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استمرار جنایات جنگی بشار اسد در غوطه شرقی با همدستی رژیم آخوندی چهارشنبه, 23 اسفند 1396 آمریکا از شورای امنیت خواهان تصویب یک قطعنامه جدید برای برقراری آتش‌بس فوری در دمشق و غوطه شرقی شد. در جلسه شورای امنیت، نیکی هیلی سفیر آمریکا با یادآوری حملات موشکی به پایگاه نظامی اسد در پاسخ به جنایت شیمیایی در خان شیخون هشدار داد که اگر شورای امنیت نتواند در رابطه با وضعیت سوریه دست به عمل بزند، ایالات متحده اقدام خواهد کرد. نیکی هیلی تأکید کرد: «ما به هر کشوری که مصمم باشد خواست خود را از طریق حملات شیمیایی و درد و رنج انسانی اعمال کند و به ویژه به رژیم سوریه هشدار می‌دهیم که ایالات متحده آماده است که دست به عمل بزند. این مسیر مرجح ما نیست، اما نشان داده‌ایم که آماده‌ایم بار دیگر آن‌را در پیش بگیریم». وی با اعلام این‌که آتش‌بس قبلی شکست خورده است گفت که در قطعنامه جدید ارائه‌شده از سوی آمریکا، شکاف‌های قطعنامه قبلی وجود ندارد و نمی‌توان تحت عنوان مبارزهآسوشیتدپرس با تروریست‌ها از آن سوءاستفاده کرد. با ادامه حملات جنایتکارانه رژیم اسد با پشتیبانی تمام‌عیار حکومت آخوندی به مردم تحت محاصره غوطه

پیام حمایت جمعی از زندانیان سیاسی زندان ارومیه از زندانی سیاسی سهیل عربی چهارشنبه, 23 اسفند 1396                              جمعی از زندانیان سیاسی زندان ارومیه روز دوشنبه ۲۱ اسفند ماه؛ طی پیامی به زندانی سیاسی سهیل عربی بخاطر مقاومت و ایستادگی‌اش در برابر ظلم و ستم رژیم و ادامه اعتصاب خشک؛ به وی درود فرستادند و حمایت خود را از خواسته های برحق سهیل عربی اعلام کردند. این زندانیان در پیام خود همچنین اعلام کردند که با تمام وجود از سهیل عربی و سایر زندانیان سیاسی در بند حمایت می کنیم و هر آنچه که از دستمان برآید برای محقق کردن خواسته هایشان انجام خواهیم داد و تا آخرین لحظه پا به پای سهیل و سایر زندانیان همراهیم و ایستادگی می کنیم. زندانی سیاسی روز دوشنبه ۲۱ اسفند چهل و هفتمین روز اعتصاب غذای خود را پشت سر گذاشت. وی که اکنون در اعتصاب غذای خشک به سر میبرد در آخرین پیام خود از جمله گفت:‌ سفره‌های هفت‌سین‌تان را مقابل زندانهایشان پهن کنید... پس از سه روز نه گفتن به آب؛ غذا؛ خوراک و حتی سرم احساس می کنی کویر هستی کویری که هر لحظه خشکتر می شود. من سیل میخواهم، سیل میخواهم، سیلی که براندازد ا

Upcoming Protests in Iran13 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 13 Mar - The fire festival of Chaharshanbe Suri is a celebration that takes place every year just before Iranian New Year, or Nowruz. Its origins are pre-Islamic and it is a tradition that Iranian government has tried to stop the people from celebrating. Iranian people jump over fires which symbolises purification. The tradition is to prepare the people for the new year. Activists in Iran have chosen to hold anti-government demonstrations on the same day. At the end of December last year and the beginning of January this year, millions of Iranians took to the streets to protest against the government corruption that is having profound consequences on the country’s economy and social conditions. Iranian government, unsurprisingly, supressed the people and used violence to extinguish the protests. This is the regime’s way of dealing with any form of dissent or public gatherings that threaten the regime. Peaceful and unarmed p

Iranian Government's Mismanagement of EconomyEconomy 13 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 13 Mar - The Tehran Stock Exchange was set to close the current fiscal year at the end of the month with a gain of approximately 25% in local index terms. In February, there was a record plunge in the commercial currency market which is used as an alternative to popular investment. The rate plummeted to 50,000 rial per $1 USD and officials were obliged to shut down scores of dealers. In an attempt to divert remaining liquidity, the monetary authority issued high-interest bonds. Its own activity was criticised in the banking world for its lack of consistency with regards to intervention that resulted in months of difficulties in accessing foreign exchange. Valiollah Seif, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, was in Paris last month for the Euromoney Iran conference where Iran’s economic situation and its reintegration into the global economy were discussed. The economic situation in Iran is

