Iran Focus
London, 20 Mar – U.S. President Trump said that Iran is defying a U.N. Security Council resolution by carrying out ballistic missile testing, as well as two satellite launches since December. Iran’s missile program and its regional meddling are reasons he cited when he pulled the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions last May.
By Jubin Katiraie
Iran has finally published the sentenced of human rights lawyer and activist Nasrin Sotoudeh, which states that she will serve 26 years in prison and been given 148 lashes, in addition to the five years she’s already serving for espionage.
This is the second of two verdicts against her. It was published almost a month after judicial authorities sentenced Sotoudeh.
By Mehdi
The US is urging Europe to get tougher on Iran concerning its terrorist activities and to hold the mullahs to account for their crimes, with the US counter-terror chief warning that the continent is under increased threat from Iran and will see an increase in terror attacks if Tehran is not held responsible.
By Pooya Stone
Iran’s renewed embrace of Iraq, shows that the US sanctions on Iran are working, according to political scientist Dr Majid Rafizadeh.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited Iraq last week for the first time since becoming president in 2013 and this is a clear indication of how renewed US sanctions have damaged Iran because the mullahs are now desperate to find other countries willing to do business deals with the increasingly isolated Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 18 Mar – US President Trump must soon decide whether or not to end sanctions waivers granted to several nations. US officials have affirmed that the global oil market can withstand the removal of all Iranian crude exports this year.
Four officials who spoke on condition of anonymity say that with the current oil supply, along with the potential of the US and Saudis to ramp up production, “going to zero” could happen this year, without compromising affordable crude supplies.
By Jubin Katiraie
According to Amnesty International’s R. Bahreini, the situation in Iran is only getting worse. No one is safe from being detained under vague laws that criminalize most forms of expression in Iran.
She says, “At the moment there is no sign from the Iranian authorities that they intend to improve their appalling human rights record in this area. We have noticed that people are determined to claim their rights more and more including workers, students and civil society activists, who are taking to the streets and to social media to express their demands.”
By Mehdi
It has been over 400 days since a group of nine environmental activists were arrested and charged with espionage in Iran. Now, one has died under suspicious circumstances in prison and eight are facing trumped-up national security charges, some of which result in the death penalty.
By Pooya Stone
Iranian operatives are compiling “target packages” as part of their planning for prospective future assassinations and terrorist attacks, according to more than half a dozen former U.S. intelligence officials.
The assembly of these detailed dossiers is common practice for intelligence services, but Iran is the only country that uses them to plan terrorist attacks, that could be carried out if overt hostilities were to break out between Washington and Tehran.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Mar – On Wednesday the United Nations issued a shocking announcement: Iran, seen as one of the top human rights abusers in the world, was awarded a seat on the United Nations committee that oversees complaints about the global abuse of women.
By Jubin Katiraie
A top Treasury Department official told a Congressional subcommittee on Tuesday that the US has been very clear with Europe about the “significant risks” of providing Iran with a special mechanism to facilitate trade.
US Treasury undersecretary Sigal Mandelker, the head of Treasury’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI), told the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services that the government continues “to maximize economic pressure on Iran to combat its weapons proliferation, terrorism, and regionally destabilizing activities”.
