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.
Iran Focus
London, 31 July – The Iranian rial hit a record low on Sunday, trading at over 100,000 rials to the US dollar as the country braces itself for the first batch of economic sanctions from the US on August 7.
According to Iran’s unofficial market – this actually refers to the global exchange market following Iran’s decision to artificially fix the exchange rate following the last fall in the rial – the value of the rial dropped from 97,500 rials to the US dollar to 112,000 overnight this weekend.
These figures are gathered from foreign exchange website Bonbast.com, but other websites had the rial valued at between 108,500 and 116,000 rials per US dollar.
Iran Focus
London, 31 July – Every day, Iranian farmers drove their tractors to the entrance of Varzaneh town, stopping their vehicles next to the canal that once watered their crops, but has been dry for years, and protests against the government’s mismanagement of the water shortages.
One farmer, Mostafa Benvidi, chanted: “We are the people. Help the people. At night they go to bed hungry!”
Many demonstrators hold up signs with the names of officials that they blame for the crisis during their protest.
Iran Focus
London, 31 July – Tensions are soaring between the US and Iran following Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal and following recent Iranian threats against destroying oil imports, the US is now looking at military options to keep vital sea transport routes in the Middle East open.
Iranian officials have made many verbal threats against the safety of global oil trade in the Persian Gulf in recent days, while the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked Saudi oil tankers.
According to CNN, this attack on the Saudi Arabian oil tankers on Wednesday is a cause of worry among many.
Iran Focus
London, 30 July – Last week, the war of words between Iran and the United States became even more tense. After a threat from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that “war with Iran is the mother of all wars”, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran a few hours later that Iran would “suffer consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before”.
The Trump administration has taken a number of steps in recent months to push back against Iran. Pulling out of the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement was followed by the announcement that sanctions would be reapplied and new ones to be issued. Then the U.S. State Department announced that it expected foreign countries to reduce its imports of Iranian oil to zero by November this year.
Iran Focus
London, 30 July – At the beginning of May, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would be exiting the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). This came after months of speculation and much pleading from the European Union for Trump to remain within the framework of the deal.
However, Trump refused to bow down to pressure and he was very clear in his reasons for exiting the deal.
Iran Focus
London, 28 July – General Qassem Soleimani commander of the Iranian Regime’s terrorist Quds force threatened President Trump this week, targeting a major Red Sea chokepoint.
“The Red Sea which was secure is no longer secure for the presence of American (military) … The Quds force and I are your match. We don’t go to sleep at night before thinking about you,” Iran’s top general said in a speech from Hamedan, Iran, in which, according to local media, he addressed the American president directly.
Iran Focus
London, 27 July – US-Iran relations are at an all-time low after their presidents’ war of words last weekend, but could this really lead to Iran cutting off a key oil shipping strait?
On Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened the US with “to the mother of all wars”, to which Donald Trump responded with an all-caps tweet warning Iran not to threaten the US ever again.
Their exchanges have only intensified since the US pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May and promised extensive sanctions against Iran, the first of which come into place next week.
Iran Focus
London, 27 July – The US’s military base near to southern Syria’s al-Tanf border crossing may have been set up to train local Syrians to fight ISIS militants, but it also provides an effective counterweight to Iran’s malign activities in the region.
Army Major Josh Jacques, a spokesman for US Central Command (CENTCOM), said: “Our mere presence there accomplishes that, whether it’s a goal or not.”
Even though the US military is primarily focused on training a Syrian group called Maghawir al-Thawra (MaT) to defeat ISIS, CENTCOM commander US Army General Joseph Votel reports that the American presence indirectly impedes Iran’s “destabilizing acts” in the nation.
Iran Focus
London, 27 July – Earlier this month, after its insurance company refused to provide coverage for purchase of an Iranian oil cargo, due to U.S. sanctions, India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL), India’s third largest state-owned refiner, cancelled the purchase, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.
Although HPCL renewed its installation insurance, which protects against any accidents at its refinery or storage sites, in early July, the sources say that its new policy will not protect against any incidents involving Iranian oil processed or stored at its refineries.
