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Protesters in Basra Set Fire to Iranian Consulate

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Protesters in Basra Set Fire to Iranian Consulate

Protesters in Basra set fire to Iranian consulate

Iran Focus

London, 10 Sep – The Iranian consulate in Basra, Iraq, was set fire to by anti-government protesters on Friday, shouting “Iran, Out”, after a week of demonstrations in the southern city turned violent.

Despite the 100+ degrees Fahrenheit temperatures, protesters were calling for an end to Iranian influence in the country, criticising the Iraqi government’s dysfunction, and demanding more jobs and better public services.

Thousands of residents in the oil-rich region are living in poverty, have grown sick from contaminated water, and have suffered power outages.

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Iran Relocates Oil Export Infrastructure in a Desperate Attempt to Evade US Sanctions

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Iran Relocates Oil Export Infrastructure in a Desperate Attempt to Evade US Sanctions

Iran Oil

Iran Focus

London, 10 Sep – As Donald Trump continues to increase pressure on Iran ahead of the incoming November sanctions on Iranian oil, most recently by scheduling a UN Security Council meeting on Iran for later this month, global oil markets have gone into overdrive.

At the meeting, Trump is likely to address the problems he sees with Iran, including terrorism, regional interference, and human rights abuses, while outlining the need for the other UNSC members to join in with his sanctions against Iran.

In response to this, Iran has resorted to its traditional threats of closing off the Hormuz Strait, where a third of global oil exports pass through, which could well lead to higher oil prices.

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Iran’s Prison Laws Violated by the Conditions Dervish Women Detainees Are Kept Under

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Iran’s Prison Laws Violated by the Conditions Dervish Women Detainees Are Kept Under

Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish

Iran Focus

London, 10 Sep – Iran’s seven-month jailing of seven Dervish women under harsh conditions near Tehran is in violation of national prison regulations, according to an exiled Iranian Dervish rights activist, Alireza Roshan.

The Turkey-based member of Iran’s Gonabadi Dervish religious minority said in an interview on Tuesday, “The situation of the women in Qarchak prison is appalling.”

Roshan is a writer and poet, as well as an editor of Majzooban Noor, a news outlet that covers Iran’s Dervish community. He added, “The Dervish women are weak physically after having been beaten before and after their transfer to the prison. But prison officials are not allowing them to receive needed medical treatment.”

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As U.S. Sanctions Block Path to New Planes, Iran Struggles to Keep Old Aircraft Usable

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As U.S. Sanctions Block Path to New Planes, Iran Struggles to Keep Old Aircraft Usable

Iranian airlines

Iran Focus

London, 10 Sep – The Iran nuclear deal’s implementation in 2015 lifted many international sanctions on the country. Iranian airlines were happy for the opportunity to renew their fleets. Orders were placed for tens of billions of dollars’ worth of new aircraft.

Contracts were signed with Boeing, Airbus, and ATR. Only a few of the 300 planes that were ordered were delivered, however, when US President Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions. New deliveries dwindled, as did the ability to buy spare parts. As new U.S. sanctions go into effect, Iran’s airlines are forced to patch up their aging planes instead of using newer models.

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Increased Fuel Smuggling in Iran as Currency Plummets

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Increased Fuel Smuggling in Iran as Currency Plummets

Increased Fuel Smuggling in Iran as Currency Plummets

Iran Focus

London, 7 Sep – Smuggling fuel is on the increase as prices soar inside and outside the country.

Iran’s rial has plummeted to a record-breaking 140,000 against the U.S. dollar. The rial has lost about 72% of its value since September 2017, but subsidized fuel prices remained unchanged.

Today, gasoline prices in Iran are approximately 10 cents per liter, while in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, and Iraq gasoline is six to 10 times more expensive. Smuggling gasoline is therefore quite lucrative.

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After Currency Crash, Iran Is a “Land of Confusion”

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After Currency Crash, Iran Is a “Land of Confusion”

Currency Crash In Iran

Iran Focus

London, 7 Sep – On Wednesday, residents of Tehran lined up outside moneychangers as Iran’s rial fell to a record low, a 140-percent drop in value since America exited the nuclear deal last May.

The Iranian week begins on Saturday, and by the end of the day on Wednesday, the Iranian peoples’ money had lost a quarter of its value.

“Everyone’s just nervous,” said one resident. However, state media has not acknowledged the drop.

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With Economy Floundering, Iran Doomed to Failure

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With Economy Floundering, Iran Doomed to Failure

Hassan Rouhani

Iran Focus

London, 6 Sep – Hassan Rouhani was summoned by parliament to answer questions on the country’s mounting economic crisis last week. He blamed the economic problems on an “American conspiracy”, but his argument was rejected, and he is now facing a judiciary review. Putting further pressure on him, is the fact that two of his ministers were impeached last month.

In May, US President Trump exited the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed the sanctions the deal had lifted. Following this, Iran’s economy plummeted, with Trump’s warnings to foreign companies that they will face penalties for continuing to do business with Iran.

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Iran’s Proxies’ in Iraq Developing Missiles to Use Against Its Enemies in the Region

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Iran’s Proxies’ in Iraq Developing Missiles to Use Against Its Enemies in the Region

Iran’s-Proxies’-in-Iraq

Iran Focus

London, 5 Sep – For months, Iran-back Iraqi armed factions have been working to develop ballistic missiles that they threaten to use against American forces in the country, according to Shiite commanders and Iraqi security officials.

Iranian proxy forces using improved missile technology in yet another country in the Middle East is concerning to Arab countries and the US. The ballistic missiles that the Houthi militias fired at Saudi Arabia earlier this year were confirmed to have come from Iran, who is also accused of helping Hezbollah build factories in Lebanon to produce similar weapons.

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Iran Denies Education for Student Activists

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Iran Denies Education for Student Activists

Iran denies education for student activists

Iran Focus

London, 5 Sep – The following report by Human Rights Watch is and indicative and an illustration of the methods of retaliation of the ruling system in Iran against student activists who want nothing but their normal civil rights, many talented students are denied higher education only for being active in peaceful demonstrations against the theocratic government:

This time of year in Iran, graduate school applicants learn if they’ve been accepted into the programs they’ve strived for based on their national exam rank. But over the past decade, authorities have been quietly barring student activists from furthering their education, marking their application status with a “star” that indicates their application is “missing documents.”

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Europe to Skirt U.S. Sanctions and Keep Doing Business With Iran

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Europe to Skirt U.S. Sanctions and Keep Doing Business With Iran

Europe to skirt U.S. sanctions and keep doing business with Iran

Iran Focus

London, 4 Sep – America’s allies in Europe are plotting ways to bypass U.S. sanctions on Iran as they work to keep the nuclear deal alive without the United States.

With a second round of U.S. sanctions set to take effect in November, European officials are working at cross-purposes with Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign as they try to preserve as much business as possible with Iran. The goal is to persuade Iran’s leaders to stay in the deal for a few more years — perhaps long enough for Trump to be replaced and for a new U.S. president to rejoin the deal.

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