London, 3 Aug – The Obama administration must provide the US Congress details of the secret “Iran side deals before US lawmakers votes on whether to endorse the major power powers’ recent nuclear agreement with Iran, two senior US lawmakers wrote on Monday in The Wall Street Journal:
Release the Secret Iran Deals
The Wall Street Journal
Iran Focus
London, 1 Aug – Authorities in Iran on Saturday hanged three prisoners in a jail in Rasht, northern Iran, the main opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported.
London, 1 Aug – The US Congress must know what’s in the Iran deal and the separate side agreements before it votes, the Chicago Tribune wrote in an editorial on Friday:
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
The recent Iran deal has brought much fanfare and celebration, most of which conveniently overlooks the fundamental nature of the Iranian regime. Putting aside the details of the agreement, one claim in particular has consistently been made about the nuclear deal which simply holds no weight. The claim is that the nuclear deal will somehow improve human rights in Iran, and lead to an improvement in Iranian civil society.
Washington, 30 Jul – The Obama administration’s nuclear deal earlier this month with Iran does not prevent Tehran from having a “nuclear weapons capability”, an official of the main opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran has said.
“A closer look at the details of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, however, provides little cause for celebration”, Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the NCRI’s Washington office, wrote on Thursday in Roll Call.
Washington, 29 Jul – United States Secretary of State John Kerry intensified efforts on Tuesday to beat back criticism of the Iran nuclear deal and convince US lawmakers that rejecting it would give Tehran a fast track to a weapon and access to billions of dollars from collapsed sanctions.
Days after tough questioning by lawmakers at an emotional Senate hearing, Kerry sharpened his response to criticism that the deal’s provisions were temporary and would not prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in the long run.
London, 29 Jul – On the first visit to Iran for 12 years by a French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius conveyed an invitation from President Francois Hollande to Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to visit France in November.
If Rouhani accepts, he will be the first Iranian president to make a state visit to France since 1999.
Fabius is seeking to smooth over any strains in the relationship created by France’s hard-line approach during negotiations that produced a nuclear agreement on 14 July, and thereby create a climate conducive to stronger economic ties.
London, 29 Jul – Bahrain’s top officials are accusing Iran of providing the weaponry used Tuesday during a deadly terror attack that killed two policeman in Sitra.
On Tuesday morning, two policeman were killed and a third officer severely injured when a bomb exploded outside of a girls’ school in Sitra, an island village in the country, almost exclusively populated by Shiites. Five others sustained light to medium injuries, according to reports.
The bomb blast created a giant hole in the wall of the school, a witness told Reuters.
Iran Focus
Washington, 29 Jul – A former international nuclear inspector, an Iranian opposition figure, and the former Commander of the USS Cole will discuss the Iran Nuclear Deal and its impact on regional security, nuclear weapons verification challenges and its impact inside Iran at a National Press Club Newsmakers news conference on Monday, 3 August at 10:30 a.m.
Iran Focus
London, 28 Jul – Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir on Monday denounced “aggressive statements” by Iran, after Tehran accused Bahrain of stoking Gulf tensions by making unfounded allegations against it.
Al-Jubeir’s remarks, which followed talks with visiting EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini in Riyadh on Monday, comes amid growing tension between both regional powers following Tehran’s nuclear deal with the major world powers earlier this month.