French FM Visits Iran to Talk Ballistic Missiles and Syria05 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 05 Mar - The French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, has arrived in Iran to talk with the country's president Hassan Rouhani, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and the Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, according to Iranian state TV. Talks are expected to focus on Iran’s involvement in the Syrian Civil war and Iran's ballistic missile program, which both Le Drian and French President Emmanuel Macron have criticized Iran's missile program in recent weeks, with Le Drian stating that Iran's ballistic missile capacity worried France “enormously". In response to Iranian claims that their ballistic missile program is peaceful, Le Drian said: "Having such tools is not uniquely defensive, given the distance they can reach." The French Foreign Ministry even issued a statement ahead of the trip, which said Le Drian

Iran: Maryam Rajavi Commemorates Dr. Mosaddegh Monday, 05 March 2018 18:55 NCRI Staff NCRI - The President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, Mrs. Maryam Rajavi,, pledged to continue the fight for freedom in Iran in a speech marking the anniversary of the death of Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh, leader of Iran’s Nationalist Movement. Mosaddegh, who died in March 1967, was a bold advocate for the rights of the Iranian people and Iranian national interests. His government not only represented an unwavering struggle for freedom and independence, but it was also free from corruption and tyranny. All in all, a far cry from the rulers of Iran today. Indeed, when Ruhollah Khomeini took over as Supreme Leader, the mullahs reversed Mosaddegh’s good work; especially his nationalisation on Iran’s Oil Industry, which had ended Iran’s dependence on oil revenues. After Khomeini stole power, he said: “Our path is not the path of oil… Oil nationalization is not an issue for us. It is wrong

President Trump urged to speak with Iranian people in bid to overthrow warmongering regime PRESIDENT Trump will be urged to make a direct appeal to the people of Iran to demonstrate the US’ commitment to regime change, as protests across the country continue. By MARCO GIANNANGELI, DIPLOMATIC EDITOR PUBLISHED: 20:52, Wed, Feb 28, 2018 | UPDATED: 21:58, Wed, Feb 28, 2018 Donald Trump: US will stand with people of Iran It comes as senior US congressman attended talks with opposition leaders in Paris to discuss tangible ways in which the US can help Iranian citizens to overthrow the “weakened regime”. “The uprising is not over in Iran. It is an ongoing effort to wipe away these fanatic islamisists and their corrupt regime,” said Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, Chairman of the Congressional Sub-Committee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, last night. Last week Iran’s Islamic police warned that women who continued to protest against wearing the hijab could face up to 10 years in prison

The US Must Act on Iran's Human Rights Abuses01 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 01 Mar - The United Nations Human Rights Council has invited the Iranian Justice Minister Alireza Avayi to speak at its latest session, which began this week, and that sets a very low bar for human rights. Avayi has been sanctioned by the European Union for many reasons, but the worst is his long record of human rights violations, including his role in the mass execution of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988. The massacre, described as one of the worst crimes against humanity since World War II, was ordered in a fatwa by then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Political prisoners, mainly members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), were hauled before death commissions, interrogated about their political affiliations, and then sentenced to death after a so-called trial that lasted less than five minutes. They killed children, the elderly, those who had already been sentenced, those w

European MP ties to Islamic Republic of IranFriday, 2 March 2018, 3:29 pm Article: David N Neumann European MP ties to Islamic Republic of Iran By David N. Neumann After lashing out against opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran in several parliamentary debates, a member of the European Parliament has admitted to doing the bidding of Tehran. In a meeting in Brussels, Portuguese socialist MEP Ana Gomes acknowledged that she had been instructed in Tehran to bash the Iranian opposition. “I met with relatives of the victims of a terrorist organisation called MEK,” she said on her visit to Tehran in a meeting of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on 22 February 2018. After making a number of allegations about the Iranian opposition movement PMOI or MEK, she added: “We cannot continue to allow some members of this parliament, possibly out of naiveté, to continue to abet some of the members of this organization.” Her claims are particularly surprising, given that competen

Iran: Demonstration of 500 Looted Creditors, Chanting Death to Rouhani Sunday, 04 March 2018 11:42 Iran Uprising -No. 97 On Saturday March 3, 500 looted creditors of the Caspian, the Iranian Alborz, Samen Al-Hojaj, Arman Vahdat and the looterd people who came from Mashhad to Tehran, gathered in front of the regime’s parliament. The protesters chanted: Death to Rouhani, death to Ali Larijani (speaker of the regime's Parliament); Is this the house of the nation, or the thieves’ center; Victory is from God, down with this deceitful government; they stepped on Islam, they slammed the people; Larijani is a judge (head of the judiciary), he is playmate with the thieves. The protesters demanded in their handwritten notes and banners that the performance of thise institutions, which were fully dependent on the Revolutionary Guards, the Judiciary and other repressive organs of the regime, be clearly stated. At the end, they began a march.

