Iran Focus
London, 18 Dec – Ever since the May elections, Lebanon has been unable to form a government, largely thanks to Iran-backed Hezbollah’s attempts to frustrate the process as much as possible, and now Lebanese President Michel Aoun has been forced to intervene, fearing a “catastrophe” if he doesn’t. Political scientist Dr Majid Rafizadeh explained.
Despite all of this, the international community has failed to sufficiently address Iran’s malign interference.
Iran Focus
London, 18 Dec – The President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, has welcomed the United Nations’ adoption of the 65th resolution condemning systematic human rights violations in Iran.
She advised that this move has yet again made clear that the mullahs in Iran fundamentally disregard the most basic rights of the Iranian people in all areas of their lives.
Iran Focus
London, 18 Dec – The Iranian economy will face more crises in 2019, despite Government efforts to paint a rosy picture and what seems on the surface to be a slightly strengthening currency, according to calculations from economy expert Hossein Raqfar.
Raqfar said: “Our equations show Iran’s economy will go bankrupt even with the U.S. dollar trading at 80,000 rials. Huge expenses will be placed on the shoulders of the country’s production lines and families will lose their purchasing powers at unprecedented scales. If rates remain above the 80,000 rial mark, the situation will be even worse.”
By Jubin Katiraie
Across 42 locations on three continents, a conference was held on Saturday where Iranians across the world called for international action against the terrorist activities of the Iranian government, as well as its human rights abuses.
The conference, titled, “Halt mullahs’ government growing human rights violations and export of terrorism,” featured speeches by political dignitaries from several countries, representatives of Iranian communities from across the world, and the Iranian opposition leader, Maryam Rajavi.
Iran Focus
London, 17 Dec – The personal emails of American officials tasked with enforcing the recently reimposed sanctions were targeted by Iranian hackers last month, according to The Associated Press.
London-based cybersecurity group Certfa tracked a hacking group nicknamed Charming Kitten. The AP believes that the group spent the past month trying to break into the private emails of more than a dozen U.S. Treasury high-profile individuals involved in the nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran. Atomic scientists, Iranian civil society figures, and D.C. think tank employees were also allegedly targeted.
Iran Focus
London, 17 Dec – The Iranian Parliament has decided to take money out of the National Development Fund in a closed-door session on Sunday, December 16, according to two members of the parliament.
Alireza Salami, MP for Mahallat, said that the 2019-2020 budget bill shows that Iran has “illegally reduced” the amount of money that will be invested into the strategic fund.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Dec – As America begins its crackdown on those who violate sanctions on Iran, foreign entities should be careful about investing in the Gulf State, according to political scientist Dr Majid Rafizadeh.
When the US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, formally the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and re-imposed primary and secondary sanctions on Iran, many were under the impression that punishments would only apply to American companies or individuals who continued to do business with Iran. The mullahs in Iran spread this is as far as they could, despite warnings by the US, in order to boost foreign investment.
Iran Focus
London, 14 Dec – Last month, Iranian hackers attempted to break into personal emails of American officials tasked with enforcing the recently reimposed sanctions, according to The Associated Press.
Data gathered by London-based cybersecurity group Certfa tracked a hacking group nicknamed Charming Kitten. The AP believes that the group spent the past month trying to break into the private emails of more than a dozen U.S. Treasury officials.
Iran Focus
London, 14 Dec – Niloufar Bayani was a student of biology at McGill university before she was sentenced to jail in Iran. Bayani graduated in 2009 and later worked for the United Nations Environment Programme.
Nearly a year ago, when she went to Iran to do environmental work, the former resident of Montreal and Toronto was arrested and accused of espionage, and has been in Evin prison, outside Tehran, since then.
Iran Focus
London, 13 Dec – More Iranians are living in poverty thanks to a spiralling economic situation and their monthly income not rising to meet inflation, according to the Iranian parliament’s research centre.
The poverty line for a family of four living in Tehran rose to a monthly income of 27 million rials in the second quarter of the Iranian year (June to September), according to the report released by the parliamentary researchers on Tuesday. This is a 22% rise compared with the same quarter in 2017.
