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New Partnerships in the Region Leave Iran Concerned

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Iran Focus

London, 13 Mar – Iran is on bad terms with many of the nations across the Middle East. One could say that the situation is worsening as more and more leaders are being increasingly outspoken about Iran’s belligerence.

As the Iran threat increases, more and more leaders are agreeing on a number of issues and this is making the Iranian regime uneasy.

Ties between Iraq and Saudi Arabia are getting tighter and Iran is worried. The relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been tense for decades. The regional rivals are on opposing sides of most of the conflicts in the region and each one is outspoken about the other.

Iran Gets Its Hooks Into the Iraqi Army

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Iran Focus

London, 12 Mar – A coalition of Iran-backed Shiite militias officially became part of the Iraqi military on Thursday, which places the US in a difficult position as it tries to prevent Iran from expanding its influence over Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi issued the ruling to induct the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF or Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi) into the Iraqi military and give them ranks and salaries, proportionate to other branches of the armed forces, just one day after receiving Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri for an official visit.

The Ever-Growing Threat Posed by Iran

Iran Focus

London, 12 Mar – Iran is a threat to its neighbours in the region as its meddling continues. It is also a threat to the West and the international community as a whole. However, it is very infrequently mentioned in the international press.

Of course, the nuclear threat coming from North Korea is receiving extensive news coverage, as it should. But we should not let this minimise the threat coming from Iran – especially with regards to its ballistic missile program.

Iran’s ballistic missile program has gone unchecked for far too long and many governments and leaders would like it addressed. United States President Donald Trump has said that it is something that should have been addressed during the negotiations of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. It wasn’t and Iran’s threat is growing rather than decreasing.

Iran Cyber Threat Increases

Iran Focus

London, 12 Mar – Experts believe that Iran is working on a new cyber-attack as there is an increasing amount of activity happening. Iranian hackers are becoming more and more experienced with regards to surveillance operations.

Only last month, the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said that Iran was the most dangerous nation when it comes to the threat of a cyber-attack. He said: “The most dangerous nation behind cyberattacks? Iran. Iran is the only country that has attacked us repeatedly and tried to attack us repeatedly. In fact, they tried to do it on a virtually weekly basis.”

Iran’s Support of the Taliban

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Iran Focus

London, 10 Mar – The Iranian Regime is the number one sponsor of terrorism in the world, regardless of religious differences, so it only makes sense that they are supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan, while also maintaining ties with the Afghan government.

Iran has a long history of meddling in the Afghan state, from recruiting its people and refugees into the Fatemiyoun Brigade, a proxy force of the Iranian Regime that fights in Syria, to making agreements with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to develop the Chabahar port on Iran’s Arabian Sea coast.

Khamenei Dismisses Women’s Rights on International Women’s Day and Gets Shot Down by Iranian Women

Iran Focus

London, 10 Mar – The Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, decided to share his views on women’s rights on International Women’s Day and it didn’t go down well among Iranian women or their supporters.

Khamenei used Twitter– a site banned for the Iranian people- to praise his bastardised version of Islam for keeping women “modest” and in their “defined roles”, by which he means as wives and mothers, while lashing out at the West for corrupting women into leading a “deviant lifestyle”.

Bahrain Slams Iran for Harbouring Criminals and Terrorists

Iran Focus

London, 09 Mar – The interior minister of Bahrain has said that Iran is now a safe haven for wanted criminals and a beacon for terrorist cells.

On Wednesday, Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said: “Iran has transgressed international conventions and norms and has no commitment to the Interpol or its Red Notices. It has set itself above the law and offers its land and camps to train terrorists and export weapons and explosives.”

Iran Raises Fears of Second Holocaust

Iran Focus

London, 09 Mar – Iran is currently building up its ballistic missile programme and raising concern about the possibility of a “second Holocaust”, whilst the Donald Trump administration is undertaking sensitive international negotiations, according to sources familiar with the ongoing diplomatic talks.

The US and Europe are currently discussing potential fixes to the flaws of the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, but sources report that the Trump administration may be about to agree to fewer restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile programme than they wanted to, in order to preserve the deal and appease Europe who still wants to trade with Iran.

Iran: An Environmental Crisis More Dangerous Than Drying Lake Urmia

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Iran’s environment is subject to destruction, in such a way that it’s deadly, irreparable consequences for future generations could be predicted right now, emerging in the form of dried up lakes, rivers, wetlands and groundwater resources.

The latest instance of such environmental crises is the one related to Qom’s wetlands.

In a report titled “Qom’s drying wetlands, an alarm bell for the capital”, state-run ISNA news agency on February 28, 2018, acknowledges severe shortage of financial as well as human assets to protect natural resources and quotes the province’s director of Natural Resources Conservation Department as saying “with Qom’s wetlands drying up, the amount of dust in the country’s central parts will sharply increase, which rings a real alarm bell for the capital and other provinces alike.”

Iran Throttled Telegram Speeds Even After Lifting Ban

Iran Focus

London, 08 Mar – New evidence suggests that the Iran deliberately throttled or slowed connection speeds to the Telegram messaging app during the Iran protests, just days after lifting their temporary ban on the app, which just goes further to prove that Iran is attempting to control and censor the internet.

Telegram, along with photo-sharing app Instagram, was banned in Iran from December 30 to January 13 and this had big implications for the Iranian people of whom 45 million are on Telegram. Not only did it affect the protesters, but also small businesses and families.