Iran: Politics, Human Rights, and U.S. Policy – Report to the U.S. Congress

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is one of the important research centers that has been publishing articles and analyses by experts for members of Congress and the general public since 1914. The results of research conducted for this center are usually made available to members of Congress and the public through the electronic domain of this office. The center collaborates with reputable researchers who typically have expertise and a history of research and multiple publications on topics of interest to Congress. These reports usually do not have a political stance and merely provide information in a concise manner to members of Congress. Kenneth Katzman is one of the Middle East specialists and Gulf affairs analysts with a long history of collaboration with the government. He has worked with the House Foreign Affairs Committee for over twenty years and, in addition to publishing numerous books and articles, presents his views in many U.S. media outlets. In his latest article published on January 8 of this year, Katzman addresses U.S. policy regarding politics and human rights in Iran. The main article is 41 pages long, and due to its large volume, only excerpts with commentary are presented in this article. The first section provides a history of the regime's structure, stability, and opposition in Iran. Katzman divides the structure of the Iranian regime into two parts: elected and non-elected, with leadership, the Guardian Council, the Expediency Council, and internal and local security organizations falling under the non-elected section. Many believe that the bitterness in U.S.-Iran relations since the emergence of the Islamic Republic of Iran is directly related to the regime's structure. Although elected institutions are provided for in Iran's constitution, that same constitution grants unlimited decision-making authority to the leader (officially titled the Supreme Leader), a lifetime position. According to Katzman, there are severe disagreements between non-elected institutions, especially between those who insist on a religious ideology and those who are more pragmatic. Partly due to the authoritarian power of the clerics and security services, the regime has repeatedly faced periods of turmoil from minorities, intellectuals, students, the poor, women, and affiliates of minority groups in Iran. The author of the report, while providing a biography of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, scrutinizes his policies and believes: "The leader has consistently taken a radical stance on regional issues, especially regarding Israel, calling it a 'cancerous tumor' that must be cut out and destroyed from the region." In March 2014, Khamenei questioned the occurrence of the Holocaust. It is believed that "Khamenei fears direct military confrontation with the United States on Iranian soil and only meets with a few Western leaders. He is suspicious that engagement with the West, especially with the United States, would make Iran vulnerable to Western cultural influence, espionage, and potential attempts at destabilization." According to Katzman, Khamenei, under public pressure, accepted the presidency of Hassan Rouhani in the 2013 elections, who sought engagement with the West; he did not oppose the nuclear agreement (JCPOA) and its approval by the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Guardian Council, but in 2016 accused the United States of not fully implementing the JCPOA and effectively preventing foreign companies from returning to Iran. Khamenei, in his religious fatwa in 2003, prohibited the production of nuclear weapons and called it a "sin." As the leader of the Islamic Republic, he has asked Rouhani and other officials to neutralize international sanctions through "resistance economy." Khamenei has identified the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel as the instigators of the unrest in December 2017 - January 2018. Khamenei's chief of staff is Mohammad Ali Golpayegani, but Mojtaba Khamenei (Khamenei's second son), Hossein Shariatmadari (editor-in-chief of Kayhan newspaper), and Ali Akbar Velayati, former foreign minister of Iran, have significant influence in that regard. Regarding Khamenei's succession, there is currently no consensus on his successor. If such a consensus does not arise, the Assembly of Experts can temporarily select a three-member council until a new leader is elected. Reports indicate Khamenei's interest in the succession of Ebrahim Raisi, who was appointed by Khamenei as the custodian of the Astan Quds Razavi in 2016. Raisi, whose name is mentioned as one of the perpetrators of the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, had no chance in the presidential election (May 2017) and lost despite receiving 38% of the votes. If Raisi had been elected president, his chances of succeeding Khamenei would have increased. However, it is possible that the Assembly of Experts may not consider his failure in the presidential election as a significant factor in his candidacy for leadership. According to Katzman, there is currently no consensus on Khamenei's succession. If such a consensus does not arise, the Assembly of Experts can temporarily select a three-member council until a new leader is elected. Reports indicate Khamenei's interest in the succession of Ebrahim Raisi, who was appointed by Khamenei as the custodian of the Astan Quds Razavi in 2016. Raisi, whose name is mentioned as one of the perpetrators of the mass executions of political prisoners in 1988, had no chance in the presidential election (May 2017) and lost despite receiving 38% of the votes. The former head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Mohammad Shahroudi, who was appointed as the head of the Expediency Council in the summer of 2017, is also mentioned as a potential candidate for Khamenei's succession. Besides him, the names of Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani and hardline cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran, are also on the list of potential successors to Khamenei. The chances of Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi have significantly decreased after he failed to win votes in the 2016 Assembly of Experts elections. The organizational structure of reformists – According to Katzman, reformists seek fundamental and extensive changes regarding issues such as freedom of expression. Katzman provides an account of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the hunger strike of Mehdi Karroubi, and the restrictions imposed on Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, introducing the following groups and political parties as part of the opposition structure within the regime: National Trust Party, Islamic Participation Front, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, Society of Combatant Clergy. However, according to Katzman, the presence of reformists in the demonstrations at the end of 2017 - beginning of 2018 was minimal, and the reformist front was not fundamentally represented as a symbol of the demonstrators' demands. In his view, the unrest at the end of 2017 caused Rouhani to