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Satellite Images Show Iran’s Military Base in Syria

Iran Focus

London, 01 Mar – Reports indicate that Iran has built and set up a military base just outside the Syrian capital. It is being used to store its missiles that are reportedly able to strike Israel.

The base, with brand new hangars, is located eight miles from Damascus. ImageSat International has satellite images showing the structure.

Intelligence experts have said that the base is being operated by the special operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – the Quds Force. There are apparently a couple of hangars that contain short-range and medium-range missiles.

Iran Cybersecurity Threat Sets Sight on the Middle East

Iran Focus

London, 01 Mar – An Iranian hacking group that has previously conducted surveillance on the Iranian people for the Regime is now setting its sights on other places in the Middle East, according to a new report from Symantec.

The cybersecurity firm reports that in 2017 the group, known as Chafer, had been targeting airlines, aircraft services, telecom firms, and technology companies serving the air and sea transport sectors in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

Iranian Death Row Inmate Granted Swedish Citizenship

Iran Focus

London, 01 Mar – Sweden recently granted citizenship to a disaster medicine expert currently on death row in Iran, with the hopes that it will allow the Swedish Foreign Ministry to intervene in the case and get the doctor released.

Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, who taught at the Karolinska Institute of Medicine in Stockholm and worked in the research department of the Free University Brussels (VUB), visited Iran for a medical conference in 2016, where he was arrested and charged with spying for Israel. In October 2017, he was tried and sentenced to death.

Djalali’s wife Vida Mehrannia explained that decision to grant him Swedish citizenship gives her hope that he will be released.

The US Must Act on Iran’s Human Rights Abuses

Iran Focus

London, 01 Mar – The United Nations Human Rights Council has invited the Iranian Justice Minister Alireza Avayi to speak at its latest session, which began this week, and that sets a very low bar for human rights.

Avayi has been sanctioned by the European Union for many reasons, but the worst is his long record of human rights violations, including his role in the mass execution of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988.

The massacre, described as one of the worst crimes against humanity since World War II, was ordered in a fatwa by then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini.

France to Take Steps to Curb Iran Ballistic Missile Threat

Iran Focus

London, 01 Mar – Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Foreign Minister of France, said that Iran’s ballistic missile program is a grave concern to his country and he wants to ensure that it is not going to become an issue that will threaten Iran’s neighbours. He said that there is a huge risk factor surrounding the country’s missile program and he wants to ensure that steps are taken to counter it.

“There is a risk, and everything possible needs to be done to avoid this risk and take the necessary measures so that this ballistic threat is not such for all regional actors.”

Speaking in Moscow with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, Le Drian said yesterday that the security in the whole of the Middle East risks being undermined.

US General Says Iran Has Increased Spending on Terrorist Proxies Since Nuclear Deal Was Implemented

Iran Focus

London, 01 Mar – General Joseph Votel, the United States’ top general who is in charge of the US Central Command, has said that Iran has been increasing its investments in terrorist and militant groups across the whole of the Middle East in the few years since the nuclear deal took effect.

Speaking to lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee, General Votel said: “What it took 20 years for Iran to do in Lebanon with the Lebanese Hezbollah, they’re attempting to do in about five years with the Houthis in Yemen. They’re accelerating their pace and their ability to do this.”

Iranian Opposition Organises Protest Against Presence of Iranian Justice Minister at UN in Geneva

Iran Focus

London, 01 Mar – Protests organised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) have taken place because of the attendance and participation of Iran’s minister of justice at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Seyyed Alireza Avaei was formerly a prosecutor in Iran and is notorious for his role in the arbitrary execution of thousands of political opponents.

He also was in charge of the 2009 trials that caused international outrage because those on trial were anti-government protesters. Some of this outrage came from the United Nations itself.

Violent Attacks Against Women Protesting the Hijab Continue

Iran Focus

London, 28 Feb – In recent days, women have been brutalized and arrested by the regime’s forces as they protest wearing the compulsory veil.

These actions are vehemently condemned by Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in an article published on February 27th, 2018.

Calling on Iran’s youth, and the sisterhood of women, The NCRI Women’s Committee are pleading that the Revolutionary Guard and the regime’s security forces not be allowed to apprehend the protesting women.

German Military Forced to Fuel Iranian Foreign Plane in Munich

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Iran Focus

London, 28 Feb – The unified armed forces of Germany, known as the Bundeswehr had to refuel Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s plane in Munich recently. According to German media reports, local fuel companies had already refused to do because they did not want to violate US sanctions against Iran.

The daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR reported on Tuesday that Zarif was attending the Munich Security Conference with other foreign officials and security experts before the incident occurred.

Future of the Iran Nuclear Deal Depends on Europe

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Iran Focus

London, 28 Feb – When the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement was signed, many hoped that it would be the start of a new era – a less belligerent and non-nuclear Iran. However, this was far from the reality. Nothing really changed with regards to Iran’s meddling and trail of destruction across the Middle East.

When President Trump took office, he ended the policies of appeasement that were clearly not effective. He decertified the deal in October last year because Iran refused to let international inspectors have proper access to nuclear and military sites and because it was still trying to access missile and banned nuclear technology, among other violations.