By Jubin Katiraie
The US Treasury Department on Thursday targeted a Lebanese bank the Trump administration calls the “bank of choice” of Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, as part of a maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
Treasury sanctioned Jammal Trust Bank, a financial institution based in Lebanon that facilitates banking activities for Hezbollah, and its three subsidiaries.
By Pooya Stone
The leader of an Iraqi Shia militia, backed by Iran, threatened to take hostage “all” US citizens in Iraq in the event of a conflict between the US and Iran.
Abu Alaa al-Wala’i, head of the Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) militia, made the threat on Wednesday during an interview with al-Dijla, an Iraqi television station close to the Fatah Coalition, which represents the Shiite militias, or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), in Iraq’s parliament.
By Jubin Katiraie
On August 29, Reuters reported that an Iranian rocket exploded on its launch pad at Imam Khomeini Space Center in northern Iran before its scheduled launch on Thursday, according to an Iranian official. “It was due to some technical issues and it exploded but our young scientists are working to fix the problem,” the official added.
By Pooya Stone
Iran Human rights Monitor (HRM) published an article about the 1988 massacre in Iran to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Parts of the article are as follows:
By Jubin Katiraie
The Iranian government is trying to refer the cause of the Inflation in Iran to sanctions imposed by the US government. But the reality is that the main reason as the official authorities said is nothing else than the government itself.
In the meantime, the two government factions have somehow identified each other as the cause of economic shakiness. President Hassan Rouhani calls the opposing group ” sanction profiteers” and blames them for the sanctions and, consequently the sanctions the cause of the high prices and inflation. The opposite group, however, is blaming the “government management” and tries to hide the astronomical plunders by the supreme leader and foundations affiliated to him.
By Pooya Stone
Iranian workers and defrauded investors held at least eight protests in various cities to demand their economic rights, according to reports gathered by Iran News Wire.
On Wednesday, defrauded creditors of the Shadi Gold Institution held a protest outside the Tehran Judiciary building to demand the return of their stolen savings. A video posted on social media showed the mainly female protesters chanting and asking for justice.
By Jubin Katiraie
While the Iranian government tries to exude power and show that it has the advantage in its ongoing confrontation with the U.S., Washington is mounting the pressure on Tehran. Following a statement by the U.S. State Department on August 28, which slapped fresh sanctions against several Iranian institutions and individuals, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted the following:
By Pooya Stone
A secret cyber attack targeting a critical database used by the Iranian government to plan attacks against oil tankers limited Tehran’s ability to target shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf over the summer, according to senior US officials who spoke to the New York Times.
By Jubin Katiraie
After a year and a half of US sanctions on the Iranian government, there is an argument that Iranian leaders, due to the economic pressure, are ready to talk and step back from their nuclear and missile program. As Brian Hook, U.S. special representative for Iran, said on 22 August: “We are trying to put pressure on Iran that will probably bring Iran back to the negotiating table.” Are we reaching the point where Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader is ready to give Iranian’s president Rouhani a green light to meet Trump?
By Pooya Stone
The Iranian government is under maximum international pressure and is grappling with incessant tensions. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, are trying to find a breakthrough; therefore, they sent Foreign Minister Zarif to Europe in order to beg Europeans to start the INSTEX, the European financial mechanism for bypassing the U.S. sanctions. Yet Iran’s state-run press agencies compared this to UN “Food for Oil” plan for Iraq.