retreat from his positions. "The government's action to temporarily block access to messaging software Telegram and Instagram is seen as a form of repression of the protest movement, which ultimately failed on January 7. Although some reports indicate the possibility of its continuation in certain areas." Human Rights – Katzman reminds us that international criticism of Iran's human rights practices is longstanding. Reports from the State Department and the UN Special Rapporteur (aside from the suppression of political opponents) accuse Iran of various violations, including a high rate of executions and the execution of individuals who committed crimes at a young age, deprivation of fair trial, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, unlawful detentions, and torture of suspects. The U.S. State Department and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran are aware that some laws were revised in 2013 and the "Citizen's Rights Charter" was introduced, and even Rouhani appointed Ms. Shahindokht Molaverdi as his assistant for citizen rights in 2017. However, the latest report by Ms. Asma Jahangir in the summer of 2017 confirmed the existing information or previous reports by the previous rapporteur regarding widespread human rights violations in Iran. (Note: Ms. Jahangir passed away a few days ago due to a heart attack). Iran has consistently refused to grant permission for UN human rights rapporteurs to visit Iran. Iran has an official body called the High Council for Human Rights, which is headed by Mohammad Javad Larijani. However, this body mainly defends the government against external criticisms rather than encouraging the government to improve its human rights practices. Katzman has not overlooked that, according to the Special Rapporteur's reports, Larijani has questioned the effectiveness of the death penalty for drug trafficking. He also notes that in April 2014, the European Parliament, in a resolution, called on EU diplomats to raise Iran's human rights record in official meetings. Human rights in Katzman's report are examined under the following headings: Media Freedom – The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance oversees all activities of journalists reporting from Iran as well as media and communication operations. It blocks websites and reformist-leaning blogs, shuts down publications critical of the government, but some journalists believe the government's tolerance has increased since Rouhani's presidency. Meanwhile, the September 2016 report by the Special Rapporteur indicated the imprisonment of 47 journalists and internet users. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported in December of the same year that only 8 journalists were imprisoned in Iran, while the previous year this figure showed 19. In March 2017, security forces arrested 12 managers of a messaging app used by reformists. Freedom of Religion – There is a "special concern" regarding freedom of religion in Iran, and the country is on the list of countries that have been reported for intolerance and violations of the principle of religious freedom. Merely because Iran has been under multiple sanctions, sanctions against the country for its failure to respect religious freedom have been avoided. The constitution recognizes Ja'fari Shia as the official religion and imposes various restrictions on some non-Shia groups. Executions – Human rights monitoring groups reported 1000 executions in 2015, 500 in 2016, and 250 (up to August) in 2017. Iran is a member of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child and is obligated to refrain from executing individuals who were minors at the time of committing a crime. Iran has not shown compliance with this and has also not been held accountable for the massacre of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 to this day. Human Trafficking – From 2005 to 2017, the U.S. State Department classified Iran at the worst level regarding human trafficking and believes Iran is unwilling to take effective measures to reduce human trafficking. Iranian women, young boys, and girls are trafficked for sexual exploitation in Iran, Pakistan, Gulf countries, and Europe. The State Department report indicates that the government has allocated some centers to assist victims of such operations since 2017. Stoning – Ayatollah Shahroudi, who was the head of the judiciary in 2002, issued a ban on stoning. However, officials later did not comply with this order on the grounds that it was "advisory" and not mandatory, and thus stoning continues to be carried out at the discretion of the judge. Dual Nationals and Iran-U.S. Relations – Katzman provides a detailed account of the history of relations between the two countries over the past forty years, particularly discussing economic pressures and the nuclear agreement in detail. He also refers to the detention of American citizens in Iran and citizens with dual American-Iranian nationality. The report provides a list of various individuals and their cases that have occurred since 2007, including Haleh Esfandiari, Roxana Saberi, Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, as cases before the signing of the nuclear agreement and seven other Iranian-Americans who were released after the signing of the nuclear agreement. The report particularly emphasizes individuals currently in Iranian prisons (Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Siamak and Baqer Namazi, Reza "Robin" Shahin, Karan Vafadari and his wife Afrin Niyasari, Shi Yue Wang) and explains their situation. In addition to the above cases, the unknown fate of Robert Levinson, a former FBI member, is also mentioned. Iran has consistently denied his presence in Iran. Other dual nationals – The report addresses several dual nationals from other countries, including Kamal Foroughi, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (UK), Homa Hoodfar (Canada), Nazak Afshar (France), and the controversies surrounding other dual nationals such as Parviz Tanavoli, Abdolrasool Dari Esfahani, and others, most of whom are accused of espionage and some have been sentenced to long prison terms. It is evident that the issue of dual nationals and the paranoia of Iranian officials regarding their espionage is one of the most important issues overshadowing Iran's relations with other countries, including Europe and the United States. While hardline religious factions control Iranian government institutions, moderates and reformists also actively support the promotion of freedom of expression and international engagement. One of the moderates, Hassan Rouhani, has garnered this support by winning two consecutive presidential elections (2013 and 2017). Additionally, moderate and reformist candidates achieved decisive victories in the municipal elections in Tehran and major cities in Iran. Nevertheless, the political successes of moderate candidates have not been able to address the deep-seated grievances of society, which erupted in protests at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. The U.S. Military Option – The report states that the Obama administration's military response against Iran was postponed until after the signing of the nuclear agreement.