Iran Focus
London, 28 Aug – Iran’s main opposition coalition the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) says the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) masterminded the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing that killed 19 American servicemen in Saudi Arabia.
London, 27 Aug – The main suspect in the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers residence at a U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia has been captured after more than 19 years on the run, a Saudi-owned newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Asharq al-Awsat said Ahmed al-Mughassil, leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah al-Hejaz who had been indicted by a US court for the attack that killed 19 U.S. service personnel and wounded almost 500 people, had been captured in the Lebanese capital Beirut and transferred to Riyadh.
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, an organization that has made its mark in Iranian and in fact world history since its creation. Many Iranians, including myself, have had the honor of learning from the PMOI, and indeed the PMOI has made incredible contributions to the history of Iran. In commemoration of this anniversary and in order to recognize some of the significant achievements of this organization here are five significant achievements of this organization.
London, 26 Aug – As the US Congress reviews the Iran nuclear deal, it faces the hardest choice in foreign affairs: whether to threaten or appease an adversary. The proper choice, scholars agree, depends on the rival’s intent, Prof. Alan J. Kuperman wrote on Tuesday in The Hill.
“If the other country is ‘status quo’ – just wants to be left alone to prosper without dominating other countries or flouting international rules – we should concede its limited demands. Appeasement is not a dirty word in such a case, but the ideal foreign policy. However, if the other country is ‘revisionist’ – seeking to dominate others and overturn the global order – we must deter it through coercion including the threat of force”, he wrote.
Berlin, 24 Aug – German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Monday he will travel to Iran in October.
Steinmeier’s visit follows on from a three-day trip last month by Germany’s Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who became the first senior figure from a large Western government to visit Tehran since it struck a landmark nuclear agreement with world powers.
Under the 14 July deal, agreed after more than a decade of negotiations, U.S., EU, and U.N. sanctions will be lifted in return for Tehran imposing long-term curbs on nuclear activities which the West has suspected are aimed at making an atomic bomb.
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
Major concerns remain for Iran asylum seekers trapped in Iraq. As many as 3,000 Iranian asylum seekers residing in Camp Liberty are facing inhumane conditions and abusive treatment at the hands of the Iraqi government, while the United Nations and the international community turns a blind eye. This past week Professor Jean Ziegler, member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee, went on record to state that the United Nations has “a moral and legal obligation” to protect members of the main Iranian opposition group facing persecution in Iraq.
Tehran, 22 Aug – Iran on Saturday unveiled a new surface-to-surface missile it said could strike targets with pin-point accuracy within a range of 500 km (310 miles).
The Iranian Defence Ministry’s unveiling of the solid-fuel missile, named Fateh 313, came little more than a month after Iran and world powers reached a deal that requires Tehran to abide by new limits on its nuclear programme in return for Western governments easing economic sanctions.
Iran Focus
London, 20 Aug – British Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, will formally reopen the UK embassy in Tehran this weekend, nearly four years after it was shut down as a result of a mob attack, The Guardian reported on Thursday.
Hammond’s trip to Iran, the first by a British foreign secretary in nearly 14 years, comes soon after visits from the French and Italian foreign ministers, Germany’s vice-chancellor, and the EU’s foreign policy chief.
London, 20 Aug – The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) indicated on Thursday that it has nearly finished examining Tehran’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers but will announce no conclusion before the U.S. Congress does.
The SNSC and the Majlis (Parliament) are both perusing the text of the July 14 pact mandating Iran to curb its nuclear work in exchange for a removal of sanctions, mirroring Congress which has the right to approve or reject it in a vote to be taken by Sept. 17.
The Associated Press
By GEORGE JAHN
VIENNA (AP) — Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press.
