Iran Focus
London, 25 Jul – “The situation in Gorgan Gulf is critical, with haze and pollutants as two of the factors that are seriously threatening the region”, says state-run ‘Mardom-Salari’ newspaper on July 23, 2017, quoting regime’s Deputy Governor of Golestan on Development Affairs.
Iran Focus
London, 24 Jul – London, 24 Jul – As the Trump White House is reviewing its Iran policy there is increasing support for regime change in Iran, according to an opinion piece on the Forbes website.
Iranian dissident writer Heshmat Alavi, wrote on 24 July that advocates of appeasement toward Iran are boosting their efforts of claiming any firm policy on Tehran will lead to war.
“The question is do the measures professed by this party truly prevent war?”
Iran Focus
London, 24 Jul – Iran is home to one of the world’s oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 7000 BC. The southwestern and western part of the Iranian Plateau participated in the traditional Ancient Near East with Elam, from the Early Bronze Age, and later with various other peoples, such as the Kassites, Mannaeans, and Gutians. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel names the Persians as the first Historical People. The Medes unified Iran as a nation and empire in 625 BC. The Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC), founded by Cyrus the Great, was the first of the Persian empires to rule from the Balkans to North Africa and also Central Asia, spanning three continents, from their seat of power in Persis (Persepolis). It was the largest empire yet seen and the first world empire.
Iran Focus
London, 24 Jul – Trump Plans to Decertify Iran, Sidelines State Dept.
President Donald Trump angrily sidelined the State Department and assigned trusted White House staffers with making the potential case for withholding certification at the next review of the Iran nuclear deal, Foreign Policy reported. Cathy Burke wrote in ‘News Max’ on Sunday, July, 23 and the article continues as follows:
The decision came after a “contentious meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson,” according to the article.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Jul – Because of its relationship with North Korea, in a few years Iran may have have intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) that will enable them to attack targets in the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Additionally, after the expiration of the Iran nuclear deal, those missiles could be armed with nuclear weapons.
Foreign policy analysts can predict trends but are hesitant to do so in these tumultuous times. The American people didn’t vote for such dithering when they elected Donald Trump to the presidency last November, though. They wanted America to confront challenges before they become a threat. President Trump has done this by taking on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs as well as calling out Iran for its missile plans.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Jul – Iran has been arresting Westerners, mainly dual citizens, allegedly to use them as bargaining chips to advance objectives and politics in negotiations. In fact, Ellen R. Wald recently reported in Forbes that, “On July 16, news came out that an American graduate student at Princeton University named Xiyue Wang had been sentenced to 10 years in an Iranian prison for ‘espionage’.”
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jul – According to Iran’s state run television, Mohammad Ali Jafari responded to the new U.S. sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missile program by warning, “If the United States wants to pursue sanctions against Iran’s defenses and the Guards, then it has to move its regional bases to a distance of about 1,000 km (620 miles) around Iran.” He said additionally, that the U.S. should also “be aware that it would pay a high price for any miscalculations.”
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jul – Joint Comprehensive Program of Action nuclear weapons accord is lauded by some as a means to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons, and to keep America and its allies safe for the next decade. It was signed two years ago, and has been the subject of controversy and disagreement since that time. American President Trump hates the deal, and said he would “rip it up” while in the campaign trail.
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jul – Saudi Media reported on Wednesday, July 19, 2017,”The Special Court for Terrorism and National Security has tried two Iranians in Riyadh on charges of espionage for the Iran regime.
According to the indictment issued against the defendants, the two convicts exchanged information with Iran about the 1200-kilometer oil pipeline between the Abqaiq City (on the Persian Gulf Coast) and Yanbu (on the Red Sea Coast). According to the figures, 5 million oil barrels are transferred through this pipeline daily.
Iran Focus
London, 20 Jul – In a new report on Wednesday, the Trump administration said that Iran continues to be the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. The report also noted that between 2015 and 2016 the number of terrorist attacks has declined, globally.
The State Department’s annual “Country Reports on Terrorism” said that Iran was firm in its backing of anti-Israel groups as well as proxies that have destabilized conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Additionally, Iran continues to recruit in Afghanistan and Pakistan for Shiite militia members to fight in Syria and Iraq, and Iranian support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement remains unchanged.
