Iran Threatens to Close the Strait of Hormuz, but Will They Follow Through?

Staff Writer
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Iran Threatens to Close the Strait of Hormuz, but Will They Follow Through?
Iran threatens to close the Strait of Hormuz, but will they follow through?

Iran Focus

London, 23 July – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recently threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf and cut off a large section of the world’s oil supply in retaliation for sanctions levied against them by the US.

Rouhani, often wrongly described as a moderate by the US, was praised for these comments by General Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who is under sanctions from the US, the EU, and the UN.

Soleimani said: “I kiss your hands for these wise statements, and I am at your service to implement any policy that serves the Islamic Republic.”

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Sanctions on Iran Broadcasting

Staff Writer
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Sanctions on Iran Broadcasting
Sanctions on Iran Broadcasting

Iran Focus

London, 22 July – In 2012 as part of the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act, the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), sanctions were imposed that designated IRIB for perpetrating serious human rights abuses and enforced secondary sanctions against any company connected to it. During negotiations for the 2015 nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), those sanctions were waived. This week, President Trump must decide whether the State Department will continue waiving the sanctions.

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How Mullahs Attempt to Discredit the MEK Within Iran

Jubin Katiraie
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How Mullahs Attempt to Discredit the MEK Within Iran
How Mullahs attempt to discredit the MEK within Iran

By Jubin Katiraie

The Mullahs have spent decades trying to discredit the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) within Iran through a series of strange methods, even before they banned the opposition group in the 1980s.

While state-sponsored propaganda usually takes the form of “news” reports and government statements, Iranian government has gone even further than that in their attempts to smear the MEK, including staging anti-MEK propaganda exhibitions at school and even airing network dramas to defame the MEK. Let’s look at some of those now in more detail.

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Iranian Farmers Protest Water Shortages

Staff Writer
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Iranian Farmers Protest Water Shortages
Iranian farmers protest water shortages

Iran Focus

London, 20 July – Farmers in Iran are protesting the government’s failure to deal with the severe drought problem that has left many unable to grow crops to feed the people.

Just outside the city of Varzaneh, farmers have been gathering on a daily basis, next to a dry canal that once irrigated their farms, to plead for help from the mullahs, while holding up signs that read “How long will you eat your bread made with our blood?”.

Protester Mostafa Benvidi said: “We are the people. Help the people. At night they go to bed hungry!”

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Iran Planned Terror Attack in Europe Through Its Embassy

Staff Writer
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Iran Planned Terror Attack in Europe Through Its Embassy
Iran planned terror attack in Europe through its embassy

Iran Focus

London, 20 July – Iran attempted to bomb the rally of their organised resistance in Paris last month, but thankfully, their would-be bombers were caught before they could carry out the brutal attack.

On June 30, an Iran-linked Belgian couple were arrested by Belgian police and found to have explosives and a detonator in their car. Their plan was to attack the opposition rally, organised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), which around 100,000 people were attending.

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Teachers’ Protest in Iran Grows

Staff Writer
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Teachers’ Protest in Iran Grows
Teachers-protest-in-Iran-grows

Iran Focus

London, 19 July – Iranian teachers have launched a protest movement over their low salaries, which has gained momentum in recent days, according to social media reports.

The campaign, which has the slogan “No! to Payslips and Salaries”, was launched by several teachers’ rights activists following an announcement by the Ministry of Education that they would be increasing teachers’ salaries six to ten per cent for the 2018-19 school year, according to local news website Khabar Online.

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Four Ways to Counter Iran and the IRGC

Staff Writer
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Four Ways to Counter Iran and the IRGC
Four ways to counter Iran and the IRGC

Iran Focus

London, 19 July – The Iranian Mullahs’ survival is based on sectarianism and terrorism, which are enshrined in their constitution.

The mullahs use the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to spread sectarianism and terrorism at home and abroad through the use of their different forces. The IRGC’s Basij forces crush dissent among the Iranian people through violence, arbitrary arrests, and threats against family members. Whilst the IRGC’s foreign forces are divided into two parts. First, the Quds Force and the Iranian army, who make up the Iranian-nationality forces. Second, the proxy militias that Iran controls all over the Middle East, from Pakistan to Iraq to Afghanistan.

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Europe Must Close Its Iranian Embassies

Staff Writer
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Europe Must Close Its Iranian Embassies
iranian-embassy

Iran Focus

London, 19 July – European authorities thwarted a bomb plot by Iran on the June 30 Free Iran gathering in Paris, which is organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Assadollah Assadi, the intelligence station chief at the Iranian embassy in Vienna, orchestrated the plot. He commissioned two people of Iranian descent to drive the car filled with explosives towards the gathering, which was attended by over 100,000 people.

Iran has tried to claim that this foiled plot was a “false flag” operation organised by the Iranian Resistance, but a senior US State Department official dismissed this as ridiculous, while the opposition’s intelligence sources inside the government report that this attack was planned months ago and was approved by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani.

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Iran’s Nuclear Bomb May Once Again Be in the Pipeline

Staff Writer
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Iran’s Nuclear Bomb May Once Again Be in the Pipeline
Rouhani-and-Salehi-in-iran-Nuclear-Plant

Iran Focus

London, 19 July – Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said that the country has increased its uranium stockpile and is increasing its to weapons grade. He said that before the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was agreed, Iran had imported 550 tons of uranium.

Its has now reached around 950 tons because it has since acquired another 400 tons.

Furthermore, the head of the nuclear agency said that a new factory has been built. It is apparently capable of producing enough rotors for more than fifty IR-6 centrifuges per day for uranium enrichment.

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Iranians Face More Frequent Power Outages as Drought Continues

Staff Writer
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Iranians Face More Frequent Power Outages as Drought Continues
Iranians face more frequent power outages as drought continues

Iran Focus

London, 18 July – For more than ten years, large parts of Iran have been immensely affected by drought. The rainfall in the country is currently at the lowest level that it has been for fifty years. Official figures indicate that this year has seen more than 25 per cent less rain than last year.

To make the situation even more critical, this summer is turning out to be extremely hot. This and the annual increase in the consumption of electricity is causing power shortages to become more and more commonplace.

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