By Mehdi
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has dismissed the suggestion of a prisoner swap for a British-Iranian mother being held in Tehran as a “vile” diplomatic ploy, while her husband told AFP the idea was “almost impossible”.
In New York, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday suggested a swap between Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who is in jail in Tehran for alleged sedition, and Negar Ghodskani, an Iranian woman held in Australia on a US extradition warrant.
By Jubin Katiraie
Two Trump administration officials said on Friday that neither a wind-down period nor a short-term waiver on China’s oil purchases from Iran are being contemplated after Washington announced this week that sanctions waivers on the purchase of Iranian oil would end after May 1.
By Pooya Stone
Iran’s main opposition coalition plans to release a new book next week detailing the role of Iran’s embassies in running a network of espionage and murder.
The U.S. Representative Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI-US) will hold a press briefing on 1 May to release the new book, ‘Iran’s Emissaries of Terror‘.
Iran Focus
London, 27 April – A recent report published by the International Monetary Fund shows that the economy in Iran dwindled last year following sanctions that were leveled by the US. As well, it is expected to decrease by another 3.6 percent or more this year. Iran’s oil exports have declined by more than half, and the rial, its currency, continues to decline in value. The recent flooding has also added to the economic crisis. Now, with the new sanctions leveled at the Iranian government’s military institution — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its affiliates — an even more significant pressure will be put on the Islamic Republic.
By Mehdi
The US designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist group has significantly affected the fate of financial reform bills that the West demanded, according to the Secretary-General of the influential Expediency Discernment Council (EDC) in Iran.
Major General Mohsen Rezaei said on Wednesday, that the IRGC designation was a “well calculated and premeditated” American plan.
By Jubin Katiraie
The Director-General of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry in East Azerbaijan Province announced 60 activists of the main opposition group People’s Mojahedin (MEK) have been arrested in the past year, according to the Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
By Pooya Stone
For the past four decades, the ruling system in Iran has made no secret of its hatred of the United States. Over the years, there have been many threats made to the U.S. – sometimes barely veiled threats, but more often, direct and clear threats.
During the Iran-Iraq war in the eighties relations became even worse. The U.S. deployed the Navy to escort tankers and ships through the Persian Gulf, resulting in exchanges of fire with Iran. Pretty much every time, the U.S. fared better than Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 25 April – The US recently placed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on its list of foreign terrorist organisations, which is a bold move that complements the Treasury Department’s previous listing of the IRGC as a banned terror group. It was the first time that an entire division of a foreign government was formally labelled as a terrorist organization.
By Pooya Stone
After three days, the Iranian rulers have finally responded on Wednesday to the US decision to remove sanctions waivers on the eight countries still currently allowed to purchase Iranian oil.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claimed: “America’s efforts in sanctioning the sale of Iranian oil won’t get anywhere… We can export as much of our oil as we need and want.”
By Mehdi
The United States warned Iran to keep the straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab open, a State Department official said on Tuesday, after the U.S. ended sanctions waivers for buyers of Iranian oil.
“We call on Iran, and all countries, to respect the free flow of energy and commerce, and freedom of navigation” in the straits, the official said, Reuters reported.
