Iran Focus
London, 23 May – The killing of Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Mansur in a US drone strike at the weekend has attracted attention to Iran’s alliance with the Afghan Taliban.
Mansur and his driver were killed on the main highway between Iran and Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s south-western province and it is believed that Mansur had just returned from Iran when the drone strike hit.
Iran Focus
Washington, 23 May – Iran is consistently expanding its involvement in Syria’s civil war, which has caused severe loss of life and created barriers to peace in the Middle East.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have dispatched more than 60,000 troops including 8000 Quds Force members, according to a member of the Iranian opposition who also said that Tehran sent their 65th Nohed Brigade, an army regiment made up of its own Green Berets.
Iran Focus
London, 23 May – Debate on the West’s policy towards Iran has intensified since a recent New York Times Magazine article which exposed possible deception by the Obama administration surrounding its nuclear pact with Iran and now support is rising for Iranian resistance forces.
Iran Focus
London, 22 May – Twenty-three members of Iran’s forces from the small city of Varamin, south-east of Tehran, have been killed in the Syrian civil war.
Iran Focus
London, 22 May – Members of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK) in Camp Liberty, Iraq, faced another crisis last week when Iraqi merchants were prevented by the government authorities from purchasing the residents’ properties.
Iran Focus
London, 21 May – Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) murdered two young Iranian men last week, according to a report by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on Friday, 20 May.
The Baluchis, one of whom was still a minor, were walking down the Rajai Street of Zahedan when agents of Iran’s notorious Intelligence Ministry opened fire on them.
The Associated Press
20 May 2016
By BRADLEY KLAPPER, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group the White House recently identified as a key surrogate in selling the Iran nuclear deal gave National Public Radio $100,000 last year to help it report on the pact and related issues, according to the group’s annual report. It also funded reporters and partnerships with other news outlets.
Iran Focus
Washington, 20 May – Iran needs to stop meddling in the Middle East, according to the former US senior anti-terrorism officer in Iraq.
Wesley Martin, a retired US Army colonel, wrote a column in the Washington Times on Friday, 20 May about why Iran’s involvement in other Middle Eastern countries is dangerous and needs to stop.
Iran Focus
London, 20 May – Fears have risen over the health of an Iranian political prisoner who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since April.
Mr Jafar Azimzadeh, a workers’ rights activist, went on hunger strike at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison on 30 April, protesting his imprisonment and demanding a fair trial.
During his last visit from his wife, Mr Azimzadeh had to be transported via car as he was too weak to walk.
Iran Focus
Tehran, 19 May – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani is encouraging foreign investors to return to Iran. Rouhani’s government claims that it has revived Iran’s economy in the wake of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, a leading Iranian newspaper argues that Iran first needs to address issues of systemic corruption.
