Iran Focus
London, 13 May – Mohammad Mohaddessin, the Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), responded to a series of questions in an interview with ncr-iran.org. The questions relate to the Iranian regime’s controversial upcoming presidential election on May 19. The following is the first part of this interview:
What are the choices before the Iranian people and what do they expect?
Iran Focus
London, 13 May – The first Dean of Tehran University after the revolution, Dr. Mohammad Maleki, called the Iranian regime’s election on May 19 a “puppet show”.
He says that the performance put on for the people, by the reformists and the conservatives are only a means to deceive. In an interview with an online television show on May 9th, Dr. Maleki, said, “What is happening in Iran, it is essentially a puppet show? It is a show, because according to them, among 1600 registered candidates, only five were chosen, who also regularly worked for the system and then they are asking people to vote for six. I think this is simply not an election.”
Iran Focus
London, 11 May – A referendum was held in the UK to decide whether to stay or to exit from the European Union. The outcome divided the British society, but the British government and EU member-states accepted the result, which shows respect for democracy.
The British Prime Minister has decided to hold an early election for the British people to choose their representatives, and all the parties will take part.
Iran Focus
London, 11 May – As they look back on the violence that followed Iran’s disputed 2009 election, authorities are fearful of a repetition, and want to avoid the ferocity of the peoples’ dissent.
According to the state-run IRNA news agency, on Wednesday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned, “Those who ignore the country’s security will definitely be slapped in the face.”
Iran Focus
London, 10 May – Iran is preparing to launch two new satellites into space, according to Iranian military leaders, but American national security experts believe that this may just be a cover-up for the test-firing of advanced intercontinental ballistic missile technology.
The Iranian Communications and Information Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi announced the proposed launch on Monday.
Iran Focus
London, 10 May – The Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, has recently rebuked the security forces, the Shiite clergy forces, and his rivals ahead of the presidential elections next week.
He called them “extremists” and criticised the arrest of reformist leaders, which is strange because he has overseen the arrest, torture, and executions of hundreds of political protesters over his four-year presidency.
Iran Focus
London, 10 May – The Iranian Regime tested a high-tech torpedo near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to US officials.
The Iranian missile, called Hoot, is supposed to be based on a Russian model (the Soviet-era Russian VA-111 Shkval) which is considered to be the fastest in the world.
Iran Focus
London, 10 May – In 2016, the US gave $1.7 billion in cash to Iran in order to secure the release of American hostages, and the Obama administration reported that this was Iranian money, which had been frozen in US banks and would improve the Iranian economy.
What is new, however, are reports that Iran turned over $400 million of that cash to Hezbollah, a terror group on the US’s list of foreign terror organisations.
Iran Focus
London, 9 May – The Iranian Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif, inadvertently admitted that the Iranian Regime knew about the attack on the Saudi Embassy in Tehran and the Saudi Consulate in Mashhad before they happened, in a speech on May 4, 2017 (known as Teacher’s Day in Iran).
Zarif, who was giving a speech on the Iranian RRegime’s foreign policy and its current status with regard to international relations at the Faculty of International Relations, called these attacks “badly managed”.
Iran Focus
London, 9 May – Donald Trump recently announced that his first foreign trip as President will be to Saudi Arabia, a visit he described as “historic”.
Turki Aldakhil, the General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel, wrote an op-ed for Al-Arabiya in which he noted that many Saudi officials are incredibly happy at what they see as a restoration of relations that faded during the Obama administration.
