By Pooya Stone
Abbas Mousavi, spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, accused the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) of participating in “economic terrorism,” according to the IRNA news agency on Thursday (August 7th). He added that the names of those affiliated with the foundation would be published soon and would be sanctioned. The Iranian Foreign Ministry then issued a statement banning the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, along with its founder, Mark Dubowitz.
By Jubin Katiraie
While tension between Tehran and Washington continues to escalate, The U.S. State Department, in pursuing the policy and the “Maximum pressure campaign,” sanctioned several Iran-backed groups and entities.
The U.S. State Department’s policy statement of this week informs about new wave of sanctions on Iran and is divided into three sections:
By Pooya Stone
On Friday, August 31, the United States blacklisted Iranian oil tanker Adrian Darya 1, following repeated warnings over its valuable oil cargo.
Previously known as Grace 1, the ship has been bouncing around the Mediterranean after being held for six weeks at Gibraltar on suspicion that its cargo was bound for Syria.
By Jubin Katiraie
On Friday, August 30, in a new report, the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) announced that Iran has violated the limitations determined by the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with world powers, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
By Pooya Stone
Iran collectively executed eight inmates at Raja’i Shahr Prison in Karaj on Wednesday, August 28.
The victims have been identified as:
By Jubin Katiraie
The US Treasury Department on Thursday targeted a Lebanese bank the Trump administration calls the “bank of choice” of Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, as part of a maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.
Treasury sanctioned Jammal Trust Bank, a financial institution based in Lebanon that facilitates banking activities for Hezbollah, and its three subsidiaries.
By Pooya Stone
The leader of an Iraqi Shia militia, backed by Iran, threatened to take hostage “all” US citizens in Iraq in the event of a conflict between the US and Iran.
Abu Alaa al-Wala’i, head of the Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) militia, made the threat on Wednesday during an interview with al-Dijla, an Iraqi television station close to the Fatah Coalition, which represents the Shiite militias, or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), in Iraq’s parliament.
By Jubin Katiraie
On August 29, Reuters reported that an Iranian rocket exploded on its launch pad at Imam Khomeini Space Center in northern Iran before its scheduled launch on Thursday, according to an Iranian official. “It was due to some technical issues and it exploded but our young scientists are working to fix the problem,” the official added.
By Pooya Stone
Iran Human rights Monitor (HRM) published an article about the 1988 massacre in Iran to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Parts of the article are as follows:
By Jubin Katiraie
The Iranian government is trying to refer the cause of the Inflation in Iran to sanctions imposed by the US government. But the reality is that the main reason as the official authorities said is nothing else than the government itself.
In the meantime, the two government factions have somehow identified each other as the cause of economic shakiness. President Hassan Rouhani calls the opposing group ” sanction profiteers” and blames them for the sanctions and, consequently the sanctions the cause of the high prices and inflation. The opposite group, however, is blaming the “government management” and tries to hide the astronomical plunders by the supreme leader and foundations affiliated to him.
