Iran Focus
London, 20 Dec – The death of four six-year-old girls during a fire at a school in Zahedan, Iran, on December 18, has sent the nation into mourning.
The fire began after one student tripped over an oil heater whilst playing during a break and quickly spread throughout the school. Most of the 59 students were rescued by neighbours and school staff before firefighters arrived, but many students have been injured.
Iran Focus
London, 19 Dec – Since 1989 and the ascension of Ali Khamenei to Supreme Leader, Iran has followed a foreign policy doctrine of ‘West minus the US’, causing many political standoffs throughout the years.
Now, the doctrine is being put to the test once again as reimposed US sanctions are pushing Europe to choose between the US and Iran.
By Pooya Stone
Amnesty International has exposed the shocking scale of the 1988 Iranian massacre in a new report, which denounces the mass-murders as a crime against humanity, condemns the harassment of those seeking justice, and calls for those responsible to be held to account.
In the summer of 1988, 30,000 political prisoners, mainly members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), were executed by the Iranian Government on the fatwa of then-supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini.
Iran Focus
London, 19 Dec – Under extreme pressure from Washington, Iran continues to engage in cyber warfare rather than in direct military conflict with the United States and its allies. It retaliates with cyber weapons, that pose a threat to companies and organizations in the Middle East and beyond.
However, the malware tool Stuxnet, linked to the United States and Israel, is more powerful than Shamoon, used by Iran. Because defense is more difficult than offense, the United States is vulnerable to cyberattacks, but if its power were unleashed on Iran, it would be devastating.
Iran Focus
London, 18 Dec – Ever since the May elections, Lebanon has been unable to form a government, largely thanks to Iran-backed Hezbollah’s attempts to frustrate the process as much as possible, and now Lebanese President Michel Aoun has been forced to intervene, fearing a “catastrophe” if he doesn’t. Political scientist Dr Majid Rafizadeh explained.
Despite all of this, the international community has failed to sufficiently address Iran’s malign interference.
Iran Focus
London, 18 Dec – The President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Maryam Rajavi, has welcomed the United Nations’ adoption of the 65th resolution condemning systematic human rights violations in Iran.
She advised that this move has yet again made clear that the mullahs in Iran fundamentally disregard the most basic rights of the Iranian people in all areas of their lives.
Iran Focus
London, 18 Dec – The Iranian economy will face more crises in 2019, despite Government efforts to paint a rosy picture and what seems on the surface to be a slightly strengthening currency, according to calculations from economy expert Hossein Raqfar.
Raqfar said: “Our equations show Iran’s economy will go bankrupt even with the U.S. dollar trading at 80,000 rials. Huge expenses will be placed on the shoulders of the country’s production lines and families will lose their purchasing powers at unprecedented scales. If rates remain above the 80,000 rial mark, the situation will be even worse.”
By Jubin Katiraie
Across 42 locations on three continents, a conference was held on Saturday where Iranians across the world called for international action against the terrorist activities of the Iranian government, as well as its human rights abuses.
The conference, titled, “Halt mullahs’ government growing human rights violations and export of terrorism,” featured speeches by political dignitaries from several countries, representatives of Iranian communities from across the world, and the Iranian opposition leader, Maryam Rajavi.
Iran Focus
London, 17 Dec – The personal emails of American officials tasked with enforcing the recently reimposed sanctions were targeted by Iranian hackers last month, according to The Associated Press.
London-based cybersecurity group Certfa tracked a hacking group nicknamed Charming Kitten. The AP believes that the group spent the past month trying to break into the private emails of more than a dozen U.S. Treasury high-profile individuals involved in the nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran. Atomic scientists, Iranian civil society figures, and D.C. think tank employees were also allegedly targeted.
Iran Focus
London, 17 Dec – The Iranian Parliament has decided to take money out of the National Development Fund in a closed-door session on Sunday, December 16, according to two members of the parliament.
Alireza Salami, MP for Mahallat, said that the 2019-2020 budget bill shows that Iran has “illegally reduced” the amount of money that will be invested into the strategic fund.
