CTP previously argued, but this culmination does not mean that the anti-regime movement has ended, nor does it mean that the regime has meaningfully addressed the root causes of the movement. [...] The SECC is Iran’s “economic war room” to mitigate sanctions and reach decisions on macroeconomic policies.10 The council approved the Central Bank of Iran’s (CBI) request for increased control over the value of the Iranian rial and inflation rates.11 Iranian media outlets framed the approval as a restoration of the CBI’s authority following the regime‘s decision to limit the bank’s control over c. [...] Tangsiri offered support to the LEC Coast Guard, especially regarding combating the smuggling of goods, fuel, and livestock.15 The specific forms of assistance the IRGC Navy could provide could include surveillance, general training, weapons, drones, and naval infantry, although the readout of the meeting offered no concrete indications about what kind of support Tangsiri and Radan discussed. [...] The group previously hacked and defaced the university’s website on January 20, as CTP previously reported.16 The leaked documents suggested that the regime permitted the university to conduct cryptocurrency mining at various garment factories in unspecified locations within Khorasan Razavi Province, despite ongoing cryptocurrency bans aimed at reducing strain on the Iranian electrical grid.17 CTP.