Iran Focus
London, 7 Nov – The second round of US economic sanctions against Iran went into effect early this week. Regionally and internationally, it is now clear who defends this dictatorship, whether it is Arabs or foreigners, or left-wing or right-wing groups.
It was expected that the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis and the Iraqi Popular Mobilization have spoken out against these sanctions, they are part of the Khomeini body.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Nov – National security adviser John Bolton said on Monday that US sanctions on Iran have already had an “enormous” effect, driving Iran’s economy into a depression before they even came fully into effect.
Bolton said: “We’ve already seen the consequences in Iran… The rial, the currency, has declined by 70 per cent since the sanctions, inflation has quadrupled. The country is in recession.”
Iran Focus
London, 7 Nov – Iran has convicted at least 24 protesters on vague national security charges, with prison sentences ranging from six months to six years, according to Human Rights Watch. They were charged with “assembly and collusion against national security” and “disrupting public order”, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Nov – Two young woman filed a complaint against Iran’s Morality Police for beating them, because their head covering was deemed ‘insufficient’.
State-run IRNA news agency reported that their attorney, Mohammad Hossein Aghasi, said,“The 9th Branch of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Armed Forces Judiciary Committee overturned the case, arguing that there was not sufficient evidence.”
Aghasi tweeted on November 2nd, that the Armed Forces Judiciary Committee rejected the complaints of the students.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Nov – Khuzestan has played a major role in the history of Iran. It was once regarded as a highly prestigious place with two important ports – Khorramshahr and Abadan. It was not just the people of Iran that held Khuzestan with such high regard – it was the whole of the region.
Even before the oil was exploited there, the province was extremely prosperous. Then came the Abadan refinery – one of the largest in the world. Complete more than a century ago, it was a pivotal part of the country’s history and culture.
Iran Focus
London, 6 Nov – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed during a press conference on Monday that the US will put “relentless” pressure on Iran until it behaves “like a normal country”.
His comments came just hours after the US imposed crippling sanctions against Iran’s oil industry and central bank, with the US Treasury Department reporting that more than 200 individuals and companies in Iran’s shipping and energy sectors, including the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and 50 Iranian banks and their subsidiaries have been hit with sanctions. Pompeo promised that these sanctions will accelerate the rapid decline of Iran’s economy.
Iran Focus
London, 6 Nov – Donald Trump defended on Monday his decision to give waivers to eight countries, including India and China, from the Iran oil sanctions in order to keep global oil prices down.
These ” toughest ever” sanctions on Iran, targeting the country ’s banking and energy sectors, are designed to alter the Iran’s malign behaviour and cut off the flow of money that funds it. Trump vowed earlier this year to get Iran’s oil exports to zero and bring in harsh penalties for countries and companies in Europe, Asia and elsewhere that do not comply.
Iran Focus
London, 6 Nov – U.S. President Donald Trump announced earlier this year that the United States was exiting the nuclear deal and that crippling economic sanctions would be re-imposed. The first batch of sanctions have already taken effect and they have had a major impact on the Iranian economy.
Yesterday, Sunday 4th November, the next batch of sanctions were reinstated by President Trump.
Iran Focus
London, 5 Nov – Iran’s Guardian Council has rejected a bill on joining the UN convention against financing terrorism (CFT), just weeks after it was passed by the Iranian Parliament.
Joining the CFT is one of the requirements for removing Iran from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) blacklist.
Iran Focus
London, 5 Nov – Iranian political prisoner Mohammad Ali (Pirouz) Mansouri has written an open letter to gain the attention of human rights defenders, especially the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, after learning of new charges against him that will extend his prison sentence by another five years.
Mansouri, who has been imprisoned at Rajai Shahr for eleven years, has just been accused of “gathering and conspiring against the government” through his hunger strikes, his support for Mohammad Ali Taheri, and his condemnation of the execution of a Sunni prisoner.
