Iran Focus

London, 13 August - On Wednesday, Africa’s multinational mobile telecommunications company, MTN Group, stated that it will meet its 2018 dividend target despite new U.S. sanctions making it harder to repatriate cash from its Iran joint venture.

MTN reported a 7 percent drop in half-year profits on Wednesday. The company has around 3.4 billion rand ($256 million) in accumulated dividends and loans from its joint venture in Iran. MTN’s shares dropped some 8 percent in late trading following the results and its warning on Iran.

Iran Focus

London, 11 August - Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said publically that he thinks current President Hassan Rouhani must leave office.

After days of increased protest by the people of Iran, Ahmadinejad posted a video on his Telegram social media account on Thursday, where he explained that Rouhani is unfit for public office.

He said: “Your continued presence is at the expense of the country.”

Iran Focus

London, 11 August - Most countries try their hardest to avoid war at any cost, knowing the peace talks and compromises are worth the protection that they provide and the lives that they spare. Iran is not most countries.

Ali Reza Farqani, the editor-in-chief of Iran’s Arman newspaper, said recently that Iran “needs a foreign war” and proceeded to threaten the US with pro-Iranian suicide bombers that would hit US military bases in 112 countries. He then repeated the "war is a blessing" slogan that former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini used during the Iran-Iraq war; a war that notably ended when the UN forced Iran into a ceasefire, something that Khomeini likened to drinking poison.

Iran Focus

London, 10 August - The four-star US general in charge of military operations in the Middle East has heavily condemned the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force for his influential role in the majority of Iran’s destabilising activities in the region.

General Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, told reporters on Wednesday that Qasem Soleimani is the "individual who is perpetrating a lot of this destabilizing activity” and called him out for his “aggressive nature”.

Votel said: "Wherever you see Iranian activity, you see Qasem Soleimani, whether it is in Syria, whether it is in Iraq, whether it is in Yemen, he is there and it is the Quds force, the organization which he leads, that I think is the principal threat as we look at this and the principal ones that are stoking this destabilizing activity."

Iran Focus

London, 10 August - A religious school in northern Iran was attacked on Friday, as the popular people’s protest continued to grow in size and scale in Iran.

About 500 protesters attacked the seminary in the province of Alborz by hurling stones at the building, which led to several arrests by the state security forces, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency on Saturday.

Protests rocked major cities across Iran this weekend, including Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad, as the people continue to express their anger at the failing economy and corrupt politicians.

Iran Focus

London, 10 August - On Tuesday, the European commission used to maintain trade with Tehran and convince it to abide by the 2015 nuclear deal despite US withdrawal. In response to US President Trump’s sanctions on Iran, it is using a “blocking statute” that shields EU businesses from the effects of US sanctions and gives any firm hit by them the right to claim compensation.

The commission declared that it “forbids EU persons from complying with those sanctions, unless exceptionally authorized to do so.”

According to Federica Mogherini, EU foreign policy chief, firms “should comply with European legislation rather than with American ones.”

Iran Focus

London, 10 August - On August 6, Donald Trump re-imposed sanctions against Iran, as he had vowed to do when he pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May.

These sanctions, aimed at Iran’s car industry, its trade in gold and its ability to access dollars, will harm the Iranian economy, which is already at breaking point after decades of corruption.

But the other signatories to the 2015 deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for supposed restrictions to its nuclear programme, are throwing up roadblocks to these US sanctions.

Iran Focus

London, 9 August - Experts have warned that the US could face increased cyber attacks from Iran in response to the reimposed US sanctions that came into place on Monday.

Concerns about US cybersecurity and increased threats from Iran have been rising since May, when Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal on Iran and promised the return of harsh economic sanctions.

Priscilla Moriuchi, director of strategic threat development at Recorded Future, a global real-time cyber threat intelligence company, said: “While we have no specific threats, we have seen an increase in chatter related to Iranian threat activity over the past several weeks.”

Iran Focus

London, 9 August - August 6th was the deadline for the first round of U.S. sanctions that target companies who continue to do business in Iran following the U.S. exit from the nuclear deal with Iran.

U.S. President Trump announced that the U.S. would exit the Iran Nuclear Deal, also known as the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) in May 2018. He also issued a National Security Memorandum ordering several government institutions, including the Treasury Department, to prepare the framework for reimposing sanctions on both U.S. and international companies operating in Iran.

Iran Focus

London, 9 August - In the wave of protests sweeping Iran, especially over the past week, Iranian women are having an effective impact. In fact, their influence has been so great that the Revolutionary Guard Corps has been compelled to speak out.

The state-run Fars news agency, allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — which has been designated as a terrorist entity by the United States Department of Treasury — wired two stories on August 5th, 2018, that highlighted the role of Iranian women as the driving force behind the recent protests.

International Youth day falls on August 12th, and since so many young women have taken a role in the Iranian people’s fight for freedom, article by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Women’s Committee takes a look at their source of energy.

Iran Focus

London, 8 August - Abdolfattah Soltani is one of Iran’s most prominent human rights lawyers. He spent most of his legal career defending political prisoners before becoming one himself.

After representing many detainees held on politically motivated charges, this fearless defense attorney has been imprisoned since 2011, serving a 13-year prison sentence for “being awarded the [2009] Nuremberg International Human Rights Award,” “interviewing with media about his clients’ cases,” and “co-founding the Defenders of Human Rights Center.”

Iran Focus

London, 7 August - U.S. President Donald Trump has offered to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani with regards to the situation between the two countries and the current and upcoming sanctions. In May, President Trump announced that the United States was pulling out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He said that sanctions would be reapplied to Iran and that pressure would be ramped up.

The U.S. State Department announced not long later that the United States expects foreign countries to reduce its imports of Iranian oil to zero. At first it said that no waivers would be issued, but after seeing the impact it had on the oil prices, it said that some allowances would be given.

Iran Focus

London, 7 August - The first round of US sanctions on Iran have now snapped back into place and companies that continue to do business with Iran can expect penalties and restrictions on their American enterprises. Here’s a brief explainer about the US sanctions.
Why are the sanctions back?

In May, the US withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which had lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear programme.

Iran Focus

London, 7 August - The people of Iran are deeply concerned about the economic future of Iran. They are suffering from the rising prices that are making the essentials unaffordable to many. The value of the rial – Iran’s national currency – has fallen sharply in the past few weeks.

Reports from inside Iran indicate that the protests are turning violent, with police cars and tyres being burned in the street. There were also reports highlighting that at least one protester has been killed in recent days. Details, however, are very hard to come by as the state media is heavily controlled and prevented from publicising information that shows the government in a negative light.

Iran Focus

London, 7 August - U.S. President Donald Trump announced in May that the United States is formally exiting the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Not long later, the U.S. State Department announced that it expected foreign countries to reduce their imports of Iranian oil to zero. At the time, it said that no waivers would be issued, but after seeing the effect the announcement made on the oil prices, it backtracked and said that some waivers would be considered.

However, it remained adamant that the Trump administration was keeping its hard-line stance against Iran in place.

Iran Focus

London, 7 August - When U.S. President Donald Trump announced in May that the United States was exiting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the 2015 Iran nuclear deal as it is known, he also announced that the crippling sanctions that were lifted as a result of it would be reapplied.

He has been a harsh critic of the nuclear deal and said that he was pulling the United States out of it because it does not fulfil its purpose, rather it guarantees a nuclear arms race in the region.