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What You Should Know About Tehran’s Latest Missile Test

Iran Focus

London, 3 Oct – Following the Iranian Regime’s recent unveiling of a previously unseen medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and their claims to have conducted a successful flight-test of the missile, many Iran hawks and missile experts jumped into action.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a Senior Iran Analyst at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, prepared an FAQ to provide a nuanced understanding of Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities and intentions to those who don’t generally follow the development of the Iranian Regime too closely.

Iran Loses Female Chess Champ to the US Over “Bad Hijab” Rules

Iran Focus

London, 3 Oct – When the Iranian Regime banned a female player from their national chess team for what they call “bad hijab”, the last thing they would have expected is that she would have joined the US team instead.

Dorsa Derakhshani refused to wear the traditional headscarf (known as the hijab), which all Iranian women have been forced to wear in public since the Iranian Regime took power in 1979, at a competition in Gibraltar in February and as a result the Iranian Regime dropped her from the team.

On Monday, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported that Derakhshani, who won the titles of Woman Grandmaster and International Master in 2016, has joined the US national chess team instead.

Why the World Must Stop Ignoring the Human Rights Abuses of the Iranian Regime

Iran Focus

London, 3 Oct – When the international community ignores the Iranian Regime’s crimes against humanity, it is just strengthening the mullahs, according to one prominent member of the Iranian Resistance.

Soona Samsami, the US representative for the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), wrote an op-ed for The Hill discussing the Iranian Regime’s gross mistreatment of their own people and how this how been allowed to continue- with barely any criticism from other nations- since the first days of their rule.

Most recently, Samsami notes, is the case of the 22 political prisoners in Gohardasht Prison, Karaj (just west of Tehran), who went on a 40-day hunger strike in response to their treatment by the Regime.

Regime Change in Iran

Iran Focus

London, 3 Oct – While regime change in a rogue state may be preferable to all (accept the dictators themselves, of course), there are numerous cases of it being forced upon a nation by the US and ending badly; so what can make regime change smoother?

The Cipher Brief analysts Levi Maxey and Fritz Lodge compiled a report into regime change, particularly in the now-pressing cases of the Iranian Regime, “which seeks to extend its growing influence throughout the Middle East and tug at the threads of its nuclear deal with the West by pushing its ballistic missile program forward”, and the North Korean Regime “and its nuclear weapons programme”.

Iran: Critical Condition of Political Prisoner on Dry Hunger Strike

Iran Focus

London, 2 Oct – The Iranian Resistance is calling on all other international human rights advocates to take action to save Arabi’s life who has been on hunger strike for 40 days and obtain his freedom so that he can visit a doctor.

Meanwhile Amnesty International has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Iranian political prisoner Soheil Arabi.

They expressed concern over his welfare and demanded that he have access to full medical care, as he is being denied it by the Regime. He is currently in critical condition, is suffering from stomach bleeding, and his blood pressure is remarkably low at 50/60.

Iran Is Recruiting Afghan Child Soldier to Fight in Syria, Says Human Rights Watch

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Iran Focus

London, 2 Oct – Human Rights Watch revealed that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has been recruiting Afghan immigrant children living in Iran to fight in the Syrian Civil War on the side of Bashar Assad.

Afghan children, some as young as 14, are fighting in the Fatemiyoun division (an Afghan armed group supported by Iran). Not only is this morally reprehensible but, under internal law, recruiting anyone under 15 to fight in a conflict is a war crime.

It also contravenes the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which Iran has signed up to, which states that the minimum age for participation in armed conflict is 18.

Slovenia Investigates Its Own Bank for Money Laundering for the Iranian Regime

Iran Focus

London, 2 Oct – Slovenia has launched an investigation into claims that its biggest state-owned bank, Nova Ljubljanska Banka (NLB), laundered almost €1bn from Iran between 2008 and 2010, breaking international sanctions and potentially contributing to the financing of terrorism.

First reported back in July, it is believed that 40-50 daily transactions transferred money through NLB to over 30,000 accounts using obviously fake names like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.

The Slovenian government said: “In the case mentioned, the Office for Money Laundering Prevention (OMLP) has received a suspicious transaction report in June 2010 in relation to money laundering and Terrorist Financing Act.”

The Future of the Iran Deal

Iran Focus

London, 2 Oct – At the United Nations General Assembly in September, Donald Trump told the world that he had made a decision on the future of the Iranian nuclear deal of 2015.

While he has yet to confirm exactly what that decision is, many believe that he will decertify Iran as compliant with the deal at the October deadline and the reimposition of sanctions on Iran.

Former Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton, said: “These were very strong comments. And when you say, among other things, that the deal is an embarrassment to the U.S., it’s hard to see how you certify or stay in.”

Tackling the Houthi Terrorists Means Going After Iranian Regime

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Iran Focus

London, 2 Oct – Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, the former general manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, and former editor in chief of Asharq Al-Awsat, wrote an op-ed for Arab News, in which he advocated that in order to remove the threat posed by the Houthis, we must go after their backers: The Iranian Regime.

After all, the Houthis are merely the weapons that Iran is using in order to attack Yemen and by extension Saudi Arabia.

Rashed wrote: “Through the Houthis, Iran plans on finding its place at the Kingdom’s southern border, which poses a grave danger not only for Saudi Arabia, but also for any administration in Sanaa [in Yemen, on the Saudi border].”

Iran: Labor Protests and Strikes Gain Momentum as Workers Worry About Their Livelihoods

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Iran Focus

London, 30 Sep – In Iran, labor protests and strikes have increased across the country. Workers are demonstrating against layoffs and nonpayment of wages. Iran’s economy seems not to have recovered, even after economic sanctions were lifted after the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal. The Iranian peoples’ living conditions do not appear to have improved.

Iranian state is said to have attempted to halt protests by arresting workers and sentencing them to prison. Still, the increase in the number of labor protests in the past few months suggests that the Iranian labor movement is going to give more workers a voice to dissent.