Iran Focus

London, 25 Sep – On 22nd September there was a deadly attack at a military parade in the south-western part of Iran. Dozens of people were killed and Iran has accused the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel of being behind the attack. Tensions are rising between the countries and Iranian officials are making the matter worse by threatening revenge.

This tension will no doubt affect Iranian President Hassan Rouhani when he attends the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He has already said that he intends to “expose U.S. breaches of international regulations” and there is no doubt that he will have a lot to say about the U.S. exit from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

Iran Focus

London, 24 Sep – As the UN General Assembly begins, during a press briefing on Thursday September 20th, US Department of State’s spokesperson Heather Nauert said that the United States holds Iran responsible for last week’s attacks on American establishments in Iraq. She said, “We recognize that Iran continues to be a destabilizing element in the region. They continue to try to attack other governments and individuals through their proxy militias. We will hold them responsible for any loss of American life. I just want to be clear about that.” Previously, the U.S. had warned against any attack by Iran-backed Iraqi militia against US forces in Iraq.

Iran Focus

London, 22 Sep – In May, Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear between Iran and six world powers and sent the foreign-policy establishment into overdrive with opposition.

They warned that Trump’s promise to bring back sanctions – specifically on Iran’s oil exports – would fail because America’s allies and the other signatories to the nuclear deal would continue to do business with Iran. Then, as if they were dealing with Schrödinger’s sanctions, they said that if the sanctions worked, then the US would be dealing with increased oil prices that would bite the American people and possibly even cause a recession.

Iran Focus

London, 21 Sep – Oil refiners in Japan have temporarily suspended all loading from Iran ahead of incoming US sanctions, even though they are still trying to obtain a sanctions waiver from Washington, according to Takashi Tsukioka, the President of the Petroleum Association of Japan.

When asked whether refiners had suspended their Iranian oil loadings beyond October, Tsukioka told a press conference on Thursday: “I understand that each company’s position [over Iranian oil loadings] is the same, to have suspended them while monitoring the situation. The companies are also taking a flexible approach to be prepared to respond, depending on how the situation develops.”

Iran Focus

London, 21 Sep – On September 19th, British-Iranian dual nationals were advised against all but essential travel to Iran. Britain has warned them that it has only limited powers to support them if they are detained in the country.

A foreign office spokeswoman said, “The Foreign Secretary (Jeremy Hunt) has taken the decision to advise against all but essential travel by UK-Iranian dual nationals to Iran.” Her email statement continued, “British citizens who also hold Iranian nationality face risks if they travel to Iran, as we have seen all too sadly in a number of cases. The Iranian government does not recognize dual nationality, so if a dual national is detained our ability to provide support is extremely limited.”