Iran Focus
London, 15 Mar – Donald Trump welcomed the Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the White House earlier this week, in what has been called a “historic turning point”.
A senior adviser to the Crown Prince gave a statement after the meeting, in which he noted that this marked a shift in relations compared with the relationship under President Obama.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Mar – The Turkish Ambassador to Iran warned that the Regime’s smear campaigns against Turkey were harmful to diplomatic relations.
Riza Hakan Tekin told Anadolu News Agency that tourism allows people to experience the culture of another country and encourages diplomatic relations but that Iran endangered this when their Foreign Ministry warned Iranians against visiting Turkey during the upcoming Nowruz (Iranian New Year) holiday.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Mar – The Iranian Regime is still trying to showcase its military power in an attempt to threaten countries like the US into kowtowing to their demands, but they certainly chose a strange way to do it.
Their new Karrar tank is decades behind the tanks of today; Kyle Mizokami actually called the Karrar tank “meh” in an article on Popular Mechanics.
However, this tank reveal could just be a hoax intended to get Iran a better deal on Russian armour. When a deal to buy several hundred T-90MS battle tanks from Russia fell through, Iran vowed to build their own.
Iran Focus
London, 15 Mar – The Iranian people held Fire Festival Ceremonies across various cities, on March 14, in which they burnt pictures of the Supreme Leader, ridiculed politicians, and chanted anti-Regime slogans.
The militant security forces attempted to stop people from holding a political protest during the festival but they were held off by protesters. The Regime effectively turned a celebration into a battlefield.
Mostafa, a taxi driver in Isfahan said: “Despite the authorities’ efforts to stop this festival by scaring the people of [the risk of] fire to the buildings and themselves, nobody is listening and people are by all means ignoring mullahs’ measures to stop the festivities.”
Iran Focus
London, 14 Mar – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently commended Iran for “impressive economic growth” since sanctions against the Gulf country were lifted, but what is the truth behind this growth?
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, president of the International American Council, wrote on Arab News that the only reason why Iran has recently experienced financial growth is the lifting of economic sanctions against the country, which allowed it to re-enter the global financial system.
Iran Focus
London, 14 Mar – The Iranian nuclear deal and uncertainty surrounding whether it will remain in place in causing divisions amongst the Iranian Regime ahead of the May Presidential Elections.
Heshmat Alavi, a political and human rights activist, wrote an op-ed on the divide for The Diplomat, in which he reminded us that while most governments deal with divides via debate and discussion, the Iranian Regime is not most governments.
Iran Focus
London, 14 Mar – On Thursday, March 9, thousands of teachers took to the streets across 22 cities in Iran to protest their economic deprivation and the imprisonment of their fellow educators.
They held sit-ins in front of their local branches of the Ministry of Education, calling for their demands to be met.
They chanted slogans against the policies of suppression, repression and plundering which are carried out by the current Regime, and held signs the read: ‘Detained Teachers Must be Freed’, ‘NO to Prison’, ‘Teachers’ future must be secured’.
Iran Focus
London, 14 Mar – Iran has been taunting the US since Donald Trump took office in January, but just how should Trump respond?
Well, Raymond Tanter, who served as a senior member of the National Security Council staff during the Reagan-Bush administration, and Edward Stafford, a retired Foreign Service officer who focused on political-military affairs, wrote an op-ed for The Hill in which they outlined a strategy to fight Iran: Blacklist the IRGC.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) should be listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) for their links to terrorist activities which threaten the US, like:
Iran Focus
London, 14 Mar – A dissident Iranian cleric, who has been likened to Nelson Mandela, has completed his prison sentence but there are doubts that the Iranian Regime will ever release him.
Ayatollah Seyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi was imprisoned for his opposition to a political Islam, his support of freedom of religion, and his condemnation of profiting from religious activities, which was a direct contradiction to that of the ruling mullahs.
He also set up many charities to help the poor and those affected by natural disasters.
Iran Focus
London, 13 Mar – The health of a British aid worker, detained in Iran on spurious national security charges, has gone downhill so fast that she lost a significant amount of weight, is suffering from hair loss and is practically unable to walk.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, 38, a British-Iranian citizen, was arrested when she was trying to return to Britain with her daughter Gabriella after visiting family in Iran last April.
She was held for five months without charges before being tried for attempting to overthrow the Iranian Regime and sentenced to five years in Evin prison.
