Iran Focus
London, 19 Mar – A current senior official at the State Department, Chris Backemeyer, who serves as deputy assistant secretary for Iranian affairs under Secretary Rex Tillerson, was intimately involved in convincing public and private agencies of the Iran deal’s merits. Allegedly, he was a key component of the operation to sell the Iran nuclear deal to the American people.
Iran Focus
London, 19 Mar – On Thursday, Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Energy Minister said that relations between his country and the United States have never been better, and the two nations are in agreement on confronting Iranian aggression.
During a visit to Washington with Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the young, influential royal at the helm of Saudi Arabia’s economic diversification and military, Falih said the visit solidified the importance of the U.S.-Saudi relationship, and called it central to global stability.
Iran Focus
London, 16 Mar – The Trump Administration has been heavily focused on the Yemeni Civil War since they came into office and the reason may be that they are worried about the Iranian influence in the Middle East.
A senior US official told The Washington Post: “We’ll be looking for ways to blunt Iranian malign influence in the region.”
They are working with traditional US allies, like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in order to forge a long-term strategy on Iran.
Iran Focus
London, 16 Mar – Leading Muslim figures from all over the world gathered in Cairo to discuss the international cruises facing Muslim people, from hate crimes, to terrorism, to extremist attitudes.
The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs was addressed by Tawfiq al-Sudairi, the Saudi deputy minister for Islamic Affairs, Endowment, Dawa and Guidance who talked about the importance of separating religion from extremism and lambasted those who have perverted religion for their own ends and harmed the tolerant reputation of Islam.
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.
