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.

Iran Focus

London, 26 Oct – The Iranian Regime may be beginning the process to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal by filing a claim to the European Union that the US has violated the deal on 18 separate occasions, including continued sanctions and withholding revenue.

If the claim is accepted, then Iran could leave the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and save face by laying the blame on the Donald Trump administration.

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, an Iranian member of parliament, told state-run media: “The recent report is specifically about the Americans’ efforts to derail the JCPOA, so much so that the foreign ministry has delineated 18 blatant cases of breach of the agreement made by the US.”

Iran Focus

London, 26 Oct – The United States Navy now has three aircraft carriers and their assorted missile-carrying vessels deployed to the western Pacific Ocean for the first time in a decade, as tensions with rogue nuclear states North Korea and Iran continue to rise.

On Wednesday October 25, the USS Nimitz and its strike group entered the Western Pacific region, fresh from deployment in the Middle East, according to a press release from the Navy.

This deployment, which the US Navy says is part of a previously planned cycle, coincides with Donald Trump’s visit to Asia next week.

Iran Focus

London, 25 Oct – Seventy percent of American voters believe that the 2015 nuclear deal (between the US, Iran and five other world powers) should be renegotiated, according to a recent poll.

The respondents were also overwhelmingly in favour (81 percent) of the new deal being approved by the Senate and verified by Congress- in the same way that treaties are- rather than by executive order.

The Harvard-Harris survey found that 85 percent of Republicans, 71 percent of independents and 57 percent of Democrats, were in favour of renegotiation and Congress ratification.