By Pooya Stone
A high-ranking Iranian cleric has claimed that the Iranian people are overweight and should eat less, at a time when 80% of Iranians live in poverty and many are forced to search through the bins for scraps of food.
These comments from Naser Makarem Shirazi, a so-called Shia Marja, were no doubt deliberately designed to detract from the disastrous economic situation faced by ordinary Iranians.
Iran Focus
London, 26 Feb – Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, recently remarked that Iran was willing to provide military and economic aid to the Lebanese state. This, while Iran’s economy is in a financial crisis, due to re-imposed sanctions and its own rampant corruption.
By Jubin Katiraie
An investigation into a dossier of crimes committed by the Iranian dictators has been called for, as a result of a statement issued by Amnesty International and published by the United Nations General Assembly.
According to the statement, “Between late July and September 1988, the Iranian authorities forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed thousands of prisoners for their political opinions and dumped their bodies in unmarked individual and mass graves… Since then, the authorities have tormented the relatives by refusing to tell them when, how and why their loved ones were killed and by keeping their remains hidden. To reinforce secrecy, they have also destroyed mass grave sites and forbidden commemorations.”
Iran Focus
London, 25 Feb – The Iranian ambassador to Kenya reportedly tried to help two Iranian terror suspects escape from police custody, something that will likely increase diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) arrested two suspects on Friday who are accused of defrauding Iranian Ambassador Hadi Farajvand by posing as senior Interior ministry officials who could secure the release of Iranian nationals Ahmad Abolfathi Mohammed and Sayed Mansour Mousavi.
Iran Focus
London, 25 Feb – Following Iranian leadership’s claim that its relations with the United States has rarely been so bad, as well as a recent US warning about Hezbollah’s growing role in the new Lebanese cabinet, the UK defense think-tank RUSI published a report saying that Iran’s smuggling of precision-guided missile systems into Lebanon represents the most “serious risk” of starting a major war that could involve the United States.
By Pooya Stone
Iran has always been an oil-rich country, yet gasoline has always been a scarcity on the domestic energy market. But why is this?
Well, it is basically down to the illegal smuggling of oil out of the country. Official estimates for the amount of oil smuggled out of Iran per day ranges from between 4 million and 40 million litres, depending on who you ask and the import needs of neighbouring countries.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Feb – The Iranian government used George W. Bush and Barack Obama to promote its own interests and now Donald Trump is left to deal with the fallout.
Bush was warned that Iran was the major threat in the Middle East, not Iraq; that the mullahs would make life hell for US troops if he invaded Iran; and that Iran wanted to take control of Iraq. But why? Well, Iraq was home to a group exiled from Iran, the People’s Mujahadeen of Iran (PMOI/MEK), who were fighting for a free Iran.
By Mehdi
On 16th February, Der Spiegel published an article entitled “Prisoners of the Rebellion”. The article was full of mistruths and allegations against the main opposition to the Iranian government – the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK) and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
By Jubin Katiraie
At least eight Iranian converts to Christianity have been arrested in just one month in Iran, including six from the northern city of Rasht.
Three men, identified as Mohammad Vafadar, Mohammad Islamdoust and Kamal No’manian, were arrested on Friday, February 15, whilst attending a church service in Rasht, and taken to unknown locations.
Iran Focus
London, 22 Feb – The Iranian security forces has arrested several more environmental activists over the past few days and transferred them to unknown locations in what is being seen as a worsening crackdown on conservationists.
On February 17, four activists were arrested. Zakaria Naghshbandi, Arman Vafaei and Shahou Faraji were arrested in Sanandaj, while Yousef Farhadi Babadi, a member of the “Voice of Water” Campaign in Shahre Kord, was arrested by Iranian security agents as he travelled home with his family members. Notably, the campaign and its activists were featured in a report by the Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Fars news agency.
