By Pooya Stone
Intelligence experts from two different regions in Germany have carried out an investigation into Iran’s activity regarding weapons of mass destruction. The intelligence service of Bavaria, and that of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – two separate states – have both indicated that Iran is indeed actively seeking to be armed with weapons of mass destruction.
By Jubin Katiraie
The repressed population of Iran has found a platform — social media — where their outrage has a voice and they can push back against their tyrannical Mullahs.
The Iranian diaspora has been rallying forces on Twitter and Facebook. A series of demonstrations in Europe and the United States and the upcoming “Free Iran” rally is being organized by the Iranian Opposition.
By Jubin Katiraie
In a controversial move, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed General Hossein Salami as the new commander of the Revolutionary Guards. Just a few weeks previously, he appointed Ebrahim Raeesi, who stands accused of being involved in the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, as chief justice.
London, 02 June – Recent developments in relations between U.S. and Iran in the Middle East are indicatives of a turning point in the outlook of the whole region, as pressure mounts on Iran the question is will the Mullahs ruling Iran change their behavior? Iraqi writer Al-Sarraf believes there are six reasons it will not happen:
“Nothing can change. It is in the nature of the mullahs’ regime, if it stays untouched, to wreak havoc in the region.”
1. Iran is a state of militias and gangs. It expands its foreign influence and interests by establishing and sponsoring militias and gangs in neighboring and far-away countries. This is more than clear anywhere Tehran has influence and a role.
2. Iran is a sectarian state. Its dogma is the spearhead of sectarian strife and conflict in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. It is a dogma that relies on accusing other sects of heresy and criminalizing them. The details of this dogma reveal a brutal nature that is no different from the Islamic State’s brutality and savagery. The Islamic State was the result of a long series of atrocities committed against millions of people in Iraq and Syria for purely sectarian reasons. This is why it duplicated those atrocities.
3. Iran is a corrupt state. Corruption is the nature of the system in Tehran. Militias acting as a state above the state think that they have the right not to be accountable to the law. Billions of dollars are moving outside the official and formal channels. They are part of a system that knows no regulations, a system that depends on connections and relations of a secret nature and on people acting like a mafia. Just as no one knows the budgets allocated to the militias, no one knows what they are doing with the funds because they are above accountability. When one organ of the regime commits a crime, it is impossible to know who did what or who gave the order. That’s how the mafia functions.
4. Iran is terrorizing the region by appearing to be the one that controls terrorism in the region. When the rumble between Washington and Tehran rose, terrorist fingers moved to fire a missile into Baghdad’s Green Zone, sabotage four ships off the Port of Fujairah and burn oil pumping stations in Saudi Arabia. These were messages that terrorism is part of the “jobs” that Tehran does.
5. Iran does not practice terrorism against governments or individuals but against entire social entities, threatening them with destruction. Based on a doctrine that destruction of the society is part of the prospect for the emergence of the “Awaited Mahdi” and that spreading grievances and crimes will hasten this emergence, any place that Tehran’s hands’ touch will become another rotten Iraq.
6. Iran is a state of hatred and grudges, nourished by the worst historical criminal legacy. In 1624, Shah Abbas massacred three-quarters of Baghdad’s population and made its people eat dog cadavers to force them to convert to Shiism. In 1743, Mosul experienced the atrocities of what became known as the “siege by Nader Shah.” In 1775, Basra experienced Karim Khan’s siege, which lasted 13 months, wiping out most of the city’s population.
At the same time, Iran does not mind talking but only on the basis of accepting those doctrines, not just because they are part of its nature but because that’s how it sees itself: arrogant and intractable. The mullahs’ regime has proven that today’s Iran is the extension of a 500-year brutal legacy. It can’t do otherwise.
Washington negotiated with Tehran until they reached the fateful nuclear agreement and, now, US President Donald Trump has given the bottom line: He doesn’t want to change the regime in Iran. What a storm in a teacup!
Source: Arab Weekly
London, 01 June – In line with tightening the grip of suppression over the people to cope with the widespread discontent in the country against the religious fascism ruling Iran an ultra-conservative mullah in Iran has suggested that the state broadcaster should replace female presenters with male anchormen.
