By Mehdi
The US announced last week that sanctions waivers for countries that import Iranian oil would be allowed to expire on May 2, meaning that any country buying Iranian oil after Thursday would be subject to US penalties and could lose access to US financial markets.
This is all part of the US’s plan to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero.
By Pooya Stone
As we witness the defiant tone that the Iranian regime has taken in the face of the “maximum pressure” campaign utilized by Trump’s White House, many of us were surprised last week, when it was announced that once the waivers that expire at the end of May for the eight leading purchasers of Iranian oil, the US would not be granting new ones.
Iran Focus
London, 01 May – In Iran, people are turning against the mullahs as they use foreign mercenaries from Iraq’s militias and Hezbollah to keep control, former European lawmaker Struan Stevenson wrote for The Scotsman on 30 April 2019.
US President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel the temporary waivers that had enabled countries like Iraq, Turkey, India, Japan and China to continue purchasing Iranian oil without breaching US sanctions has hammered the final nail into the mullahs’ coffin, Stevenson wrote.
By Jubin Katiraie
The U.S. Representative Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI-US) will hold a press briefing on Wednesday in Washington about the ‘inner workings’ of Iran’s terrorist and espionage machinery.
According to a press advisory, the NCRI will detail:
• The intimate partnership between Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in plotting and conducting terror operations abroad;
By Pooya Stone
The US decided against renewing the six-month sanctions waivers granted to eight importers of Iranian oil last November, which means that the pressure on Iran’s economy will only increase from tomorrow.
This shows that the US is serious about its “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, which is designed to bring the mullahs back to the negotiating table for a new deal to address all of their malign behaviour, as well as force Iran to comply with the US’s 12 demands about acting like a normal country. Now, many watching the situation are saying that Iran is at a crossroads, the like of which have not been seen since the 1979 revolution.
By Mehdi
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran on Monday of ordering the Houthi rebels in Yemen to continue fighting despite commitments they made in Stockholm last December.
Pompeo, speaking at an event in Washington hosted by The Hill newspaper, said: “[The Houthis] continue to refuse to comply with the agreements that they signed up for in Stockholm, Sweden, they refuse to withdraw from the port of Hodeidah … this is because Iran has chosen to direct them to do that.”
Iran Focus
London, 30 April – US Central Command Chief General Kenneth McKenzie said on Saturday that the US would counter any dangerous actions by Iran by deploying the necessary resources.
McKenzie, who was on an official visit to the Gulf region, said: “We’re gonna continue to reach out to our partners and friends in the region to ensure that we make common cause against the threat of Iran. I believe we’ll have the resources necessary to deter Iran from taking actions that will be dangerous. We will be able to respond effectively.”
By Jubin Katiraie
Kuwait officials have voiced their “concern” over Iran’s threat to close down the Strait of Hormuz, the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, in response to US sanctions, because Kuwait is one of the countries that will be adversely affected if Iran follows through.
Kuwait’s deputy foreign minister Mr Jarallah told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Sunday: “We are looking at these threats with concern, and hoping as always to distance our region from this tension.”
By Pooya Stone
United States Central Command Chief General Kenneth McKenzie said on Saturday the United States would deploy the necessary resources to counter any dangerous actions by Iran, Sky News Arabia reported.
“We’re going to continue to reach out to our partners and friends in the region to ensure that we make common cause against the threat of Iran,” McKenzie, on an official visit to the Gulf region, was quoted as saying by Sky News Arabia.
Iran Focus
London, 29 April – United States President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe both expressed their commitment to eliminating all oil exports from Iran, a top U.S. diplomat official has said.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan William Hagerty on April 27 told reporters in a call that Trump and Abe also discussed a “desire to see Iran change its path and seek a more peaceful course forward.”
