Iran Focus

London, 11 Aug – Tensions are growing between Iran and Tajikistan following a Tajik state-TV broadcast which accused Iranian Regime officials of carrying out political assassinations across its country in the 1990s.

On August 8, in a primetime documentary, the Tajik Interior Ministry accused Iran of instigating the 1992-97 Tajikistan civil war, providing support to the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), which made up part of the Tajik parliament after 1997 but was banned in 2015 and branded a terrorist group, and training IRPT militants on Iranian soil.

Iran Focus

London, 10 Aug – Hassan Rouhani’s second presidential term began this week. Rouhani described his plans to have high level relationships with world in his inauguration speech. Rouhani claims that he is pursuing a detente policy with US and Arab countries.

However, following this speech, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for standing against America. In Iran, it is the Supreme Leader who makes all final decisions.

Iran Focus

London, 9 Aug – Saudi journalist Mashari Althaydi wrote an op-ed for Al Arabiya in which he decried minorities in Lebanon for their support of the Iranian-backed terror cell Hezbollah, who are attacking the Syrian opposition groups near to the border between the two countries.

In the piece, titled “Lebanon and the unfortunate alliance of minorities”, Althaydi assesses that it is strange how many Lebanese Christians are throwing their support behind a Shiite Muslim terrorist group who are funded by another county.