Iran Focus
London, 23 Oct – An Iranian MP from the city of Shiraz blasted President Hassan Rouhani in a speech to parliament on October 21 for suppressing Iran’s pre-Islamic history.
Bahram Parsaei, whose city is home to the 2,500-year-old ruins of Pasargadae, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, and the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great, proposed that October 29 should be named in honour of Cyrus, the founder of the Achaemenid Empire.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Oct – Five imprisoned Iranian environmentalists are now facing the death penalty after the ridiculous charges against them were changed from “espionage” to “Corruption on Earth”, according to one of the former lawyers of the accused.
Mohammad Hossein Aghasi told Radio Farda on Sunday, October 21, that the charges were changed after the examining magistrate received a letter from Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and that the new charge of “corruption on earth” carries the death penalty under the Islamic Penal Code.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Oct – As reported by the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), on October 18th, a petition that advocates for due process in the case of political prisoner Payam Shakiba was issued by dozens of civil activists. He has been held since his arrest in February 2018 in the Rajai Shahr prison, also known as Gohardasht Prison, located in Karaj, approximately 30 miles west of Tehran.
Sentenced to 11 years in prison by Judge Ahmadzadeh, Shakiba’s sentence was later upheld in an appeals court.
Iran Focus
London, 22 Oct – An al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia, al-Shabaab, has been dealing in illegal charcoal shipments, and according to a report cited by Agence France-Presse and Reuters on October 12th, has been assisted in this endeavor by Iran.
Somali charcoal imports were banned by the UN in 2012. Despite UN sanctions, Somalia produced around 3.6 million bags of charcoal for export last year, generating about $7.5 million for the terrorist organization. United Nations Security Council Monitors said that Iran “has been a weak link in implementation” of the UN’s charcoal ban.
Iran Focus
London, 22 Oct – A prisoner of conscience at the Great Tehran Penitentiary announced on Saturday, October 20, that he would go on hunger strike and also refuse medicine in protest of the Iranian government’s treatment of his fellow Gonabadi Dervishes, a religious minority in Iran.
Reza Sigarchi’s strike is a sign of solidarity for the repressed Dervishes, according to Majzooban Noor, a news website covering the Dervish community, and he will not eat or accept medicine until his demands are met. These demands include:
• The lifting of the house arrest order on Dervish leader Noor Ali Tabandeh
Iran Focus
London, 21 Oct – The second round of U.S. sanctions against Iran’s oil exports and international banking operations will be ineffective, claims the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Abdolnasser Hemmati.
However, the first round of sanctions that followed the United States’ exit from the nuclear deal with Iran had a devastating impact. The second round is expected to increase the impact on Iran’s rising unemployment and poverty.
The next round of sanctions, beginning in early November, targets Iran’s oil exports, among other important aspects of its economy.
Iran Focus
London, 20 Oct – Iran-backed Hezbollah gained approval with the non-Shiite population of Lebanon through confrontation with Israel, but Hezbollah has been involved in the Syrian war since it began. Its participation has affected Lebanese sympathies.
Several Lebanese politicians and other famous people have condemned Hezbollah for its fight against the Syrian people. However, if Assad fails in Syria, Hezbollah will be cut off from Iran’s weapon supplies.
Hezbollah has established itself in Lebanon’s domestic and foreign policy. Hezbollah, along with the Iranian forces, is also involved in the development and training of militarized groups, consisting mostly of Shiites and Alawites. Assad’s government uses them mainly for security and patrolling.
Iran Focus
London, 20 Oct – Iran is among the cases scheduled to be reviewed in this week’s FATF (Financial Action Task Force) summit. More than 800 officials representing 204 jurisdictions, the IMF, UN, World Bank and others came to Paris for FATF Week to discuss the global combat of financing terrorism. Meanwhile, factions within Iran argue whether the Islamic Republic should join the FATF or not.
FATF Week began on Sunday, October 14th, and continues through Friday, October 19th. Important issues to protect the integrity of the global financial system, and to improve safety and security across the world, are on the agenda. Three out of the four laws that are necessary to avoid being black listed by the global anti-money laundering body, are still unclear.
Iran Focus
London, 20 Oct – Iran is currently facing their biggest challenge to date – reimposed US sanctions – and they are looking for any allies to help them evade the impact of this.
• Make sure Iranian oil exports can finance “essential expenditure”, i.e. salaries of civil service and military personnel
• Ensure that there is enough foreign currency in the domestic market to slow down the fall of the national currency and avoid inflation
• Make sure that crucial items, i.e. industrial parts to keep major factories going, remain available
Iran Focus
London, 19 Oct – Iran has tried to follow suit with Russia’s social media campaign to provide false information over social media, albeit in a more clumsy manner.
Social media giant Twitter released data showing the activity of the two nations on its platform earlier this week. There were over two million images and 10 million tweets. Iran was responsible for more than one million tweets and hundreds of profiles.
Twitter called on experts and analysts to look into the data it had released in its efforts to understand just how the two countries were able to misuse the platform on such a large scale.
