By Jubin Katiraie
Iranian political prisoner Soheil Arabi has released an open letter from jail about his hunger strike titled: “Boycotting the state from inside the prison.”
Arabi is a social activist who has been in prison under a seven-year sentence since 2013 and is currently in the prison of Greater Tehran (Fashafouyeh). In his letter, published on June 27, 2019, Arabi described his hunger strike as a “new move and a sanction” against the regime.
By Pooya Stone
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that he would “seriously” consider any request from the US regarding military action in Iran “on its merits”, but stressed that no request has so far been made.
However, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has asked Australia to take part in a new “global coalition” against Iran to help protect key shipping lanes in the Gulf after several acts of aggression by Iran, including multiple tanker attacks and the downing of a US drone.
By Jubin Katiraie
Trade between Iran and Germany has seen a marked decline thanks to US sanctions, according to data from the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).
The data showed that trade between Iran and Germany had dropped 49% in the first four months of 2019, compared with the same period last year, with volumes continuing to decline. Now, the majority of Iranian exports to Germany are pistachios, carpets and a limited amount of steel and fuels.
By Pooya Stone
In the coming days, the US will impose sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, according to an announcement made by US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin this week.
This speech on Monday coincides with the US’s leveraging of sanctions against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and eight senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). These sanctions target individuals that the US says are responsible for Iran’s malign behaviours, including several attacks on oil tankers and the downing of a US drone.
By Jubin Katiraie
The US’s Acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper called on European allies on Thursday to publically condemn Iran’s actions and to join the US-proposed maritime security effort to protect the Strait of Hormuz, following several attacks in the key shipping lane that the US blames on Iran.
By Pooya Stone
Iranian families’ cost for purchasing a collection of basic goods and services has increased by 50% in the past month, state-media announced this week.
Official figures published by the Statistical Center of Iran indicate that inflation has increased again and has continued its growth in recent months, the state-run news agency ISNA reported on June 23.
By Jubin Katiraie
The US sanctions on Iranian oil exports have forced a major purchaser of Iranian crude to buy their oil from Saudi Arabia and the US instead.
Sanjiv Singh, head of the state-run refiner Indian Oil Corporation, said that it was a “collective decision” to end imports from Iran, made with input from the government to ensure the best interests of India. He said India will likely become more even reliant on other countries for its energy needs.
By Pooya Stone
The Iranian government is systematically violating the international bans on torture and other ill-treatment with its targeting of the families of the victims of the 1988 massacre of political prisoners, said Amnesty International on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
Thirty-one years after Iranian authorities secretly forcibly disappeared and executed 30,000 political dissidents, dumping their bodies in unmarked mass graves, the authorities are continuing to torment relatives by not revealing when, how, or why their loved ones were killed and where their remains are buried. The relatives who have fought to find the truth have only been subjected to threats, harassment, intimidation and attacks.
By Jubin Katiraie
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that although he wished to avoid war with Iran, any military confrontation between the two countries would be swift with Iran the obvious loser.
Trump said: “I hope we don’t [go to war], but we’re in a very strong position if something should happen. I’m not talking boots on the ground … I’m just saying if something would happen, it wouldn’t last very long.”
By Pooya Stone
The United States has called on the UN Security Council to take a series of measures to ensure that its sanctions blacklist is enforced as thoroughly and as tightly as possible.
In the letter to the UN Security Council, the United States pointed out that the sanctions blacklist had not been updated for quite some time, meaning that the effect is not as enforced as it could, or should, be. For more than nine years, aliases and other such relevant information have not been included on the list that is distributed to all UN member states.
