Iran Focus
London, 14 May – British MP David Jones has penned an opinion piece at politicshome.com calling the bombing of civilians in Aleppo ‘tantamount to a war crime’. Jones, the Conservative MP for Clwyd West in Wales, welcomed the extension of the ceasefire to include Aleppo and said international efforts should now focus on how to ensure the fragile pause holds.
Iran Focus
Tehran, 13 May – Retired teacher and political prisoner Mohammad-Amin Agoushi has been on a hunger strike since 24 April in Tabriz Central Prison, north-west Iran, in protest against systematic mistreatment, according to local reports.
Iran Focus
London, 13 May – The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has published an infographic detailing the changes and events that have taken place since the nuclear deal was signed last year.
Iran Focus
London, 13 May – Ali Safavi, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has stated in an Independent Journal op-ed that Iran’s nuclear talks and negotiations have failed to change the fundamental situation in Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 13 May – Iranian authorities have told the family of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who has been held in solitary confinement for five weeks, they may be allowed to meet her in jail.
The British mother held prisoner in Iran has been allowed to see her parents and her infant daughter for the first time since her arrest.
Iran Focus
London, 12 May – Iran’s government and judiciary continues to sanction brutal punishments as a man has his fingers removed in the north-eastern city of Mashhad. The man, who is only identified by the initials M.T., was accused of theft and is currently serving a three year prison sentence.
Iran Focus
Tehran, 10 May – President Hassan Rouhani was lavish in his praise of top Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani during a rally on Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Day. The event took place in Kerman, the hometown of Soleimani, whose old-school brand of intelligence work has won him gritty profiles in the New Yorker and the Guardian.
Iran Focus
London, 10 May – Iran’s prisons have exceeded their capacity according to Iranian chief of police Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari, whose seemingly suggested solution is to increase the use of capital and corporal punishment.
“According to the judiciary, [Iran’s] prisons are now full, and crimes can no longer be prevented with this method. So we must do something whereby the consequences of committing a crime is increased so that no one contemplates doing so”, said Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari.
Iran Focus
Paris, 10 May – A group from the European Parliament has expressed its solidarity with imprisoned teachers and union leaders in Iran. The chairman of the Friends of a Free Iran (FoFI) group, Gérard Deprez MEP, released a statement on Tuesday calling for political prisoners to be released immediately and condemning the treatment they face at the hands of the Iranian government.
Iran Focus
London, 10 May – Iran’s investment in the Syrian conflict is growing by the day according to Struan Stevenson, a former European lawmaker. Writing in The Hill Stevenson outlined the all-or-nothing strategy of the Iranian government.
Over 60,000 troops from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), including 8,000 soldiers from the infamous Qods Force, and thousands more foreign mercenaries are being used to support Bashar al-Assad. Recently an entire brigade of the Iranian army, the 65th Brigade, known as Nohed or Green Berets, was deployed.
