Iran Focus
London, 26 Jan – Amidst reports of Iran currencies dropping to record lows, the budget bill for the next Iranian calendar year (March 2017 to March 2018), currently under review in Iran’s parliament, has already been described by economic analysts as a fully military-security budget. And this budget bill has been presented by the cabinet of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, described as a “moderate” by advocates of the Iran engagement camp.
Iran Focus
London, 26 Jan – A Lebanese writer and former editor-in-chief of the quarterly al-Ijtihad magazine, Radwan al-Sayed also authored many books and has written for Arab dailies such as al-Hayat and ash-Sharq al-Awsat. In his January 25 article for Al Arabiya, al-Sayed wrote about Iran’s relationships with Russia and the US.
Iran Focus
London, 26 Jan – In his January 26 article for Al-Arabiya, Turki Aldakhil, General Manager of Al Arabiya News Channel writes that “Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir’s response to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif at Davos was calm, to say the least. Zarif, who generally looks surprised, on the other hand spoke as if he was representing a Scandinavian country. He passionately and warmly spoke about relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran and voiced his surprise to the world on how relations reached this level of estrangement.”
Iran Focus
London, 26 Jan – Revolutionary Guard Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi, deputy commander of the Qods Force, has been appointed by Khamenei as the new ambassador to Iraq. Masjedi has played a key role in military operations over the past 30 years, particularly those outside Iran, chiefly in Iraq and Syria.
Iran Focus
London, 26 Jan – The Iranian elections are coming up- not that there is much to elect- but what will be Iran’s next move? Will they continue the façade of moderation or will they show their true colours? They’ve played good cop, bad cop in front of the world, but they are all on the same team.
Iran Focus
London, 26 Jan – A Republican lawmaker has stated his belief that Trump will stand up to the Iranian Regime. He also expressed pride in the notion that Trump would use the term Radical Islamic Terrorist.
Iran Focus
London, 25 Jan – A former CIA director announced at a security conference in Tel Aviv that the Trump Administration should not rule out military action in Iran.
General David Petraeus, who was at the tenth conference of The Institute for National Security Studies, said: “The US must prepare for action against Iran, if necessary.”
Iran Focus
London, 25 Jan – As the Trump administration coordinates its outreach to Russia, the major question is whether Trump can convince Putin to break ties with Iran.
Since the nuclear accord in 2015, Russia and Iran have grown ever closer. Russia has sold air defence systems to Iran and Iran has provided military personnel to conquer Syrian cities that have been levelled by Russian bombs.
Iran Focus
London, 25 Jan – Middle Eastern states may have a lot to look forward to when it comes to the Trump administration, at least when it comes to the renegotiation of the Iranian Nuclear Deal. Indeed, a veteran Saudi commentator believes that Trump could represent a modern-day Ronald Reagan.
Iran Focus
London, 25 Jan – Afghan officials have accused the Iranian Regime of exploiting its close relationship with the Taliban to target power and water projects.
Hayatullah Hayat, the governor of southern Helmand province, said that Iran is attempting to persuade the Taliban to disable some of the nation’s dams so that Iran can get a bigger share of water for the Helmand River.
