Iran Focus
London, 11 August – Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said publically that he thinks current President Hassan Rouhani must leave office.
After days of increased protest by the people of Iran, Ahmadinejad posted a video on his Telegram social media account on Thursday, where he explained that Rouhani is unfit for public office.
He said: “Your continued presence is at the expense of the country.”
Iran Focus
London, 11 August – Most countries try their hardest to avoid war at any cost, knowing the peace talks and compromises are worth the protection that they provide and the lives that they spare. Iran is not most countries.
Ali Reza Farqani, the editor-in-chief of Iran’s Arman newspaper, said recently that Iran “needs a foreign war” and proceeded to threaten the US with pro-Iranian suicide bombers that would hit US military bases in 112 countries. He then repeated the “war is a blessing” slogan that former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini used during the Iran-Iraq war; a war that notably ended when the UN forced Iran into a ceasefire, something that Khomeini likened to drinking poison.
Iran Focus
London, 10 August – The four-star US general in charge of military operations in the Middle East has heavily condemned the leader of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Quds Force for his influential role in the majority of Iran’s destabilising activities in the region.
General Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, told reporters on Wednesday that Qasem Soleimani is the “individual who is perpetrating a lot of this destabilizing activity” and called him out for his “aggressive nature”.
Votel said: “Wherever you see Iranian activity, you see Qasem Soleimani, whether it is in Syria, whether it is in Iraq, whether it is in Yemen, he is there and it is the Quds force, the organization which he leads, that I think is the principal threat as we look at this and the principal ones that are stoking this destabilizing activity.”
Iran Focus
London, 10 August – A religious school in northern Iran was attacked on Friday, as the popular people’s protest continued to grow in size and scale in Iran.
About 500 protesters attacked the seminary in the province of Alborz by hurling stones at the building, which led to several arrests by the state security forces, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency on Saturday.
Protests rocked major cities across Iran this weekend, including Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad, as the people continue to express their anger at the failing economy and corrupt politicians.
Iran Focus
London, 10 August – On Tuesday, the European commission used to maintain trade with Tehran and convince it to abide by the 2015 nuclear deal despite US withdrawal. In response to US President Trump’s sanctions on Iran, it is using a “blocking statute” that shields EU businesses from the effects of US sanctions and gives any firm hit by them the right to claim compensation.
The commission declared that it “forbids EU persons from complying with those sanctions, unless exceptionally authorized to do so.”
According to Federica Mogherini, EU foreign policy chief, firms “should comply with European legislation rather than with American ones.”
Iran Focus
London, 10 August – On August 6, Donald Trump re-imposed sanctions against Iran, as he had vowed to do when he pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal in May.
These sanctions, aimed at Iran’s car industry, its trade in gold and its ability to access dollars, will harm the Iranian economy, which is already at breaking point after decades of corruption.
But the other signatories to the 2015 deal, which lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for supposed restrictions to its nuclear programme, are throwing up roadblocks to these US sanctions.
Iran Focus
London, 9 August – Experts have warned that the US could face increased cyber attacks from Iran in response to the reimposed US sanctions that came into place on Monday.
Concerns about US cybersecurity and increased threats from Iran have been rising since May, when Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal on Iran and promised the return of harsh economic sanctions.
Priscilla Moriuchi, director of strategic threat development at Recorded Future, a global real-time cyber threat intelligence company, said: “While we have no specific threats, we have seen an increase in chatter related to Iranian threat activity over the past several weeks.”
Iran Focus
London, 9 August – August 6th was the deadline for the first round of U.S. sanctions that target companies who continue to do business in Iran following the U.S. exit from the nuclear deal with Iran.
U.S. President Trump announced that the U.S. would exit the Iran Nuclear Deal, also known as the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) in May 2018. He also issued a National Security Memorandum ordering several government institutions, including the Treasury Department, to prepare the framework for reimposing sanctions on both U.S. and international companies operating in Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 9 August – In the wave of protests sweeping Iran, especially over the past week, Iranian women are having an effective impact. In fact, their influence has been so great that the Revolutionary Guard Corps has been compelled to speak out.
The state-run Fars news agency, allegedly affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — which has been designated as a terrorist entity by the United States Department of Treasury — wired two stories on August 5th, 2018, that highlighted the role of Iranian women as the driving force behind the recent protests.
International Youth day falls on August 12th, and since so many young women have taken a role in the Iranian people’s fight for freedom, article by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Women’s Committee takes a look at their source of energy.
Iran Focus
London, 8 August – Abdolfattah Soltani is one of Iran’s most prominent human rights lawyers. He spent most of his legal career defending political prisoners before becoming one himself.
After representing many detainees held on politically motivated charges, this fearless defense attorney has been imprisoned since 2011, serving a 13-year prison sentence for “being awarded the [2009] Nuremberg International Human Rights Award,” “interviewing with media about his clients’ cases,” and “co-founding the Defenders of Human Rights Center.”
