By Pooya Stone
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that there is “strong evidence” that Iran was responsible for the attacks on two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman last week, which supports the comments previously made by the US.
At a news conference in Berlin on Tuesday, following talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Merkel said: “We, of course, take these explanations very seriously, and there is strong evidence.”
Outside view by Amir B.
On Friday, 21 June, Iranian-American communities will hold a massive rally in support of the popular protests for regime change in Iran. The rally will be held in Washington DC a week after supporters of the main opposition group People’s Mojahedin (Mujahedin-e Khalq, MEK) held a “Free Iran” rally in Brussels and were supported by many European dignitaries.
In addition to supporting Iranian people’s desire for regime change, the rally will send a strong message to the international community to change their policy on the Iranian regime and support Iranian people’s wishes for a free Iran instead of appeasement.
By Pooya Stone
Iran said today that it wouldn’t give European powers any more time to save the nuclear deal, by helping Tehran evade US sanctions after July 8.
The representative for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said that Tehran was ready to enrich uranium beyond limits set under the 2015 deal, which would violate the deal.
By Jubin Katiraie
United States President Donald Trump said Tuesday the US was “very prepared” for any situation with Iran, following an escalation of tensions over the past week.
It began on Thursday, the US accused Iran of attacking two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. Iran denied the attack, but the commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps Brigadier General Hossein Salami has since claimed that its ballistic missiles were capable of hitting “carriers in the sea”, which some observers see as an indication that Iran did attack these tankers.
By Pooya Stone
Starting last weekend, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has begun a series of marches and events in various European and the United States in support of the uprising of the Iranian people and the cause of democratic regime change in Iran.
On June 15, thousands of supporters of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK) marched in Brussels, Belgium urging the EU to cut trade with the regime and support the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. The MEK, also known as the Mujahedeen-e Khalq are the main group within the NCRI coalition.
By Jubin Katiraie
The US has labelled Iran’s plan to exceed the internationally agreed limit on enriched uranium stockpiles “nuclear blackmail”.
White House National Security Council spokesperson Garrett Marquis said: “President [Donald] Trump has made it clear that he will never allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons. The regime’s nuclear blackmail must be met with increased international pressure.”
By Pooya Stone
Iran announced on Monday that by the end of June it would exceed the enriched uranium stockpile limits that it agreed to under the 2015 nuclear deal between it and six world powers, which would violate the deal.
The only question is how will the signatories to the deal respond?
By Pooya Stone
On June 10, two inmates in the notorious Greater Tehran Penitentiary (Fashafouyeh) stabbed Iranian political prisoner Alireza Shir-Mohammad-Ali to death.
Shir-Mohammad-Ali had been arrested and detained in July 2018 and was sentenced to eight years in prison following an unfair trial in the regime’s preliminary court in which he was convicted on charges of “insulting Islamic sanctities,” “insulting the supreme leader” and “spreading propaganda against the system.”
By Jubin Katiraie
The Pentagon announced Monday that the US will send 1,000 additional forces and more military resources to the Middle East as tensions with Iran continue to grow.
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said in a statement: “In response to a request from the US Central Command for additional forces, and with the advice of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and in consultation with the White House, I have authorized approximately 1,000 additional troops for defensive purposes to address air, naval, and ground-based threats in the Middle East.”
By Pooya Stone
The British ambassador to Iran denied on Sunday that the Iranian foreign ministry summoned him after London said Tehran was “almost certainly” responsible for tanker attacks in the Gulf last week.
Ambassador Rob Macaire tweeted that the claim that he was summoned was “news to [him]”, just one day after the Iranian foreign ministry released a statement saying they had summoned his because of his government’s accusations.
