Iran Focus
London, 3 August – Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said that we would meet the leaders of Iran “anytime they want”. This comes a week after warning Iran in an angry message on Twitter. He said: “To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!”
Iran Focus
London, 3 August – The Trump administration has put high-level corruption in Iran under the spotlight as they increase their efforts to undermine the mullahs’ rule in Tehran.
US Secretary Mike Pompeo recently called the mullahs “hypocritical holy men” in front of an Iranian-American audience in California, who applauded his assessment.
On July 22, he said: “The Iranian economy is going great but only if you’re a politically connected member of the elite.”
Iran Focus
London, 2 August – The economic, political, and social situation in Iran is getting so bad that even Afghan refugees and migrants that have been in Iran for over a decade are returning to their war-ravaged homeland.
Iran’s economy has been in freefall for quite a while thanks to the corruption of the mullahs, but this has been exacerbated by the new tough US policy on Iran. Now the value of the Iranian currency (rial) is falling fast, while inflation and unemployment are on the rise. This has hit Afghan migrants particularly hard as work in the grey economy, where most of them work, has declined sharply.
Iran Focus
London, 2 August – Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), paid tribute to the tens of thousands of political prisoners that lost their lives during the 1988 massacre.
During the summer of 1988, on the orders of the Supreme Leader at that time – Ruhollah Khomeini – a special commission was set up to execute members of opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).
The members of the special commission, often referred to as the “death committee”, ordered the execution of all the opposition members they came up against. The prisoners were “tried” and the death commission decided their fate. If there was any link to the PMOI, no matter how far removed, the prisoner would be executed.
Iran Focus
London, 2 August – Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that diplomatic talks with the leaders of Iran were imminent, but the Iranian Regime has dismissed and criticised the idea, with one lawmaker calling the proposed negotiations a “humiliation”.
Trump, who has previously said that he would meet the Iranian leaders at “any time” with no preconditions, told a rally in Tampa, Florida, that he had a feeling that the talks would occur “pretty soon”, but that even if they didn’t, that was still okay.
Trump then addressed the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, which he withdrew from in May, due to concerns that Iran had been cheating on the deal and that it did not address all of Iran’s malign behaviour.
Iran Focus
London, 2 August – The Iranian currency fell to a record low on Monday, just one week before the US begins re-imposing sanctions on Iran , which has sparked fears of prolonged economic turbulence and increased civil unrest.
As the market closed on Monday night, Iran’s rial was trading at 122,000 to the US dollar, which constitutes a rapid drop from Saturday when it was trading at 98,000. Many Iranians are already seeing their savings dwindle due to the failing economy and are rushing to buy hard currencies (US dollar/British pound) or gold, which are better able to retain value.
Iran Focus
London, 2 August – While campaigning for the American presidency, Donald Trump made a bold pledge on Iran’s prisoner taking, “This doesn’t happen if I’m president!”
Still, over a year into his presidency, Iran holds at least five U.S. citizens and permanent residents’ prisoner, including one taken during Trump’s tenure.
Although the White House declined to comment, the State Department claimed that the United States works “tirelessly” to free Americans held in Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 1 August – Iran’s official rial currency hit a record low of over 100,000 rials to the dollar on Sunday, the latest in a series of economic pitfalls for the country, which is now suffering from an extensive economic crisis and the imminent threat of returning US sanctions.
Iran Focus
London, 1 August – Housing costs in Tehran have increased by more than 50% in the past year, according to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).
In its latest report on the housing market of Iran’s capital city, CBI reported that compared with the same period from last year, residential real estate prices have risen by 54.4% and the price per square meter is currently 69.7 million rials (roughly $1,600).
Iran Focus
London, 31 July – A UN panel of experts has found that Yemen’s Houthi rebels are still being armed with ballistic missiles and drones that have similar characteristics to Iranian-made weapons.
In a report to the Security Council, the panel said that it “continues to believe” that Iranian short-range ballistic missiles and other weaponry have been transferred to Yemen after the arms embargo was imposed in 2015.
