Iran Focus

London, 18 Jun - Many have been saying that Iran is putting Saudi Arabia in a position where it cannot act. However, this is not true. There are a number of possibilities still open to Saudi Arabia even if Iran does go ahead and block an increase in OPEC's oil production.

Iran is threatening to veto any proposal for more OPEC output and claims that it has the support of Venezuela and Iraq. Both Saudi Arabia and Russia are keen for output to be increased.

OPEC's representative from Iran - Hossein Kazempour Ardebili - said yesterday that if Russia and Saudi Arabia want the production to increase, it must have unanimity.

Iran Focus

London, 7 Jun - The Iranian judiciary will only allow 20 lawyers to represent people charged with crimes relating to national or international security, political and media during the investigative stage of a case, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Earlier this week, the state-run Tasnim News Agency published the names of the 20 lawyers allowed to defend against these charges.

This is less than 0.1% of the 20,000+ lawyers that are registered with the bar association in Tehran, but sadly it’s not strange that Iran is implementing these restrictions.

Iran Focus

London, 14 Jun - There were hopes that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was going to ease up on its control over the Iranian economy. The country’s defence minister had said that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the IRGC to diminish its economic activities.

However, its actions show that this is not the case at all. In fact, looking at its actions, it is safe to say that it is planning to increase its activities.

Iran Focus

London, 5 Jun - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established almost 30 years ago. The FATF’s aim is to set standards for curbing money laundering and terrorist financing and other threats that could affect the international financial system. It is also tasked with promoting legal, operational and regulatory measures in these aims.

The FATF was the topic of a heated discussion in the parliament of Iran last week. On 27th May, there were loud debates among several members.

Iran Focus

London, 14 Jun - An Austrian bank has become the latest company to withdraw from deals with Iran in light of strict US sanctions that are set to be imposed in November.

Oberbank, which signed a deal with Iran in September, announced on Wednesday that it would withdraw from Iran due to the increased risk for European companies.

Oberbank said on its website: "Oberbank has supported numerous clients and their Iran business in the past two years. The threat posed to European companies by U.S. secondary sanctions is forcing us to retreat."

Iran Focus

London, 5 Jun - German Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed that Iran’s malign activities in the Middle East are a pressing concern, particularly for the security of Israel.

During a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Merkel said: “We have the same goal that Iran must never get a nuclear weapon and the difference between us is how to do that… We support Israel’s right to security and have said this to Iran at all times.”

Iran Focus

London, 13 Jun - As the US takes measures to re-impose crippling sanctions on Iran, options to support the Iranian people’s strive for freedom and democracy are being revealed.

For instance, severing all access for Iranian banks to SWIFT, or the Society for the Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication has the potential to exert crippling economic and financial pressure Tehran that would affect the regime’s trade relations and import/export process.

Iran Focus

London, 5 Jun - The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that Iran has no intention of ending its aggressive foreign policies across the Middle East, which involve propping up the Syrian Dictator Bashar Assad and funding the terrorist Hamas in Gaza, or curbing its influence over states like Lebanon, when the Iran-backed Hezbollah have control of the government, and Iraq, where Iran has vast political influence.

In his speech, which was broadcast live on television, Khamenei also encouraged the Arab youth to stand up to US pressure.

Iran Focus

London, 13 Jun - Last week brought news that French carmaker Peugeot-Citroen declared that it will exit the Iranian market within two months.

According to a member of the parliamentary Industries and Mines Commission, Valiyollah Maleki, Japan’s Mazda and South Korea’s Hyundai have also suspended contracts with Iran. Maleki said in an interview on June 12th, “Mazda and Hyundai’s interests in the U.S. market are much more than in Iran, and they will not sacrifice their profit for the sake of Iran.”

Iran Focus

London, 4 Jun - The United States has been cracking down on Iran for several months now. President Donald Trump has vowed to curb the Iran threat and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that the US would be imposing the harshest sanctions in history on Iran.

However, it is not just the United States that is trying to tackle the Iran problem. It is also the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that is showing real efforts to put an end to Iran’s meddling in the Middle East and its illicit financing. The GCC, composed of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, is also cracking down on Hezbollah – Iran’s number one proxy group.

