Iran Focus

London, 30 Oct – A little over two weeks ago, Donald Trump decertified Iranian compliance with the 2015 Nuclear Deal, which was supposed to impose strict limits on the rogue state’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Now Congress must decide whether or not to reimpose sanctions waived under the nuclear deal by mid-December.

The hope for the deal, signed by the permanent members of the UN Security Council (the US, UK, Russia, France and China) plus Germany, were high. Iran would give up its nuclear programme in order to obtain sanctions relief and then be slowly convinced through interaction with other countries to dispose of its other troubling behaviours, like support for terrorism and destabilisation of fellow nation states.

Iran Focus

London, 30 Oct – It is now time for the US Congress to get on with the task of fixing the flawed Iran nuclear deal and amend any loopholes that the Iranian Regime can exploit in it.

This is perfectly within the remit of the US without violating the deal as it stands.

Some will argue that the deal is “working” and Iran is “complying”, while accusing Donald Trump of not decertifying Iran solely on their noncompliance with the nuclear deal.

Actually, they are half right. The deal is not working and there are numerous instances where Iran clearly violated the term or the agreement without being punished, but Trump did not decertify them for this reason alone.

Iran Focus

London, 28 Oct – The blacklisting of Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Treasury Department after President Trump’s October 13th Iran policy speech, was a major blow to Tehran.

Hessam-edin Ashena, an advisor to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, remarked to a state daily, “Sanctions against the IRGC are nothing new… The IRGC is not an economic entity for them to attempt to impact its future through sanctions. The IRGC is a military entity that will negotiate with no one regarding its duties.”

Iran Focus

London, 27 Oct – According to Bloomberg’s report, the US House of Representatives passed new sanction bills this week that target Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for Hezbollah.

The nearly unanimous vote of 423-2, displayed bi-partisan support from Congress against Iran — the first such, since US President Trump refused to certify Iran’s compliance with the terms of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), earlier this month.