Iran Focus

London, 12 Apr – Photos from Iran show children suffering from Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), also known as butterfly disease for its effect on the strength of the skin. The pictures have been published in several state-run websites since 5 April and highlight the lack of adequate healthcare in Iran.

Epidermolysis Bullosa is a group of connective tissue diseases that makes the skin incredibly fragile and susceptible to breaking from the slightest friction. The children in the pictures come from the south of Roudbar, south-eastern Iran. Five children, Zeinab, Yalda, Hamideh, Zahra, and Danial playing with toys or smiling with relatives feature in the series.

Iran Focus

Tehran, 12 Apr – A series of letters condemning the visit of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi to Tehran have emerged from political prisoners of Iran. One letter, signed by political prisoners of Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, north west of Tehran, reminded the Italian delegation of the human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian government and implored them to re-consider their engagement with what they called an “antihuman regime” with violent tendencies.

Iran Focus

London, 11 Apr – The opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran has called on the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, to cancel his planned visit to Iran next Tuesday. The NCRI voiced concerns that human rights violations inside Iran were being ignored by Western and European leaders.

“The Iranian Resistance calls on Italian political parties, the Parliament, and human rights advocates to undertake urgent measures to encourage Prime Minister Renzi to condemn violations of human rights and export of terrorism by the Iranian regime and cancel his visit to Iran”, the NCRI said in a statement.

Iran Focus

Paris, 11 Apr – Maryam Rajavi, who heads the opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has told French lawmakers that Iranian people seek regime change in Iran.

Addressing an event celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in the French National Assembly in Paris on Tuesday, 5 April, Rajavi wished the peoples of Iran and France a year of progress and advancements before setting out recommendations in the New Year for the Parliamentary Committee for a Democratic Iran.

Iran Focus

Paris, 11 Apr – Maryam Rajavi, who heads the opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has told French lawmakers that Iranian people seek regime change in Iran.

Addressing an event celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year, in the French National Assembly in Paris on Tuesday, 5 April, Rajavi wished the peoples of Iran and France a year of progress and advancements before setting out recommendations in the New Year for the Parliamentary Committee for a Democratic Iran.

Iran Focus

London, 11 Apr – Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers leak, has been found to have acted for companies with ties to the Iranian government during the recent near-decade period of sanctions.

Mossack Fonseca first realised it was working with the Iranian government in 2010 through Petropars Ltd. That company was dissolved and inactive as of 2011, however another company, Petrocom, remains active and shares the same London account and Tehran address; Sepahbod Gharani Avenue.

London, 6 Apr – Saudi Arabia has suspended licenses that were granted to the Iranian airline Mahan Air, preventing it from using Saudi airspace and from landing at airports in the country. The General Authority of Civil Aviation stated on Monday that this was due to violations of local safety rules.

In January somewhere in the region of 150 flights between Iran and Saudi Arabia had been halted after diplomatic relations between the countries were cut.

Iran Focus

London, 6 Apr – It emerged on Monday that a man from Singapore has been extradited to the United States to face charges relating to exporting explosives to Iran. Lim Yong Nam, 42, also known as Steven Lim, has been detained in Indonesia for over a year and is now facing trial in the District of Columbia for his part in a conspiracy that allegedly caused thousands of radio frequency modules to be illegally exported from the US to Iran; 16 of which were then found in improvised explosive devices in Iraq.

Iran Focus

London, 6 Apr – Air France has said that it will allow female staff, cabin crew and pilots, to opt out of flying routes to Tehran. The news comes after some staff said they did not want to be forced to cover their hair whilst in the country.

Air France is part of the Franco-Dutch group Air-France-KLM. The group is preparing to restart flights to Tehran following a period of sanction lasting eight years. A meeting between Air France management and union representatives on Monday made the agreement possible, Reuters reported.