Iran Digest Week of March 1st- March 7th
/AIC’s Iran digest project covers the latest developments and news stories published in Iranian and international media outlets. This weekly digest is compiled by associate Samuel Howell. Please note that the news and views expressed in the articles below do not necessarily reflect those of AIC.
US-Iran Relations
Trump says he sent letter to Iran leader to negotiate nuclear deal
U.S. President Donald Trump said he wants to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran and sent a letter to its leadership this week suggesting talks with the Islamic Republic, which the West fears is rapidly nearing the capability to make atomic weapons.
"I said I hope you're going to negotiate, because it's going to be a lot better for Iran," Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Network broadcast on Friday.
Iran has not yet received the letter, Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York said on Friday. There was no immediate response from the foreign ministry in Iran, where it is the weekend, to a request for comment on Trump's remarks.
(Reuters)
U.S. will collapse Iran’s economy by shutting down its oil industry, Treasury secretary says
President Donald Trump’s sanctions against Iran are designed to shut down the country’s oil industry and “collapse its already buckling economy,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday.
The U.S. is deploying sanctions against Iranaggressively for “immediate maximum impact,” Bessent told the Economic Club of New York. Trump’s goal is to slash Iran’s oil exports of 1.5 million barrels per day to a trickle, the Treasury secretary said.
“We are going to shut down Iran’s oil sector and drone manufacturing capabilities,” Bessent said. The administration also intends to cut off Tehran’s access to the international financial system, he said.
(CNBC)
Nuclear Program
Attack On Iran Nuclear Plant Would Leave Gulf Without Water, Qatar PM Warns
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani has warned that an attack on Iran's Gulf coast nuclear facilities would leave countries across the region without water.
In an interview with right-wing United States media personality Tucker Carlson, who is close to US President Donald Trump, the premier said Doha had simulated the effects of an attack,
The sea would be "entirely contaminated" and Qatar would "run out of water in three days", he said.
(Barrons)
Women of Iran
Popular Iranian singer who urged women to go without hijab is lashed over alcohol conviction
Iranian officials have flogged a popular singer who posted a song online urging women to remove their mandatory headscarves over a conviction for possessing and consuming alcohol, his lawyer and authorities said.
Mehdi Yarahi was flogged on Wednesday, his lawyer Zahra Minuei wrote on the social platform X.
Iran’s semi official Fars news agency, quoting an anonymous official, said the sentence was for him drinking and having alcoholic drinks, not his music.
(AP News)
Health
Iran advances health equity by addressing the social determinants of health through primary health care
4 March 2025, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran – To address health inequities, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MoHME) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Office in the Islamic Republic of Iran convened a comprehensive training and consultative workshop on integrating the social determinants of health (SDH) into primary health care (PHC).
Held on 18 February at the National Museum of the History of Medical Sciences in Tehran, the event provided an opportunity for stakeholders to refine their approaches and foster collaborative initiatives to address health inequities across the nation.
Economy
Iran’s economy minister impeached as inflation rises, currency falls
Iran’s economy minister has been impeached after parliament voted to dismiss him amid rising inflation and a falling currency.
Abdolnaser Hemmati was removed from office after 182 of 273 lawmakers voted against him, conservative parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf announced on Sunday, just six months after moderate President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government took office.
In 2015, the Iranian rial was worth 32,000 to the United States dollar, but by the time Pezeshkian took office in July, it had plummeted to about 600,000 to the dollar on the open market.
(Al Jazeera)
OPEC February oil output rises as Iran exports keep flowing
OPEC oil output rose in February, a Reuters survey found, as Iranian exports held strong, despite renewed U.S. attempts to curb the flows, and Nigeria boosted output above its target within the wider OPEC+ group.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 26.74 million barrels per day last month, up 170,000 bpd from January's revised total, the survey showed on Wednesday, with Iran and Nigeria posting the largest gains.
OPEC+, which includes OPEC plus Russia and other allies, is keeping production cuts in place through March due to expectations of limited demand and rising output outside the group.
Environment
Only 17 Asiatic cheetahs remain in Iran, environmental chief warns
Only 17 Asiatic cheetahs remain in the world and all reside within Iran, according to the head of Iran’s Environmental Protection Organization, putting the species to the brink of extinction.
Shina Ansari made the announcement during a memorandum of understanding signing ceremony with the Traffic Police, emphasizing the urgent need for collaborative action.
Ansari highlighted the crucial role of inter-agency cooperation, particularly from the Traffic Police, in safeguarding the remaining cheetah population. She stressed the necessity of enforcing speed limits within cheetah habitats to mitigate the risk of fatal collisions with vehicles.
Regional Politics
Turkey and Iran summon each other's diplomats after Ankara criticizes Iranian support to militias
Iran and Turkey have summoned each other’s diplomats for discussions, officials said Tuesday, after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan criticized Tehran’s policy of supporting militias in Syria and elsewhere.
On Monday, a top aide to Iran’s foreign minister met with the Turkish ambassador to Tehran and emphasized the need to avoid “inappropriate remarks and unrealistic analyses that could lead to disputes and tensions in bilateral relations,” according to an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement.
The Iranian official, Mahmoud Heidari, also told the Turkish ambassador that Muslim countries should focus their efforts on halting Israel’s “crimes and aggressions” in the Palestinian territories and Syria.
(ABC News)
Analysis
Putin's mediation between US and Iran would transform nuclear standoff
By:Clément Therme
Russian President Vladimir Putin's agreement to mediate between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program adds new layers of complexity to an issue which already threatened to add a new war front to a conflict spanning Eurasia.
Moscow's entrance onto the scene either flips an Iranian ally against its nuclear ambitions or provides a spoiler which drags out talks and buys the Islamic Republic a breather from looming Israeli strikes.
The initiative follows a direct request from US President Donald Trump during a phone call on February 12, 2025, with subsequent discussions taking place between top officials from both administrations in Saudi Arabia.
