Iran in April 2021
5th April
The new round of negotiation between Iran and the 4+1 countries (China, Russia, the UK, France, and Germany) started in Vienna. Although Biden announced that the US is ready to back to JCPOA, he has not put it into action. The experts believe that the JCOPA is an influential factor in the upcoming presidential election in July.
11th April
A blackout in the Natanz Nuclear site damaged the new generation of centrifuges (IR9). Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that the blackout was sabotage conducted by Israel. It is almost certain that Israel is not satisfied with the new diplomatic activities in Vienna.
24th April
The third clinical trial phase of Iranian-Cuban (Soberana-02) and Barakat (COVIran Barakat) vaccines started. In this phase, over 20,000 and 50,000 people would be vaccinated by Soberana-02 and COVIran, respectively. The head of the COVIran project said that about 12 million people would be vaccinated by this vaccine by 2021.
25th April
Mostafa Tajzadeh, the former deputy of the Ministry of Interior in the reformist cabinet and political prisoner, would run for the presidency. Tajzadeh spent six years in jail after the 2009 presidential election, which gave rise to the Green Movement across Iran.
26th April
A secret interview with Javad Zarif, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, that revealed by an unknown source, gave birth to serious debates. In this interview, Zarif said that in Iran, always diplomacy has been sacrificed for field or regional activities led by Quds Force in IRGC. The principalists or hardliners considered that as a disrespect to the former Quds Force commander, Qasem Soleimani. Also, Zarif said that the Russians made a great effort to avoid JCOPA or the nuclear deal.
28th April
The government official news agency (IRNA) revealed a table of changes that the head of Parliament (Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf) and his deputies made in the 1400 budget without getting permission from the Parliament. Although IRNA announced that the table was not correct further, almost 100 members of Parliament acknowledged that the presidium of Parliament made some changes to the budget.
Presidential election
Less than two months before the presidential election, potential candidates are using different social online platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Clubhouse. It seems that Clubhouse would be the phenomenon of this election.
Because of the presidential election system in Iran, people still don’t know the candidates. First, candidates should be registered at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (almost 30 or 40 days before the election), then the Guardian Council evaluates their competence for the presidency and publishes a list of qualified candidates. Following that, candidates can start their campaign.
