Iran Focus

London, 18 July – The re-imposition of sanctions by the US, following President Trump’s exit from the Iran nuclear deal, will likely make it impossible to purchase any form of Iran insurance using a Lloyd’s of London platform. This will only worsen struggles for European insurers that have been providing Iranian coverage.

In May, President Trump announced that the US would be leaving the Iran nuclear deal. The other members of the P5+1 world powers that originally joined the United States in the Iran accord chose to keep their promise. They have also offered Iran the economic support to help the country to overcome the loss of income that will follow the sanctions that the United States reinstates.

Iran Focus

London, 18 July – The recent crackdown on Iranian students has been heavily criticised by university professors and others who are calling on President Hassan Rouhani, who they believe is responsible for the pressure, to take action.

More than 100 university professors have signed an open letter to Rouhani criticizing the arrests and pointing out that it seems like the government is “trying to silence dissenting voices in the universities”.

The letter read: “It seems that most of the detainees are individuals involved in legal activities, and perhaps some had criticized your government’s work on campuses. We want you to act upon your promises to defend the rights of the people, support a [safe] space for students for criticism, and protect [them].”

Iran Focus

London, 16 July – Since 2003, Persian-speaking satellite channels have been periodically subjected to jamming in Iran. Despite warnings about the health risks of exposure to jamming signals from the Health Ministry, and Shiraz’s representatives to the Iranian parliament, the Information and Ccommunications Technology Minister says that equipment for monitoring “jamming signals” has been installed in the city of Shiraz and several other cities across the country.

A jamming technique that sends counter beams to the satellite cannot target just one or two specific programs. Instead, it blocks many adjacent satellite channels, leading to international backlash.