Iran Focus

London, 13 Jun - The actions of Iran are driven by its perception of itself as an underdog and a revolutionary force being held back by the other countries of the Middle East and the world as a whole, which has led to an Iran’s confrontational policy of exporting the Islamic Revolution.

We can see this in the mullahs’ words and actions. For instance, when Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei realised on Monday that Iran would have to accept some nonnuclear sanctions and nuclear limitations, he said that Iranians would not tolerate that.

Iran Focus

London, 3 Jun - On May 8th, US President Trump unilaterally pulled the US out the nuclear deal with Tehran, and announced the return of sanctions for the country. Prior to the deadline set by the US for companies to end operations in Iran, General Electric has made the decision to suspend activities.

A source told AFP, “GE has decided to suspend its activities in Iran ahead of a deadline set by the US authorities for companies to re-impose sanctions on Tehran after the United States withdraws from the Iranian nuclear deal.” The source added that the US industrial group’s decision came in compliance with Washington’s request, which set a deadline of 180 days — until November 4th — for companies to cancel their Iranian contracts.

Iran Focus

London, 13 Jun - The Canadian House of Commons passed a strongly-worded motion condemning Iran on Tuesday, after the Liberal Party sided with their Conservative opposition.

The Conservative motion, which is now supported by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, condemned Iran and called on the Canadian government to “abandon its current plan and immediately cease any and all negotiations or discussions” about restoring diplomatic relations, as well as listing the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity under Canada’s Criminal Code. The terrorist entity listing of the IRGC goes further than the US has at this point.

Iran Focus

London, 1 Jun - The funeral of legendary actor Naser Malek Motiee in Tehran, on May 27, attracted thousands of Iranians, who once again called for regime change out of respect for the banned actor and out of hope that Iran will be free at last.

Malek Motiee, who passed away from kidney failure on Friday, May 25, was a beloved veteran of Iran’s golden age of cinema, but when the mullahs stole power in 1979, they banned him and others that were identified with the era of the Shah’s rule and did not conform to Islamic revolutionary values.

Iran Focus

London, 8 Jun - American officials are currently travelling around the world to encourage other countries to stop their trade with Iran, following the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal last month, according to sources.

The officials from the US State and Treasury Departments, including Andrew Peek, deputy assistant secretary of state with responsibility for Iran and Iraq, have been in Japan and Eastern Europe to urge them to stop doing business with the mullahs in Tehran, as well as asking the European Investment Bank not to invest in firms that do business in Iran.

Iran Focus

London, 1 Jun - The truck drivers’ strike has paralyzed the country, leaving many Iranian cities reeling, and adding to Iran’s ongoing economic woes.

Social media is circulating a video that shows the main highway empty of trucks between the two most important economic centers in the Islamic republic – Tehran, the capital, and Isfahan, the second largest city.

Now grown to include 242 cities in 31 Iranian provinces, the striking truck drivers are joined by van drivers and cab drivers in Kermanshah and Buchan.

Iran Focus

London, 7 Jun - The Gulf States must put pressure on Europe to make the politicians understand that by preserving the nuclear deal with Iran, for whatever benefits they think this will bring, will result in huge losses from the other countries in the region.

Europe – mainly France and Germany – has been trying to save the 2015 nuclear deal ever since Donald Trump withdrew the US from it in May, but in reality they are actually trying to save their numerous trade deals with the country.

Germany’s exports to Iran were worth 2.97 billion Euros in 2017, up from around 2 billion in 2015, while France’s exports tripled to 1.7 billion Euros in the same period. That’s a lot of money to lose, but it’s also dirty money.

Iran Focus

London, 29 May - MSNBC aired their “On Assignment” Program, which was narrated by Richard Engel, on May 25, 2018. Engel made a series of allegations against the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) that have been repeatedly disproven.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), that acts as Iran’s Parliament in Exile, has called out the MSNBC piece by Richard Engel on May 25, 2018, as lacking the minimum standards of journalism as well as objectivity.

The piece appears to be based on assertions of Masoud Khodabandeh, who is reportedly an agent of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) for some 20 years.