Iran Focus
London, 16 Aug – The BBC has criticised the Iranian Regime for its asset freeze on BBC Persian staff resident in London; the latest attack from the Regime on the BBC’s Iranian correspondents.
The Iranian judiciary issued a court order that imposed sanctions against more than 150 BBC Persian journalists and former journalists. The sanctions prevent the people listed from conducting financial transactions (including selling their homes) in Iran because of their ties to the BBC.
Iran Focus
London, 16 Aug – Amnesty International called on the Iranian Regime to halt the execution of a man who was sentenced to death as a juvenile.
Mehdi Bohlouli was just 17 when he was sentenced to death by an Iranian criminal court in November 2001 for fatally stabbing a man during a fight, according to the human rights group.
Bohlouli’s execution was due to take place on Wednesday August 16. As this story was filed in the early hours, it is not known if Amnesty’s calls for a stay of execution was successful.
Iran Focus
London, 16 Aug – Iranian Mullahs chanting “Death to America” recently voted to increase its budget for funding terrorism and its ballistic missiles programme by a total of $609 million.
This staggering increase in military funding will reportedly be divided equally between the Iranian Regime’s militant Quds Forces, which is at the centre of virtually all of Iran’s proxy wars in the Middle East, and the ballistic missile programme, which is one of their major disputes with the US right now.
Iran Focus
London, 16 Aug – The Iranian Regime, like so many other authoritarian regimes, has recruited a popular music star to spread Islamic values to the youth as part of its propaganda machine against Western values, but this has backfired completely with many Iranians now boycotting the star.
Amir-Hossein Maghsoud¬loo, a 33-year-old rapper better known as “Tataloo”, was twice imprisoned by the Regime for “encouraging [moral] corruption” with his music videos but now produces music and related content with nationalist and reli¬gious themes.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Aug – The Iranian Regime has once again chosen to conduct an unsafe manoeuvre with an Iranian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), coming within 1,000 ft of US forces in the Arabian Gulf, the US Navy has reported.
On Sunday, an Iranian QOM-1/Sadegh-1 UAV conducted a series of unsafe and unprofessional actions near to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz during fixed wing flight operations, aimed at making the crew feel unsafe, according to a US Naval Central Command representative.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Aug – The US’s robust policy on the Iranian Regime is a step in the right direction but should be coupled with support for the Iranian Resistance, according to a human rights advocate.
Heshmat Alavi penned an op-ed titled “Congress is taking the lead on Iran policy” in which he praised the US for imposing more sanctions against the Iranian Regime but urged them to go further by support the Iranian people’s democratic and organised resistance forces, particularly the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).
Iran Focus
London, 15 Aug – The Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has confirmed that his country will work with Kuwait to resolve the issue of the Al Abdali terror cell, which has links to the Iranian Regime and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah.
Back in June, the Cassation Court confirmed the involvement of Hezbollah in Al Abdali plots to destroy the basic infrastructure of Kuwait.
It found that Hezbollah provided intelligence, funds, weapons, and training to the terror group, as well as helping to facilitate meetings.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Aug – During his recent inauguration, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani promised to embark on an “economic revolution” in order to create jobs for the nation’s unemployed, but the main problem facing the Iranian people is not the economy but the Regime itself.
The economy is no doubt a big problem in Iran, which has led to almost 30% of Iranians living below the absolute poverty line and a quarter of the Iranian youth being unemployed, but this is due to the Regime continually pouring money into foreign conflicts and the military rather than projects that would benefit the people like infrastructure or health care.
Iran Focus
London, 14 Aug – American sanctions on Iran are a step in the right direction but they must be coupled with a whole new policy on the Iranian Regime, according to a human rights activist.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, the deputy director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, wrote an op-ed on Fox News in which he welcomed the US sanctions against the Iranian Regime but advised the government to also support the Iranian people’s resistance.
Iran Focus
London, 14 Aug – The Iranian Regime has recently voted to boost its military power by over $500 million in response to US sanctions on Iran.
The bill, which was voted for by mullahs chanting “Death to America”, overwhelmingly passed the first vote in the Regime’s Parliament, with 240 voting in favour of the increase and just four voting against.
It must pass a second vote in the Parliament before it can be submitted for final approval.
