Iran Focus

London, 7 July – U.S. Navy vessels in the Persian Gulf were consistently harassed until the Trump administration took over, a Navy spokesman said.

Over a 20-month period starting in January 2016, the Iranians averaged 2.5 “unsafe and/or unprofessional interactions” monthly, according to 5th Fleet spokesman Lt. Chloe Morgan.

At around that same time, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) detained a pair U.S. Navy riverine command boats belonging to Coastal Riverine Squadron 3 near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf.

Iran Focus

London, 6 July – According to a statement from the State Department, US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo will “travel to Abu Dhabi from July 9-10, where he will meet with UAE leaders to discuss ways to further strengthen the US-UAE partnership and advance our common security and economic priorities.”

Expected discussion will include the US pressure campaign on Iran, its role in Yemen, and Persian Gulf security. UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation met Pompeo in Washington last month, but this is the secretary’s first trip to Abu Dhabi as Secretary of State.

Iran Focus

London, 6 July – Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich has demanded that European countries cut their shameful business ties with the Iranian mullahs and help the US to overthrow the Regime, during a speech at the Free Iran rally in Paris this weekend.

Donald Trump ended US business dealings with Iran back in May, when he pulled out of the fatally flawed 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed strict sanctions of the mullahs as part of an effort to bring political change to Iran.

Since then, he has warned China and India against continuing to buy Iranian oil lest they come under sanctions themselves.

Iran Focus

London, 4 July – Although Iran has pledged to keep to the terms of the country’s landmark nuclear deal, even after U.S. President Trump pulled America out of the accord, its officials say that it has restarted production at the Isfahan plant, which produces materials needed to make enriched uranium.

This appears to be a warning that is aimed at pressuring Europeans and others to come up with the means to circumvent the new American sanctions.

Many international organizations are pulling back from deals with Tehran and the country’s currency has faced an enormous drop against the dollar.