Iran Focus
London, 16 Jan – Donald Trump renewed the Iranian nuclear deal last week by extending overall sanctions relief for another 120 days and vowed that this was Iran’s last chance. There would be no more waivers. The deal either had to deliver on promised improvements, go through some serious changes, or he would pull the US out of the deal.
At the same time, the US issued targeted sanctions against people and entities for non-nuclear issues, like human rights.
Iran Focus
London, 16 Jan – Donald Trump has given the Iran nuclear deal one final chance by extending sanctions relief for 120 days, while issuing target sanctions against specific Regime members.
However, he warned that if nothing is better by May and Congress cannot make major changes to the agreement, then the deal will be dead.
Meanwhile, leading Iranian dissidents are urging the US not to save the flawed deal at all.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Jan – Several young men who were arrested during the anti-government demonstrations in Iran have died in custody. The Iranian regime has reported that two committed suicide and another was a terrorist that was killed during a clash with security forces.
However, many people in the country are saying that these allegations are completely false.
Scores of people have died during the protests that swept across Iran in the past few weeks.
The people are calling for an investigation into these three deaths, claiming that circumstances are suspicious and the regime’s account of the facts are doubtful.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Jan – The people of Iran have been protesting and participating in anti-government demonstrations for several weeks now. The main reason behind this is because of the economic crisis the country is experiencing. The people are bearing the brunt of a huge rise in prices and a very worrying economic future; all while watching the nation’s wealth be plundered on conflicts abroad.
Rouhani’s government, during the recent budget, cut back on subsidies at the lower end of the economy scale and this has hit middle and lower-class Iranians. This had had a huge economic impact on food and fuel.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Jan – No matter what the Iranian Regime would have you believe, the protests in Iran are not over and they are not being organised by foreign governments.
Human rights activist Heshmat Alavi wrote on Track Persia: “[This] is a struggle between the Iranian people literally fed up with this regime and a dictatorship weakened from domestic unrest, internal rifts and international pressures.”
Of course, the weak Iranian Regime is quick to blame others—specifically the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) – because it can’t deal with the current protests, which are totally different from those seen before.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Jan – Donald Trump gave the Iranian Regime a final chance to mend its ways when he waived nuclear sanctions for 120 days, this past weekend.
If the2 deal’s flaws are not fixed within that time period, then Trump will withdraw the US from the deal.
So what flaws does Trump want to be tackled?
Iran Focus
London, 15 Jan – There can be no doubt that the current protests across Iran are far different from those that took place previously. For most people, the closest comparison they have is the 2009 Green Protests but those were confined to the capital and about just one issue: election fraud.
The current demonstrations began over the cost of food in Mashhad but quickly grew into a protest about everything that’s wrong with the Regime (and there’s a lot) and has now spread to 141 cities across all 31 provinces.
The only thing that every protester can agree on is an end to the Regime, calling for Death to Hassan Rouhani and Ali Khamenei. These people aren’t swallowing the notion that there are reformers or moderates in Iran; they know that the only chance they have for change is to get rid of the Regime entirely.
Iran Focus
London, 13 Jan – Iran has recently been rocked by demonstrations that began over frustration about crushing poverty and widespread unemployment, but quickly changed to calls for the expulsion of the regime.
While smaller-scale protests, with more limited demands, had occurred almost continuously over the previous year, the strength of the protests came as a surprise. However, the regime’s response was shocking.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) released figures on the human cost of the first nine days, this past Friday. Drawing on information provided by the network of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), the NCRI’s leading constituent group, they determined that at least 50 people had been killed and another 3,000 arrested. Public acknowledgement of some of the killings and the arrests have Iranian authorities admitting to 500 arrests in Tehran alone.
Iran Focus
London, 13 Jan – Evidence has led to assertions that Iran violated an arms embargo imposed on Yemen by failing to prevent the Houthi rebels in that war-ravaged nation from obtaining Iranian missiles, including one fired hundreds of miles into Saudi Arabia two months ago.
The report said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is in noncompliance” with Resolution 2216, adopted nearly three years ago after the war between the Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government in Yemen had begun.
Iran Focus
London, 12 Jan – The current Iranian protests are notable for two main reasons: geographic scope and range of grievances. Unlike previous protests, these are mainly populated by the working class, taking place in almost every city and town in Iran, without a singular cause.
In fact, here are just a few of their complaints:
