Iran Focus
London, 21 Jul – An Argentinian judge has requested that Singapore and Malaysia arrest an Iranian adviser who stands accused of planning the worst terrorist attack in the South American country’s history.
Ali Akbar Velayati was the Foreign Minister of Iran when the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires was bombed in 1994, which killed 85 people. The belief is that Tehran masterminded the attack and Hezbollah carried it out.
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jul – The United States blacklisted three members of al Qaeda living in Iran on Wednesday.
The US said that these three had helped the terrorist organisation in times of war by providing financial assistance, logistics and negotiating with Iranian authorities.
Since the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, Iran has held several high-ranking members of al Qaeda but the conditions they were kept in is unclear.
Iran Focus
London, 21 Jul – Saudi Arabia has recently vocalised its support for the Iranian Resistance in what has been called a “redrawing of some lines of history.”
At the Free Iran rally in Paris earlier this month, Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal spoke before 100,000 supporters of the Iranian opposition groups, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), to declare his support for their leader Maryam Rajavi, and to call for the overthrow of Iran’s theocratic regime.
Iran Focus
Brussels, 20 Jul – EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini announced the lifting of “multilateral and national” sanctions on Iran on 16 January this year, saying the nuclear deal showed that intense diplomacy could resolve even “the most difficult issues”. However, this new position came despite the EU sanctions still imposed on Tehran due to its poor human right record and links with terrorist organizations.
Iran Focus
Geneva, 20 Jul – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has released an update on the Iranian refugees stuck in Camp Liberty in Iraq.
This update focuses on how well solutions have been put in place to aid refugees in this area, specifically in terms of relocation.
Over 1,700 residents have been relocated to safe countries, which accounts for over half of the original refugees. The UNHCR hopes to have moved all residents out of Iraq before the end of 2016 with a combination of international efforts and middle-eastern movements.
Iran Focus
Berlin, 20 Jul – An Iranian Intelligence Agent has been convicted in Germany of spying on Iranian Resistance members living abroad.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has welcomed this conviction of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) agent and has urged foreign governments to prosecute and expel other regime spies.
Iran Focus
Brussels, 19 Jul – More than 90 Belgian Politicians on today, 19 July, called for relations with Iran to be predicated on an improvement in their human rights situation.
In a video of the remarks by Dirk Claes, Mayor of Rotselaar, Honorary Senator, and President of Belgian Committee of Parliamentarians and Mayors for a Democratic Iran, we hear about the Belgian peoples’ concern over human rights violations in Iran, which have degenerated under the regime of President Hassan Rouhani. Under this so-called ‘moderate’ leader, women are being ever more repressed, and journalists have been sent to prison, among many other abuses.
London, 19 Jul – In an article for The Diplomat on Tuesday, Lord Ken Maginnis argued that the Iranian Resistance, in the shape of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), is building significant momentum against the regime in Tehran.
Reflecting on both the absence of moderation in the regime and the abundance of it in the opposition led by Maryam Rajavi, Lord Maginnis called on Western governments to re-think strategy towards Iran.
Iran Focus
Tehran, 18 Jul – Iran hanged 18 prisoners, this past weekend; with 16 executions on Sunday alone.
Eleven prisoners were hanged in Qezelhesar Prison in Karaj, north-west of Tehran, on Sunday, but only two have been identified; Saeed Saberi and Moslem Bahrami. The charges have not been specified but at least one member of this group was a woman.
Two men were hanged on Sunday, in a public square in the city’s Mehshahr District, according to the state-run Tasnim news agency. They have only been identified by their initials Q. J. and M. R.
Iran Focus
Washington, 18 Jul – The United States’ Senate Committee on Foreign Relations voted unanimously last week to back a resolution regarding the rights of Iranian exiles living in Camp Liberty in Iraq.
The exiles are members of Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), who have been designated a protected group of people by the United Nations for the discrimination and violence that they face.
