Iran Focus

London, 19 Nov – Protests at the Haft Tappeh (Tapeh) sugar mill, once a source of national pride that has been struggling financially since it was privatized in 2015, continued as workers stayed with their strike on Saturday, according to reports by labor rights groups in Iran. Periodic strikes and workers’ demonstrations have become a fixture of life at the mill. Workers say they are often not paid their salaries for months at a time and their wages and benefits have been cut since privatization.

Families accompanied the workers as they marched in Shush, southwestern Iran, to draw attention to their demands, ending the march near the governor’s office.

Iran Focus

London, 18 Nov – As protests and demonstrations rage across Iran, involving people from all walks of life, according to a statement by Coordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates in Iran (CCTSI) on November 15th, teachers in the country have been arrested or summoned to courts. “At least thirty teachers’ rights activists have been summoned and interrogated and more than fifty others have received threatening text messages, so far,” CCTSI disclosed.

Iran Focus

London, 16 Nov – On November 6, the US government reimposed sanctions against Iran, but bizarrely excluded Iran’s Chabahar port, something that Iran has seized on as a victory.

Iran claims that the US was forced to exempt Chabahar port from the sanctions, after issuing waivers to several countries, because it is helping the economy of Afghanistan, but what are the real reasons?

Iran Focus

London, 15 Nov – Two Iranians were executed on Wednesday after being convicted of financial crimes in a grossly unfair “TV show” trial.

Vahid Mazloumin and Mohammad Esmail Ghasemi were convicted of illegal currency trading during the country’s ongoing economic crisis and the vague charge of “spreading corruption on Earth” in late September. It was part of the mullahs’ crackdown on alleged financial crimes as US sanctions started to take effect and further damage the economy.

Iran Focus

London, 14 Nov – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Newsweek on Monday of helping” Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif spread “lies” that the US is preparing to sanction food being imported into Iran.

Pompeo tweeted: “Shame on #FakeNewsweek for helping @JZarif spread lies. The truth is: The U.S. does not, and never did, sanction food and medicine. They are exempt from sanctions, as are financial transactions related to humanitarian needs.”