By Jubin Katiraie
The EU has imposed new sanctions on Iran following revelations that Iran has ordered four terrorist attacks in Europe in recent years.
In June 2018, Iran plotted to bomb a rally held by the Iranian Resistance in Paris. Thankfully, European officials thwarted this plot and no one was hurt before the four individuals who tried to carry out the plot were arrested.
Iran Focus
London, 11 Jan – While traveling in the Middle East, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News in an exclusive interview, that the United States will host an international summit next month to promote stability and freedom in the Middle East. The meeting will focus on Iran’s regional influence.
Iran Focus
London, 10 Jan – In response to Iran’s terrorist activity over the past year in Europe, the European Union has decided to impose its first sanctions against Iran since the 2015 nuclear deal.
Both France and Denmark foiled two plots to kill dissidents on European soil last year, and on Tuesday, the Netherlands attributed the murders of two Iranian dissidents to the Iranian government.
Iran Focus
London, 10 Jan – The EU is committed to ensuring that EU-Iran trade and economic relations continue to benefit from the positive impact of the sanctions lifted JCPOA. The EU has introduced measures to alleviate the effects of US sanctions on European firms, and announced the creation of a new mechanism, a special purpose vehicle (SPV), to facilitate financial transactions with Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 10 Jan – A woman who accused Iranian MP Salman Khodadadi of rape was found dead in her home in East Azarbaijan Province on Sunday, with the cause of death as yet unknown, but many are speculating foul play.
Zahra Navidpour, 28, had told the Human Rights Activists News Agency that she received constant threats on her life from Khodadadi, the chair of the parliament’s Social Commission, and those close to him, some of which were recorded
By Jubin Katiraie
Ever since the US pulled out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018, the European Union, Britain, France, and Germany have been trying to find a way to subvert reimposed US sanctions on Iran, but the EU needs to end this appeasement of Iran and join the US in cracking down on the Regime.
The signing of the JCPOA, more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, did not stop Iran from completing work on its nuclear programme. Instead, a lack of restrictions on its ballistic missile programme, proper inspections of nuclear and military sites, and restrictions on its civilian nuclear programme allowed the Regime to push the malign parts of its programme underground and continue work on building nuclear weapons.
Iran Focus
London, 9 Jan – It has been reported that the number of Afghans that have been forced to leave Iran has dramatically increased over the past year. Figures show that around 775,000 Afghans left last year alone.
One of the main factors in this is the sanctions that were reimposed by the United States and the resolve of the Trump administration to addressing the Iran threat.
Iran Focus
London, 9 Jan – A gas flare is a device that is used to burn off flammable gas that accumulates during oil and gas production. Iran flares a large percentage of the natural gas that comes from its oil production – more than 65% – because it does not have the means or the technology to collect it.
Iran used to release official reports and figures about the country’s gas flare levels, but it stopped this practice in 2015. However, the Planning and Budget Organization has indicated that the levels have increased dramatically. The figure for last year amounts to 17.7 billion cubic meters (bcm). It also said that the goal was for it to be around the 11 bcm mark, so it went massively over. The figure for 2016 was 15.7 bcm of gas flaring volume, so the trend is on the increase.
Iran Focus
London, 9 Jan – Two natives of Iran, identified as Assadollah Asadi and Saeid Hashemi Moghadam, and the Directorate for Internal Security of the Iranian Ministry for Intelligence and Security and of individuals, an Iranian intelligence service, have been sanction by the European Union. According to a document seen by Bloomberg News, because of their involvement in an alleged bomb plot in France, the EU froze their assets on Tuesday.
The intelligence unit and the two individuals were involved in a planned bombing of an Iranian opposition group at a meeting near Paris in June, said the French government. The sanctions mirror the ones already imposed by France, and will be published in the EU Official Journal on Wednesday.
By Jubin Katiraie
On Monday, Business Insider reported upon Iran’s supposed plans to deploy warships to the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to counter American power following the arrival of a US aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. Last month, the head of the Iran’s naval forces declared that Tehran would not tolerate the presence of such a vessel in international shipping lanes near Iran’s shores. But of course there is little that the Iranian military or the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps can do to repel the more sophisticated vessels of the US Navy.
