Iran Focus
London, 5 Jun – German Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed that Iran’s malign activities in the Middle East are a pressing concern, particularly for the security of Israel.
During a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Merkel said: “We have the same goal that Iran must never get a nuclear weapon and the difference between us is how to do that… We support Israel’s right to security and have said this to Iran at all times.”
Iran Focus
London, 5 Jun – The French car manufacturer PSA, which makes Peugeot and Citroen cars, said on Monday that it would withdraw from two joint ventures to sell its cars in Iran to avoid US sanctions that will be reimposed following Donald Trump’s announcement that he would pull out of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal.
In a statement, PSA said: “The group has begun to suspend its joint venture activities, in order to comply with US law by August 6, 2018.”
Iran Focus
London, 5 Jun – The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that Iran has no intention of ending its aggressive foreign policies across the Middle East, which involve propping up the Syrian Dictator Bashar Assad and funding the terrorist Hamas in Gaza, or curbing its influence over states like Lebanon, when the Iran-backed Hezbollah have control of the government, and Iraq, where Iran has vast political influence.
In his speech, which was broadcast live on television, Khamenei also encouraged the Arab youth to stand up to US pressure.
Iran Focus
London, 4 Jun – A federal court in Argentina has ruled that special prosecutor Alberto Nisman was murdered because he accused former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of trying to cover up the role of Iran in the 1994 AMIA Jewish centre bombing.
On Friday, the Argentinean Federal Chamber of Appeals backed Julian Ercolini, the federal judge who is leading the investigation. Ercolini ruled that Nisman’s death was a murder – not a suicide – back in December, two years after Nisman’s death.
Iran Focus
London, 4 Jun – The US has increased its military presence on the top of Mount Sinjar, on the border between Syria and Iraq, in order to better fight back against Iran backed militias, according to the Sinjar government.
The Deputy Mayor of Sinjar, Halal Khalo, said: “15 military vehicles of US troops arrived on top of Mount Singhal and stationed themselves near Mira peak on the mountain.”
Shortly afterwards, the Governor of Sinjar confirmed that the US was establishing a military base on the mountain, which is an area of strategic importance on the Syrian border, and said that this brought “hope for stability” to the thousands of displaced Kurdish Ezidis, a religious minority forced to flee in the war who have not been allowed to return home.
Iran Focus
London, 4 Jun – Iran is still attempting to obtain weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) through industrial espionage, according to a report by a German intelligence agency, quoted by Fox News on Saturday.
The report, published by Germany’s State Office for the Protection of the Constitution on May 24, stated: “Iran continued to undertake — as did Pakistan and Syria — efforts to obtain goods and know-how to be used for the development of weapons of mass destruction and to optimize corresponding missile delivery systems.”
Iran Focus
London, 4 Jun – The United States has been cracking down on Iran for several months now. President Donald Trump has vowed to curb the Iran threat and his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that the US would be imposing the harshest sanctions in history on Iran.
However, it is not just the United States that is trying to tackle the Iran problem. It is also the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that is showing real efforts to put an end to Iran’s meddling in the Middle East and its illicit financing. The GCC, composed of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar, is also cracking down on Hezbollah – Iran’s number one proxy group.
Iran Focus
London, 3 Jun – On May 8th, US President Trump unilaterally pulled the US out the nuclear deal with Tehran, and announced the return of sanctions for the country. Prior to the deadline set by the US for companies to end operations in Iran, General Electric has made the decision to suspend activities.
A source told AFP, “GE has decided to suspend its activities in Iran ahead of a deadline set by the US authorities for companies to re-impose sanctions on Tehran after the United States withdraws from the Iranian nuclear deal.” The source added that the US industrial group’s decision came in compliance with Washington’s request, which set a deadline of 180 days — until November 4th — for companies to cancel their Iranian contracts.
Iran Focus
London, 1 Jun – Europe should increase its pressure on Iran to end its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and withdraw its troops from the country, now that the US has withdrawn from the 2015 nuclear agreement, according to a Syrian opposition leader.
Nasr Hariri of the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) spoke in Brussels on Thursday about Iran’s malign influence in Syria. At this time he also pushed back against Assad’s comments about the US troops in Syria, which Assad had likened to a foreign invasion.
Iran Focus
London, 1 Jun – The funeral of legendary actor Naser Malek Motiee in Tehran, on May 27, attracted thousands of Iranians, who once again called for regime change out of respect for the banned actor and out of hope that Iran will be free at last.
Malek Motiee, who passed away from kidney failure on Friday, May 25, was a beloved veteran of Iran’s golden age of cinema, but when the mullahs stole power in 1979, they banned him and others that were identified with the era of the Shah’s rule and did not conform to Islamic revolutionary values.