Ahmad Alamolhoda, who is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s representative in the northeastern Khorasan Razavi province, is the most vocal ultra-conservative senior religious figure in Iran, who has banned concerts and theater in the province.
The official government IRNA quotes him saying, “In some state broadcasting programs it is possible to use men instead of women presenters. It is not necessarily a must to appoint a woman to be the host of a program.”
Alamolhoda also said that the hijab is a necessity by Sharia law and “unfortunately, sometimes even among outwardly pious families” it is not being properly observed.
Islamic Republic officials and imams face a problem when the weather becomes hot since women are less inclined to cover their heads and face too much. This leads to public condemnations of even young men who wear tight T-shirts with very short sleeves.
Law enforcement and morality police increase their vigilance in summer and often stop and admonish or even try to arrest people who are not fully observing proper attire laws.
London, 31 May – As a result of U.S. sanctions, Iranian crude exports have fallen abruptly in May to around 400,000 barrels per day (BPD), tanker data displayed and two industry sources told Reuters after the United States tautened the screws on Tehran’s main source of income.
The United States reimposed sanctions on Iran in November after pulling out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and six world powers. Aiming to cut Iran’s sales to zero, Washington this month ended sanctions waivers for importers of Iranian oil. Iran has nonetheless sent abroad about 400,000 BPD so far this month, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon and two industry sources who also track the flows, less than half April’s rate. The bulk of the crude is heading to Asia.
The drop in exports has tightened the market, supported prices, and deeply reduced Iran’s revenue. A dearth of information about the exact rate of shipments is a headache for other OPEC members and allies, which are scheduled to meet to set the oil supply policy in June.
“I am expecting exports of about 400,000 BPD,” one of the sources said, which would be an increase from around 250,000 BPD in the first two weeks of the month. The second source said May exports could reach as much as 500,000 BPD.
There is no definitive information on the export rate. Iran has welcomed this opacity and stopped reporting its production figures to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Some of Iran’s oil exports are already under the radar, making it harder to assess the actual volume.
The latest figure for May exports shows more consensus on how much oil is still reaching the market than an estimate published on May 16, in which shipments were put at between 250,000 BPD and 500,000 BPD.
The oil industry has for some years used tanker-tracking to work out actual supplies in the absence of timely official information. While easier than in the past due to satellite information, tanker tracking is not an exact science.
Tankers loading Iranian crude sometimes switch off their AIS signal, an automatic tracking system used on ships, only to switch it back on at a later stage of their journey, according to oil industry sources, making it harder to see actual volumes.
Still, there is general agreement that crude shipments have dropped from at least 2.5 million BPD in April 2018, the month before President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal.
Asharq Al-Awsat 
By Jubin Katiraie
Several years ago, Iran rolled out its Qaher F-313 ‘stealth fighter’ in front of then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Within hours it was met with near universal derision from defense and aerospace experts around the world.
While almost everyone outside Iran saw the project for the farce that it was, Tehran insisted that the project was real and that it was already flying. Further, the Iranian government insisted that the bizarre-looking aircraft—which was allegedly superior to the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—would become operational in the very near future. But since then the project has disappeared. So, whatever happened to Iran’s impressive plans for the Qaher F-313 stealth fighter?
By Pooya Stone
Though the Defense Department announced Friday that just under a thousand American troops would be heading to the Middle East specifically in response to concerns about Iran, they are only meant as a show of force, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Wednesday.
By Jubin Katiraie
According to Bloomberg, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Sigal Mandelker, sent a letter on May 7 warning that Instex, the European SPV to sustain trade with Tehran, and anyone associated with it could be barred from the U.S. financial system if it goes into effect.
By Pooya Stone
A network of fake social media accounts imitated political candidates and journalists to spread messages in support of Iran and against U.S. President Donald Trump around the 2018 congressional elections, cybersecurity firm FireEye said on Tuesday. Some of those who were impersonated included Republican political candidates who contested House races, the firm said.
