New Iranian parliament to form presiding board
A new presiding board will be formed today for Iran’s newly elected 11th parliament.
The 290 members of parliament were selected in recent elections that were marked by the lowest voter turnout in decades. The new parliament is dominated by fundamentalist elements with many prominent conservatives openly backing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the overseas operations of its Quds force, particularly in Syria.
Despite Iran’s failure to manage and control the COVID-19 pandemic domestically, it has continued its policy of confrontation with its adversaries, recently passing an anti-Israeli motion and the formation of a virtual embassy in Palestine. The recent shipments of Iranian petrochemicals to Venezuela in violation of US sanctions demonstrate Iran’s willingness to challenge the US close to home. The Islamic Republic can be expected to further increase its influence in the Middle East as well as try to assert authority in regional conflict areas such as Yemen. Iran will likely seek closer cooperation with US rivals such as China, as evidenced by Iran’s explicit support of the One China policy in the wake of the protests in Hong Kong.
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