News Digest: Week of November 4

November 4

Military: Two members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed in a helicopter crash while carrying out an anti-terror operation in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province, where clashes between Iranian armed forces and Baluchi minority rebels had mounted since late- October. The crash was an accident, according to state media.

International: The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency released a statement warning about the continued Iranian threat to the U.S. elections and expectations for influence operations on election day. The report said Iran had conducted “malicious cyber activities” to compromise election integrity, suppress voting, and “stoke violence.” 

 

November 5

International: Russia launched a rocket with 53 satellites including two Iranian satellites for high-resolution imaging and communications. The two satellites were manufactured by private sector companies. Russia has increasingly assisted Iran with satellite launches following repeated rocket failures in Iran. 

 

November 6

Domestic: An Iranian revolutionary court sentenced four people to death on charges of spying for Israel. Three of the defendants were accused of assisting Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, with the 2020 assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Economy: Iran’s currency fell to a record low of 703,000 rial to the dollar after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election. The rial was valued at 32,000 to one dollar in 2015 when Iran had agreed to a landmark nuclear deal with the world’s six major powers.

 

November 8

International: The Department of Justice charged Iranian national Farhad Shakeri and two of his associates for plotting to kill president-elect Donald Trump. The Revolutionary Guards allegedly tasked Shakeri to hire criminal associates to carry out assassinations and surveil targets, including Iranian desidents residign in the United States. The U.S. government said that it believed that Shakeri was living in Iran. Iranian officials called the allegations were “baseless.”

 

November 10

Diplomatic: Saudi army chief of staff Fayyad al Ruwaili met with Iranian army chief of staff General Mohammed Bagheri and other Iranian officials in Tehran to discuss “defense diplomacy” and future bilateral security cooperation through joint naval exercises.