Iran Focus
Tehran, 16 Sep – Iranian political prisoner Ramezan Kamal Ahmad, 34, detained in Gohardasht Prison, Karaj, west of Tehran, has been on hunger strike since Saturday, 12 September, protesting his poor physical condition and severe pain in the arms and legs resulting from being beaten, and also being shot while arrested.
London, 15 Sep – In the Jask seaport next to the Persian Gulf in southern Iran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Navy has initiated the demolition of an ancient castle that belonged to the Persian Empire of the Sassanid era, according to a report on the website of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
London, 15 Sep – Shahrokh Zamani, an Iranian political prisoner, was found dead in his prison cell on Sunday with his mouth full of blood and a bruised head. A 51-year-old labour activist and painter, Mr. Zamani was arrested in June 2011 and was being held in Gohardasht (Rajai Shahr) prison in Karaj, north-west of the Iranian capital Tehran. The following text is an English translation of a letter by Mr. Zamani which he wrote exactly one year ago today to his daughter from prison (published by the National Council of Resistance of Iran)
London, 15 Sep – US President Barack Obama’s policy win last week in preventing Congress from blocking the nuclear agreement with Iran will do little to improve his sagging approval ratings amongst the American people.
A new CNN/ORC poll finds 59% of Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling the U.S. relationship with Iran, and about half would have preferred Congress reject the deal. Few believe Iran will abide by its terms, and a growing number consider the country a serious threat to the US.
The Wall Street Journal – OPINION, COMMENTARY
Cleaning Up After the Obama Team’s Iran Deal
Show Tehran the ways it may lose what it won at the gaming tables in Vienna.
By MICHAEL B. MUKASEY
Tehran, 13 Sep – Iran has discovered an unexpectedly high reserve of uranium and will soon begin extracting the radioactive element at a new mine, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi said on Saturday.
Any indication Iran could become more self-sufficient in its nuclear programme will be closely watched by world powers, which reached a landmark deal with Tehran on 14 July over its programme. They had feared the nuclear activities were aimed at acquiring the capability to produce atomic weapons.
London, 12 Sep – United Nations inspectors will be present with Iranian technicians as they take samples from a key military site, two Western diplomats said, undercutting an objection by US Republicans to the Iran nuclear deal.
The diplomats were familiar with details of a confidential arrangement between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog for inspections at the Parchin site, where some countries suspect nuclear weapons-related tests may have taken place, Reuters reported.
By Hamid Yazdan Panah
One of the key points absent from the discussion on the deal with Iran is the direct benefit it confers on the financial empire of Ali Khamenei and his fascist regime in Iran.
A 2013 report by Reuters uncovered the vast financial empire of Khamenei. According to the report, which was based on a 6 month investigation, Khamenei “controls a business empire worth around $95 billion – a sum exceeding the value of his oil-rich nation’s current annual petroleum exports.”
Vienna, 9 Sep – The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday that information provided by Iran regarding its nuclear programme contained “ambiguities” and that it was seeking clarification from Tehran, AFP reported.
“The IAEA submitted on 8 September questions to Iran on ambiguities regarding the information Iran provided to the IAEA on 15 August 2015”, the United Nations nuclear watchdog said.
Washington, 9 Sep – United States Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton vowed on Wednesday not to shrink from military action against Iran if it tries to obtain atomic weapons and threatened to impose penalties on Tehran for even for small violations of its nuclear deal with world powers.
In a speech to a Washington think tank, the former US Secretary of State reiterated her support for the accord but cautioned that she would take an approach of “distrust and verify” toward Iran if she won the November 2016 presidential election.
