Iran Focus

London, 24 Nov – The Iranian Regime has confirmed that it will continue to support the Houthis, its terrorist proxy in Yemen, and refused to discuss any potential withdrawal of support for its proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah.

On Thursday, November 23, the Iranian Regime’s state-run television quoted Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, chief commander of Iran’s militant Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as saying that it will continue to back the Houthi militants after they recently launched an Iranian-made ballistic missile against Saudi Arabia.

Iran Focus

London, 23 Nov – The head of the Iranian Navy has announced his plans to send ships to Mexico and South America, in his first speech since taking office.

Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi promised that the Iranian flag would fly in the Gulf of Mexico and that Iranian boats in the Atlantic Ocean would soon be a routine occurrence, according to the state-run Tasnim news agency.

There was also an emphasis on new technologies, in his speech, that would help Iran to “dominate” the Atlantic Ocean and the waters close to Iran.

Iran Focus

London, 22 Nov – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) should be added to the United Kingdom’s list of proscribed terrorist groups, according to a motion tabled by UK Members of Parliament.

Early Day Motion 483, tabled on 31 October 2017, “calls on the Government to include the IRGC on the list of proscribed organisations, impose punitive measures against its officials and to work with allies to expel the IRGC from Syria, Iraq and the Middle East”.

Iran Focus

London, 22 Nov – There are currently 30 dual nationals detained in Iran on false charges of plotting the overthrow of the Iranian Regime or spying for a foreign power or whatever else the mullahs have chosen to tar them with. This is 30 too many.

Since the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers was signed in 2015, the number of dual nationals arrested in Iran has actually gone up, according to Reuters, meaning that the Regime’s bad behaviour was not solved by the deal.

The Iranian Regime has a long history of taking dual or foreign nationals hostage in order to demand a ransom (of money and/or weapons) from their home country.

Iran Focus

London, 22 Nov – Federal prosecutors have announced charges against an Iranian military hacker who broke into HBO’s computer network this summer in order to extort millions of dollars from the company.

The indictment, unsealed in New York on Tuesday, said that Behzad Mesri, “had worked on behalf of the Iranian military to conduct computer network attacks that targeted military systems, nuclear software systems, and Israeli infrastructure”.

Although the document doesn’t state that the Iranian Regime told Mesri to attack HBO, it should be made clear that he is deeply tied to the Regime and would be unlikely to attack such a prominent target without their permission. He is not a lone hacker working from his bedroom, but a highly trained operative who has much experience in hacking international targets for the mullahs.