Iran Focus
London, 8 Jun – Qatar’s disputes with other countries in the Middle East are far more serious than we originally thought, according to one regional expert.
Abdulrahman al-Rashed, the former General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, wrote an op-ed for Al-Arabiya is which he lamented trivialising Qatar’s past disputes with its neighbouring states, noting that now he realises it would not just blow over.
Iran Focus
London, 8 Jun – Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Iranian parliament and the tomb of Khomeini in Tehran on Wednesday morning, killing at least 12 people in a twin assault in Tehran, state media and news agencies reported.
“Islamic State claimed responsibility and released a video claiming to show gunmen inside the parliament building and one body, apparently dead, on the floor.” said Reuters in a report from inside Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Jun – Rumours are circulating about a possible confrontation between the United States and Iran, with Syria being the launch site. It cannot be denied that US President Donald Trump has increased his harsh rhetoric towards Iran with the recent visit to Saudi Arabia.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Jun – Paul McLeary wrote a report for Foreign Policy on the conflict between Iran and the US in Syria over a tiny tract of land on the Iraq-Syria border, which has already resulted in military action, according to US officials.
McLeary wrote: “American warplanes bombed an Iranian-backed militia that entered a supposed no-go zone near a US garrison in southern Syria on Tuesday…The strike marked the second by a U.S. aircraft in less than a month and signals a growing risk of direct conflict between American and Iranian forces and their partners in Syria. The air raid came after the militia aligned with the Syrian regime and Iran failed to heed a warning to leave the area.”
Iran Focus
London, 7 Jun – The leaders of the Iranian Regime have come out in full force against Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia, following Trump’s recent visit to the Middle East, but they are masking weakness according to a human rights activist.
Shahriar Kia, who is also a political analyst specialising in Iran and the Middle East, wrote a strongly worded op-ed for Practical Politicking in which he stated that the public pressure on Iran was having more of an impact on the Regime than they will admit. That is why they lash out at other countries and crack down on their own people.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Jun – Following the expulsion of the so-called Islamic State from a corner of south-eastern Syria, tensions have been rising between the Iranian Regime and the United States over a small patch of highway, which contains a US military garrison and a border crossing.
According to the US military, both the US and Russia have deployed warplanes and fired shots.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Jun – The US Senate is due to vote this week on bipartisan legislation which would expand the sanctions against Iran for its ballistic missile programme, human rights abuses, and support for terrorism and illegal arms transfers.
The procedural vote is due to happen on Wednesday and the final vote is due on Thursday, as arranged by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) on Monday.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Jun – Ever since the Iranian Regime’s sham elections on May 19, Western pundits have fallen over themselves to declare that a “moderate” has won a second term in Iran and now, before Hassan Rouhani has even made an effort to fulfil his campaign promises, they are providing excuses for him when he inevitably fails to reform the Regime.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Jun – Iran poses a great threat in the Middle East; indeed with its financial and ideological support for terrorism it is the greatest threat to peace in the Middle East currently.
They are involved in numerous wars and fund sectarian conflicts in order to gain further control over the Middle East and achieve their goal on a Shi’ite Crescent from the Persian Gulf to the Medetteranian.
But should they really be considered a military threat?
Iran Focus
London, 6 Jun – Mahmoud Hakamian, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), wrote a shocking piece on the rise of addiction among young people in Iran.
Drug addiction is a painful, debilitating illness that predominately affects the most marginalised in society, most notably the poor. There are many reasons for this but they are all related to disenfranchisement and discrimination and the ability of drugs to take away the pain for at least a period of time.
