Iran Focus
London, 29 Nov – During the most recent Iraqi elections, many in Western government and media hailed the elections of Adel Abdul-Mahdi and Barham Salih as prime minister and president respectively. This looked like a new beginning for the much-beleaguered Iraq and a chance for the Gulf state to finally leave its problems behind.
Iran Focus
London, 29 Nov – The strike at the Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Mill in southeastern Iran is now entering its fourth consecutive week, with workers demanding long-overdue wages, that the mill is re-nationalised, and that the two activists still being held over the strike be released immediately and unconditionally.
Iran Focus
London, 28 Nov – Demanding medical treatment their detained colleague, a human rights activist who has been on a hunger strike for months, a group of Iranian doctors protested outside the country’s parliament.
Images of the doctors holding signs outside the parliament building in support of activist Farhad Meysami began to circulate on Monday. The lawyer who represents Meysami, Mohammad Moghimi, said in a phone interview that the protest began on Monday morning.
Iran Focus
London, 28 Nov – US sanctions on Iran are beginning to take their toll, with oil prices plummeting and falling sales plaguing Iran and, no doubt, keeping the mullahs up at night.
This is largely due to the success of America’s continued energy production, which many observers expected to reach a plateau. This is stopping Iran from reaping the benefit promised during the nuclear deal in the same way that sharp price spiral of oil did in 2016. Even though Iran’s black market sales of Iranian oil are likely to yield little financial profit.
Iran Focus
London, 28 Nov – The US has three crucial objectives that it intends to meet with its reimposition of sanctions on Iran.
First, prevent Iran from ever legally building a nuclear weapon – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action’s (JCPOA) restrictions run out in 2024. Second, stop Iran from supporting terrorist groups across the Middle East and beyond, while reducing its influence in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon. Third, to dismantle Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Iran Focus
London, 27 Nov – A senior Iranian official has admitted that Iran now receives little benefit from the 2015 nuclear deal since the US reimposed sanctions on the country earlier this year, which means that sanctions are working.
Speaking at a seminar on Iran-EU cooperation held in Brussels, on Monday, November 26, Abbas Araqchi, the Islamic Republic’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, said: “The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is in a ‘critical situation’… This is a reality”.
Iran Focus
London, 27 Nov – Five environmentalists arrested in Iran for “spying” in January could face the death penalty after they were charged with “sowing corruption on Earth”.
Niloufar Bayani, Taher Ghadirian, Houman Jowkar, Sepideh Kashani and Morad Tahbaz, all members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, were focused on the conservation of different wildlife species in Iran, including the Asiatic cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus). They put camera traps down near the cheetahs’ habitat to monitor the big cats, after receiving permission from the Iranian government, but the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) alleged that the team was spying on Iran’s missile program.
Iran Focus
London, 27 Nov – Sanctions relief was expected to encourage a general trend toward moderation within the theocratic system, according to the negotiators for the Iran nuclear deal. In the preamble of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the deal is more formally known, its signatories declare that they anticipate that the agreement will contribute positively to peace and stability throughout the region.
Iran Focus
London, 26 Nov – Iran has faced international condemnation for likening Israel to a “cancerous tumour”, which has led many leaders around the world to criticize Iranian President Hassan Rouhani for making anti-Semitic remarks.
On Saturday, Rouhani called Israel a “cancerous tumour” in the Middle East during a speech.
He said: “One of the ominous results of World War Two was the formation of a cancerous tumour in the region.”
Iran Focus
London, 26 Nov – Many have criticised current U.S. President Donald Trump for his foreign policy decisions with regards to Iran. Many have slammed his decision to exit the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or 2015 Iran nuclear deal as it is known. Many have also criticised him for the crippling economic sanctions that are currently being implemented.
