Iran Focus

London, 20 Oct – Last week, Donald Trump turned US policy on Iran completely on its head with his speech addressing the Iranian Regime’s long history of aggressive behaviour towards America, starting with the 1979 US embassy seizure and hostage crisis.

It wasn’t just his decertification of Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal but his acknowledgement of the dangers that the Iranian Regime posed to their own people and the world at large that made his speech quite so revolutionary.

Trump’s speech was designed to show the world the deep divide between the authoritarian, theocratic Regime and the secular, multiethnic and pro-Western people of Iran before he moved on to the threat posed by Iran in terms of its ballistic missile program, support of terrorism, and destabilisation of the Middle East.

Iran Focus

London, 19 Oct – The President-her of the Iranian Resistance Forces has made a statement for the Italian Senate arguing that support for the Resistance is key in the fight for global peace and security.

Maryam Rajavi, who leads the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) which serves as a government-in-exile, expressed her gratitude that the Italian government had underscored the need to confront the Iranian Regime.

She said: “You have pinpointed an issue on which the world’s peace and security, the Middle East’s liberation from war, terrorism and instability, and the Iranian people’s freedom, all depend.”

Jubin Katiraie

Last week, United States President Donald Trump refused to re-certify Iran as compliant to the 2015 nuclear deal. Congress is now in the 60-day debate period during which it must decide if the crippling economic sanctions that were in place before the deal was signed are to be reimposed.

This is now the chance for Trump to really define the US foreign policy towards Iran. He has vowed to ensure that the Iranian regime does not continue on its destructive path.

One way that Trump can really make a difference is by supporting the people of Iran. They have struggled for years under the torturous regime and are desperate for freedom.

Iran Focus

London, 19 Oct – This week the US foreign policy team unveiled its new policy on Iran and measures to address the nuclear deal, formally known as the JCPOA. On October 13th, President Trump laid out the major points of this new policy, which include the decertification of the JCPOA, and designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pursuant to the global terrorism Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, in his 20-minute speech that marks a major policy change.

After Trump’s speech, the EU expressed its concern over the US abandoning the JCPOA. However, Israel and Saudi Arabia welcomed the new policy toward Tehran.

Iran Focus

London, 18 Oct – There are four things in Iran that impact heavily on US foreign policy: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his personal terror squads (the Revolutionary Guards and its Quds Force unit), the Iranian Government led by so-called moderate Hassan Rouhani, and the Iranian people themselves whose views and values are incredibly different to that of their oppressive rulers.

The first, second, and third elements are hard to untangle.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is only answerable to Khamenei, controls much of the Iranian economy (often through illicit means), while the Quds Force (designated as a terrorist supporter by the US and Canada) seeks to destabilise the Middle East through proxy terror cells.