Iran Focus
London, 10 Apr – On Friday, the US fired missiles on a Syrian airfield, believed to have been the base for last week’s chemical attack by the Syrian Government.
This is a major shift from the former US policy where Barack Obama drew a red line on the Assad dictatorship’s use of chemical weapons and then did nothing when Bashar al-Assad crossed the line in 2013- an attack which left 1,400 dead.
Iran Focus
London, 10 Apr – The US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that nothing was off the table when it came to sanctions on Russia and Iran.
She told CNN’s State of the Union anchor Jake Tapper: “We’re calling (Russia and Iran) out. But I don’t think anything is off the table at this point. I think what you’re going to see is strong leadership. You’re going to continue to see the United States act when we need to act.”
Iran Focus
London, 10 Apr – The Iranian Regime has selected a key member of the 1988 Death Commissions, which sent 30,000 political opponents to their deaths, to run as a candidate in their sham Presidential elections.
Ebrahim Raisi is currently the head of the massive Astan Quds Razavi entity which controls a sacred Shiite Muslim shrine, but he uses this foundation to plunder money from the country- money that could be better spent on the people of Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 9 Apr – U.S. allies have been praising U.S. President Trump’s missile strikes on a Syrian military base. Trump ordered the strikes soon after the horrifying news that civilians in Syria were the target of a chemical weapons attack.
More than 70 people died as a result of the attack – many of whom were women and young children.
Iran Focus
London, 9 Apr – On Friday 7th April, the first international marathon organised by Dutch businessman Sebastiaan Straten took place in Iran.
Before the race took place, Straten had said that he was disappointed that female runners were required, according to an Iranian government official, to compete in a separate race at a stadium away from the male runners. Majid Keyhani who is in charge of the country’s track and field federation announced during this rule earlier in the week.
Straten said: “As an organiser, I did not accept that. Female runners had 10K route outside the stadium with same start and finish as male race.”
Iran Focus
London, 7 Apr – The Obama administration allowed Iran to purchase American planes that have been used to transport weapons to terrorists, and other illegal activities, in the past. The Trump administration is now reviewing the policies that were in place at the time.
Earlier this week Boeing announced that, pending review by the administration, there is an agreement in place with Iran for the sale of up to 60 aircraft.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Apr – US President Donald Trump vowed to act aggressively towards Iran and its destructive behaviour in the Middle East. Not long after he was inaugurated his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, declared that Iran was on notice.
However, a few months later it appears that the Trump administration doesn’t really have a strategy that will bring long-tern change and stability to the Middle East. It is increasing military operations which might just cause even more fragmentation and lead to the emergence of more non-state actors.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Apr – This week we have once again seen horrific, disturbing and heart-breaking images of dying children in Syria – their tiny, unmarked bodies, lifeless after yet another chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun in Syria.
Following the publication of official research, the U.N. Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) concluded that the Syrian Arab Armed Forces carried out at least three chemical attacks with the use of Syrian government-owned helicopters during 2014 and 2015.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Apr – Many have claimed that designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organisation (FTO) would violate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. However, experts claim that this is not the case.
Executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), and Iran expert, Mark Dubowitz, said before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday 5th April that the IRGC could be designated under executive order 13224. This is an order that was put in place after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to prevent funding for terrorism.
Iran Focus
London, 7 Apr – Saudi Arabia has called on international human rights and humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, to take action with regards to Iran and its many militias that are carrying out ethnic cleansing and related sectarian activities that are creating demographic changes in Syria.
