Iran Focus
London, 25 April – The US recently placed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on its list of foreign terrorist organisations, which is a bold move that complements the Treasury Department’s previous listing of the IRGC as a banned terror group. It was the first time that an entire division of a foreign government was formally labelled as a terrorist organization.
By Pooya Stone
After three days, the Iranian rulers have finally responded on Wednesday to the US decision to remove sanctions waivers on the eight countries still currently allowed to purchase Iranian oil.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claimed: “America’s efforts in sanctioning the sale of Iranian oil won’t get anywhere… We can export as much of our oil as we need and want.”
By Mehdi
The United States warned Iran to keep the straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab open, a State Department official said on Tuesday, after the U.S. ended sanctions waivers for buyers of Iranian oil.
“We call on Iran, and all countries, to respect the free flow of energy and commerce, and freedom of navigation” in the straits, the official said, Reuters reported.
By Jubin Katiraie
Iran’s main opposition group the People’s Mujahedin (MEK) on Tuesday announced the names of 28 anti-regime activists arrested, some as little as a month ago, for their role in nationwide protests against the regime.
The MEK, also known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI), called for urgent international action for the protesters’ release.
Iran Focus
London, 24 April – Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday adopted a bill that labels all United States military forces as terrorist, state TV reported, a day after Washington ratcheted up pressure on Tehran by ending sanctions waivers on the purchase of Iranian oil.
The bill is a step further from the one last week, when Iranian lawmakers approved labelling U.S. troops in the Middle East as terrorist, in response to the U.S. terrorism designation for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards earlier this month.
By Jubin Katiraie
The US vowed to eliminate in May all waivers granted to eight countries that allowed them to keep buying Iranian oil from November 2018 as part of the US campaign to increase pressure on Iran by cutting off their oil revenues.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the US wanted to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero and had no plans to give any of the countries involved a grace period to comply with the sanctions.
By Pooya Stone
Donald Trump tweeted on Monday morning that former Secretary of State John Kerry could have violated the Logan Act over his talks with Iran.
The tweet was sent after current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US was ending waivers for sanctions on Iranian oil in order to ratchet up economic pressure on Iran.
By Mehdi
Iran’s inflation rate is 51.4% for the first month of the Iranian year (March 21-April 20), according to the Iranian Statistical Center (ISC). This means that, compared with the same month last year, prices have risen by more than 50%.
The ISC also found that Iran’s inflation rate for the past 12 months was 30.6%, which is lower than the International Monetary Fund’s inflation estimate for Iran in 2018. However, there are two potential reasons for this. One, the IMF goes January 1 to December 31, while the ISC goes March 21 to March 20, and two, Iranian institutions usually underreport statistics that make them look bad, even if the ISC is more reliable than most.
Iran Focus
London, 22 April – Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei has appointed Brigadier General Hossein Salami as the new head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), just days after the US placed the group on its list of foreign terrorist organisations.
In a statement on his website, Khamenei wrote: “Considering [Salami’s] capabilities and significant experience with different revolutionary responsibilities … I promote [him] to major general and commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards.”
By Jubin Katiraie
In the early 2010s, relations between Iran and the European Union were strained because of the Iranian nuclear programme. In 2015, a solution was found in the form of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a binding agreement between the United Nations, the EU, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and Iran.
