Iran Focus
London, 23 Jan – Following allegations by the U.S., Iran’s Mahan Air has been banned by Germany’s government from operating in their country. U.S. officials say that Mahan’s aircraft transported weapons and fighters to war-torn Syria.
The move against Mahan Air is believed to be the result of pressure from the Trump administration, but a spokesman for the German government said that the ban was necessary to protect the interests of the federal government.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Jan – Europe is deeply divided over Iran into several issues and there are major disagreements on how to deal with Iranian government between the various governments that make up the EU, the factions within those governments, and even the EU’s security and political establishments.
Iran Focus
London, 22 Jan – There is little chance of Iran being able to save its damaged banking sector as US sanctions really take their toll on the economy, causing bad loans to mount up, according to a new report.
The report, released on Tuesday by Fitch Solutions, said: “Many Iranian banks are in need of recapitalisation and restructuring, having accumulated high levels of non-performing loans. We see little scope for meaningful progress.”
Iran Focus
London, 22 Jan – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conveyed one clear message on his recent trip to the Middle East, where he was reassuring US allies that the Donald Trump administration remained committed to the region, and it was that Iran must be contained.
Pompeo travelled to Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman for high-level talks with monarchs and ministers over just seven days, but at each meeting, Iran was a focus.
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jan – A contentious documentary series, “Out of Sight,” produced by Mehdi Naghavian, which purports to be about Iran’s enemies, was recently re-released by the country’s state broadcaster. The series was first broadcast in December 2017 on Iran’s youth-oriented Channel Three. It resumed broadcasting with the ninth episode of the series earlier this week, after a year.
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jan – According to Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2019, in response to protests across the country over economic conditions, corruption, and repression, arbitrary mass arrests and serious due process violations were practiced by Iranian authorities during 2018. The crackdown on peaceful activism included detaining lawyers, human rights defenders, and women’s rights activists.
By Jubin Katiraie
Iran’s theocratic government has not only been condemned for human rights abuse, it allows its 80 million citizens to struggle to feed their families, its corruption and mismanagement has led to power outages and water shortages. Food prices that have risen by more than 50 percent, and the people are fed up with the government using its money and resources for the export of terror.
The second round of U.S. sanctions that came into effect on November 5th target oil and banking. Today, Iran produces 1 million fewer barrels of oil per day than it did prior to the sanctions.The Iranian economy has lost $2 billion since November. Still, the government continues to fund terrorism.
Iran Focus
London, 18 Jan – Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized Iran for “widespread arrests” of protesters and activists in its 2019 annual report into human rights violations around the world, citing specifically the thousands of arrests made during the nationwide anti-government protests in the winter of 2018, as well as the arrests of environmentalists and women who protested against compulsory hijab.
In the report, which draws on events from late 2017 to November 2018, HRW also condemned Iran’s shadowy “security apparatus” and “suppressive and non-accountable Judiciary” for their work to suppress human rights.
By Pooya Stone
The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this week that Iran is proving that it is an untrustworthy member of the international community following its attempt to put a satellite into orbit.
Iran had conducted a satellite launch even though the United States urged it not to. A rocket containing the Payam satellite did not gather enough speed in order to succeed in its mission according to the country’s Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi.
