Iran Focus:
London, 5 May – Pentagon officials saw more evidence of North Korea’s assistance when Iran tried to launch a cruise missile from a midget submarine earlier this week. Intelligence reports claim the submarine was the same type that sank a South Korean warship in 2010, which was Pyongyang designed.
Iran Focus:
London, 5 May – The “brutal assassination” of an Iranian television executive in Istanbul carries all the trademarks of a clandestine operation by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), writes former European lawmaker Struan Stevenson for the United Press International.
Stevenson wrote on Wednesday that the regime in Tehran “is no stranger to violence”.
Iran Focus:
London, 4 May – Last month, Iranian officials announced that Iran’s defense budget increased by 145 percent under President Hassan Rouhani, and the military is moving forward with massive restructuring to make it “a forward moving force,” according to regional reports. This is very concerning to U.S. national security insiders and sources on Capitol Hill,
as leaders have stated that they are using the money released under the agreement to purchase new military equipment and other armaments. Iran also has pursued multi-million dollar arms deals with Russia.
Iran Focus:
London, 4 May – Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps have combined ideology and practicality in an effective way, producing results in Syria, Lebanon and Gaza, says Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) expert Afshon Ostavar, who added that Iran’s clandestine regional interference is a much bigger issue than the nuclear file.
Iran Focus:
London, 4 May – Iranian news agencies reported Thursday, that a coal mine explosion in northern Iran killed at least 35 people, and rescuers are working a second day to reach those trapped by the blast.
Similar reports were carried by Fars, Mehr and Tasnim news agencies Thursday morning. The explosion occurred on Wednesday at the Golestan province mine but was not immediately reported. Sadegh Ali Moghadam, the provincial director general of disaster management, in a live broadcast by state television, said 22 dead bodies had been recovered.
Iran Focus:
London, 3 May – It is reported that President Trump will travel to Riyadh later this month and will meet with the six leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. There are widely disparate views on the Iranian threat to stability in the Middle East and how to resolve the conflict in Yemen.It is difficult to coordinate on a policy regarding Iran without opening up conflict, because of these divergent views, analysts suggest. Efforts thus far focus on improving regional defense capabilities and US-GCC security cooperation. The Trump administration has indicated it will provide advanced munitions as well as logistics and intelligence support to assist the Saudi-led coalition fight the pro-Iranian Houthi insurgency in Yemen.
Iran Focus
London, 4 May – Squaring off with Iran, Syria and North Korea, the Trump administration has indicated that the years of appeasement with dictators have ended, according to a new op-ed carried by the Washington Examiner.
Tehran is beginning to understand these policy changes from the United States, and it follows that Trump should also target Iran’s human rights violations.
Iran Focus
London, 4 May – London, 3 May – An explosion in a coal mine in northern Iran on Wednesday killed at least 21 workers and injured scores, according to state media.
The blast occurred at 12:45 p.m. local time (0745 GMT) in the Zemestanyurt mine when workers tried to jump-start a locomotive.
Iran Focus
London, 2 May – Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has accused the Iran Regime of seeking to control the Muslim world through its expansionist policies which are currently most visible in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
These comments appeared to rule out any notion of reconciliation with the Islamic Republic.
Iran Focus
London, 2 May – While US-backed forces are driving the so-called Islamic State out of Mosul, the Iranian Regime is using the fight against ISIS to attack Sunni Muslims who are unrelated to the terror group. The idea being that they stop civilian cars at checkpoints in order to search for ISIS fighters and then harass the Sunnis inside.
