Washington, 24 Mar – The Obama administration paid Iran nearly $2 billion in a ‘ransom payment’ to release US prisoners after at least two years of secret talks between Washington and Tehran, the Mail Online reported.
Five prisoners were freed by Iran in January this year, with a $1.7 billion payment heading from the US to the Islamic republic that day, according to official documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
New York, 24 Mar – A consultant to Iran’s mission to the United Nations has been criminally charged with violating a United States law against dealing with that country, according to an indictment made public on Wednesday.
Ahmad Sheikhzadeh, 60, faces seven charges including conspiracy to evade US sanctions against Iran, money laundering, and helping arrange false tax returns, the 18 May indictment said.
Iran Focus
London, 23 Mar – Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi has “strongly condemned” the deadly spate of bombings on Tuesday in Brussels, describing them as a “crime against humanity”.
A statement released by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) on Tuesday said: “Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, strongly condemned the terrorist attacks at Brussels’ airport and subway station as a crime against humanity. While offering her condolences to the Belgian people and government, she expressed her sincere sympathies to the families of the victims of this terrorist crime and wished for the recovery of the injured.”
Tokyo, 23 Mar – Ship insurers have stepped in to help plug a shortfall in cover for transporting Iranian oil resulting from the fact that U.S. reinsurers are still restrained by Washington’s sanctions, according to officials involved in the initiative, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
International oil and shipping companies have been eager to boost business with Iran since international sanctions related to its nuclear program were lifted in January, but securing proper insurance cover has been among the stumbling blocks in recent weeks.
Washington, 23 Mar – A key United States Senate Democrat drew a stark contrast with the Obama administration over its diplomatic engagement with Iran on Tuesday, in a sign of lingering tensions in some corners of the party.
In remarks at the annual AIPAC policy conference, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) forcefully denounced the international nuclear accord reached with Iran last year, which President Obama has described as a pillar of his legacy, The Hill reported.
Iran Focus
Washington, 23 Mar – A resolution with bi-partisan support has been submitted to the United States House of Representatives seeking international protection for members of the main Iranian opposition group People’s Mujahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI or MEK).
Resolution ‘H. RES. 650’ was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on 17 March by Republican Rep. Ted Poe and has been co-sponsored by the Republican chairman of the foreign affairs committee Rep. Ed Royce and Democratic Reps. Brian Higgins, Albio Sires, and Brad Sherman.
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
Last month a shocking story gained little traction in the mainstream press, despite its horrific implications and brutal reality. A report from Iran emerged which detailed how every male from a village in the province of Sistan Baluchistan had been executed. The Baluch, an ethnic minority in Iran, continue to face systematic repression and discrimination, yet they remain largely ignored in both the East and the West. The Baluch in Iran remain victims of institutional discrimination, state violence, and intense poverty.
The European Union could impose sanctions on Iran over its recent ballistic missile tests, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Sunday.
The United States, France and other countries have already said that, if the missiles are confirmed as nuclear-capable, the tests, conducted last week by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), would violate United Nations Security Council resolution 2231, Reuters reported.
New York, 11 Mar – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday urged Iran to act with caution and moderation after Tehran carried out missile tests over two days this week.
In the “current political atmosphere” in the Middle East and following the lifting of sanctions against Iran, the secretary-general called on the government of Iran to “act with moderation, caution and the good sense not to increase tensions through any hasty actions”, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
Iran Focus
London, 11 Mar – Iran is maneuvering with its allies at the U.N. Human Rights Council to block Western attempts to renew the mandate of a special investigator into Tehran’s human rights record – a man who has drawn contemptuous criticism from the regime for highlighting abuses, CNSNews.com reported on Friday.
For the past five years Ahmed Shaheed, a former foreign minister of the Maldives, has been an independent “special rapporteur” on the human rights situation in Iran, and over that period Tehran has denied multiple requests for him to visit the country.
