Iran Focus
London, 11 May – A high-ranking member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) main engineering arm has claimed that they will complete 40 large projects in the next 12 months in industries like oil, gas, water management, road/railway construction, and information technology.
General Ebadollah Abdollahi, the commander of Khatam al-Anbia Construction Base, said that the 10 projects that they will undertake for the Oil Ministry alone will raise them $22 billion.
Iran Focus
London, 11 May – The balance of power in Lebanon has not been changed by the recent elections – something that should shock nobody – and we now have even more proof that the Iran-backed Hezbollah dominates the country’s decision-making.
If you want proof, consider that Lebanon never commits to the “policy of dissociating” itself from regional crises. This is certainly Iran’s doing, as everyone knows that Iran seeks to meddle in the affairs of other nation states in order to destabilise them and eventually take power, whether by using a proxy militia (i.e. Hezbollah in Lebanon) or by supporting the malign government (i.e. Bashar Assad in Syria).
Iran Focus
London, 10 May – The Arab world was concerned over the recent emergence of an Iranian embassy in Algeria, but the arrival of Amir Mousavi, believed to be an Iranian intelligence agent, who intended to interfere in the dispute between Algeria and Morocco over the Western Sahara conflict, led Morocco to cut diplomatic relations with Tehran.
Morocco controls about 90 per cent of the Western Sahara territory, where the Algerian-backed Polisario have been fighting a protracted guerrilla war against Moroccan security forces. Irrefutable evidence reportedly proved that shipments of weapons, which included surface-to-air missiles, comprising of SAM9, SAM22 and Strela shoulder-launched missiles, had been sent via Iran’s Lebanese proxy Hezbollah. As well, members of the Polisario, are allegedly being trained in urban warfare at a military base in Tindouf, Algeria, where they are being taught how to use ground-air rocket systems.
Iran Focus
London, 10 May – The United States will continue to work with its allies to ensure that the Iranian Regime does not acquire a nuclear weapon even after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear accord, according to US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday.
Before a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing, Mattis said: “We will continue to work alongside our allies and partners to ensure that Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon, and will work with others to address the range of Iran’s malign influence. This Administration remains committed to putting the safety, interests, and well-being of our citizens first.”
Iran Focus
London, 10 May – The Iran-backed Houthis fired several ballistic missiles at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Wednesday, but, luckily, these were intercepted by the kingdom’s missile defence systems and there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
This attack came only one day after the US – Saudi Arabia’s top Western ally – withdrew from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, which could mean that Iran may well target US allies and interests in the Middle East in retaliation.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who control the majority of Yemen since their takeover in 2014, reported that the missiles were aimed at economic targets in Riyadh. They have fired a series of ballistic missiles, at least some of which are proven by the UN to be Iranian-made, at Saudi Arabia in the past year.
Iran Focus
London, 9 May – In advance of the May 12th deadline, in an address from the White House on Tuesday, Trump announced that the United States is leaving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-imposing all economic sanctions lifted or waived under the agreement, calling it a “decaying and rotten structure of the current agreement.” He stated that, “The Iran deal is defective at its core. If we do nothing, we know exactly what will happen. In just a short period of time, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror will be on the cusp of acquiring the world’s most dangerous weapons.”
Iran Focus
London, 9 May – In the wake of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Iranian Resistance have issued a statement welcoming the move, but also reminding the world that the only hope for peace, democracy, security, and stability in Iran is to remove the ruling mullahs from power altogether.
When Trump pulled out of the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he not only killed the fatally flawed agreement, but also ended 40 years of appeasement of the Regime by the US. In his withdrawal speech, Trump noted that he would move to reinstate sanctions on the clerical regime as soon as possible, acknowledging that money received by Iran as a result of this deal had not improved the lives of Iranians (i.e. funding a healthcare system), but had actually been used to prop up their malign military programme.
Iran Focus
London, 9 May – Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States has applauded Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and to reimpose sanctions on the country.
Ambassador Prince Khalid bin Salman responded on Twitter that the deal has only fueled Iran’s expansionist ideological drives across the Middle East.
Prince Khalid bin Salman wrote: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fully supports the measures taken by [Trump] with regards to the JCPOA. we always had reservations with regards to sunset clauses, ballistic missiles program, and Iran’s support for terrorism in the region. As I said before with regards to the deal, we are on autopilot heading towards a mountain. [The] deal has fueled Iran’s malicious expansion driven by its extremist ideology. It provided Iran with a financial windfall that it used to further sectarian strife/chaos in the region.”
Iran Focus
London, 9 May – Despite pleas from the European signatories of the deal, US President Donald Trump announced yesterday that the United States will withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Many are saying that this will show the United States as being a bad player in future agreements because it cannot keep its word.
However, all you had to do was listen to Trump’s speech to understand why it is impossible for the United States to be part of the deal. He reminded us that Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism that fuels conflicts across the region, supports terrorist militias and proxy groups and exports missiles.
By Jubin Katiraie
It is no secret that Iranian mullahs have frequently tried to demonise their legitimate opposition movement, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), in the eyes of both the Iranian people and the international community.
Indeed, Iran is so scared of the power of the MEK, that they consistently use malign disinformation campaigns (using fake news and lying agents) to discredit the MEK’s legitimacy, use their suppressive security forces to arrest, torture, and murder MEK members, and even pursue MEK dissidents abroad to assassinate them on the streets of Europe.
