By Jubin Katiraie
The Iranian authorities criticised the country’s state television on Wednesday for airing a program about ongoing oil sales to China in violation of US sanctions, claiming that the report went “against national interests”.
The Tuesday episode of the “Hello, Good Morning” talk show featured a segment on Iranian-flagged tanker, the Salina, which reportedly transported 1 million barrels of crude oil to China’s Jinzhou port in late June.
By Pooya Stone
Late last month, Donald Trump decided not to bomb Iran following the downing of an unmanned American drone, citing civilian casualties. This was a smart move because a war with Iran would be costly, deadly, and would be the worst way to ensure that Iran became a peaceful nation.
By Jubin Katiraie
Over the past 30 years, America has been involved in several conflicts in the Middle East and the last thing that anyone needs is for the US and Iran to be at war, which is why it’s good that Donald Trump decided not to launch a military strike in Iran in retaliation for shooting down a US drone.
By Pooya Stone
Donald Trump tweeted that Iran should be “careful with threats” as they can “come back to bite you” in response to Iran’s announcement that it had already breached the nuclear deal’s low-enriched uranium stockpile limits and was planning to violate the uranium purity level.
By Jubin Katiraie
On Tuesday, July 2, in a state order, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, changed the commander of the Basij Militia and the deputy chief of staff of the armed forces. Khamenei appointed Mohammad Reza Ashtiani as the deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, replacing Ataollah Salehi; and Gholamreza Soleimani as the commander of Basij Militia, replacing Gholam Hossein Gheybparvar.
By Pooya Stone
On Tuesday, 2 July, Ali Nejati, member of the laborers syndicate of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Mill in Ahvaz, received his indictment in Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. After their last court session, his dossier along with six others were sent to the revolutionary court of Tehran. The charges against Nejati, in this indictment were “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the government”.
By Pooya Stone
Adel Abdul Mahdi, the Prime Minister of Iraq, earlier this week announced that he would like to see the Iranian-backed Shi’ite Muslim militias curbed. It is a risky announcement to make, with analysts coming to the conclusion that it is to placate the United States.
By Pooya Stone
Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Jubeir said Iran will regret it if the mullahs continue to breach the 2015 nuclear deal agreed with world powers.
He said: “Our position is the same as that of most if not all the countries in the world. The Iranians will pay a price if they continue to enrich beyond what they agreed to. And I think there’s no doubt about that.”
By Jubin Katiraie
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has issued a warning to Europe that Tehran will “take the next step” to increase its uranium enrichment to “any amount that we want” this coming Sunday if no moves are made to appease Tehran.
On Wednesday, he said: “Our advice to Europe and the United States is to go back to logic and to the negotiating table. Go back to understanding, to respecting the law and resolutions of the UN Security Council. Under those conditions, all of us can abide by the nuclear deal…. “If you want to express regret and issue a statement, you can do it now.”