Bahrain Says Raids Shut Down Militant Network Created by Iran and Arrests 116 Terrorists Sunday, 04 March 2018 12:52 March 03, 2018. Authorities in the kingdom of Bahrain say they have arrested 116 members of an armed militant network that was established and supported by Iranian regime. The Interior Ministry said the alleged militants planned to “target Bahraini officials, members of the security authorities, and vital oil installations with the objective of disturbing public security and harming the national economy.” "Comprehensive investigations revealed the suspected terrorists were members of a network formed and supported by” Iran regime’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the ministry said in a statement. It said 48 of those detained had received training in camps belonging to Iran's IRGC and its armed wings in Iraq and Lebanon. It said the IRGC and its affiliates, the Shi’ite militias Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq in Iraq and Hizballah in Lebanon, supported and financed th

Iran Regime, Scared of Protests, Sentenced Its Notorious 'Butcher' Prosecutor to Two Years Sunday, 04 March 2018 12:59 The former prosecutor-general of Tehran, Said Mortazavi, was officially sentenced February 28 to two years in prison for his role in the 2009 deaths of student protestors while at a detention center near the capital. Mohsen Rouholamini, 25, a computer engineering graduate, was one of the many students arrested while protesting the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. Rouholamini died as a result of severe beatings at the Kahrizak detention center. Two more young protesters, Mohammad Kamrani and Amir Javadifar, also died after being beaten while in detention at Kahrizak. Javadifar died on July 14, 2009 as he was being transferred from Kahrizak to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. Kamrani died two days later in the hospital. All three died from injuries resulting from severe beating, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) report

Strike and Clashes at Iran's Major Sugarcane Factory Sunday, 04 March 2018 16:25 Iran uprising Iran-No. 98 Workers from various sections of Haft-Tapeh Sugarcane Factory have gone on strike since Saturday morning, March 3, in protest against the failure to pay their salary and annual bonus, and the return of the corrupt managers to their previous posts. The factory's retired workers also participated in this protest move. In their protest to the management’s inattention and not being responsible, the workers of the factory prevented company's major shareholders, Rostami and Seifouri, from leaving the premises and transferred them to the management building. Following the talks between the workers and Rostami and Seifouri, they finally announced that they would only pay two million and five hundred thousand tomans out of 50 to 70 million tomans of their debt to the workers and they would pay the rest in November 2018. This answer, which had no meaning but to dodge the probl

French Foreign Minister Says Iran Needs to Address Concerns Over Missile Program Sunday, 04 March 2018 16:32 Ahead of a visit to Tehran on Monday, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Iran needed to address international concerns over its ballistic missile program or it risked new sanctions. "There are programs for missiles that can travel several thousand kilometers, which are not compatible with UN Security Council resolutions and which exceed the needs of defending Iran's borders," Jean-Yves Le Drian told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. "If not tackled head on, this country risks new sanctions," he added. The foreign ministry said in a statement that France also wants Iran to start contributing in a “positive” manner to resolving the crises in the Middle East. “In this regard, the crisis in Syria and the humanitarian situation there will particularly be discussed, along with other regional issues where Iran is involved (such as Yemen, Li

Iranian Regime Officials Fear Regime's Bleak Outlook Sunday, 04 March 2018 20:21 NCRI Staff NCRI - As protest rallies continue to spread across Iran, state officials and media warn over regime’s dark future. “The country is faced with a lot of super-challenges”, acknowledges Eshaq Jahangiri, first vice-president of Hassan Rouhani’s government, for the nth time, adding”we have challenges in different economic, social, cultural and political areas, both domestically and internationally. Restoring social assets is a crucial issue for us. But unfortunately, dialogue has been taken off the agenda and replaced by conflict instead, which is going to apply a heavy pressure on the society.” (State-run Khabaronline website, February 26, 2018) Meanwhile, Mohammad Maljoo, an economist close to Rouhani, points to a “huge volume of interactions raised by people’s daily lives” as the driving force and underlying layer of recent protests, which by no means could be harnessed. “And if the politic

Iran’s Regime Is Moving From One Crisis to Another BY RAMIN JAHANBEGLOO ON 02/03/2018 • he level of trust the Iranian public has towards the regime has never been so low. A display featuring missiles and a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen at Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran September 27, 2017. Credit: Nazanin Tabatabaee Yazdi/TIMA via Reuters/Files Early in February 2018, the Euromoney Iran Conference was held in Paris with the aim of bringing together Iranian bankers and industrial leaders with their international counterparts to discuss and debate the key issues around the country’s economy. Participating in the event, Iranian Central Bank governor Valiollah Seif underlined the possibility of Iran’s full cooperation with the international community to implement standards set forth by the Financial Action Task Force. However, some parties are now calling for the countermeasures to be re-imposed given Iran’s financing some radical Islamist (terrori

A Close Look At Iran's Budget Heshmat Alavi , CONTRIBUTOR Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech to muslims leaders and scholars at a meeting in Hyderabad on February 15, 2018. The Iranian president in on a three-day official visit to India. / AFP PHOTO / NOAH SEELAM (NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images) A country’s budget is the government’s fiscal plan for that state for a period of 12 months. All the country’s revenue and resources to provide credit are forecasted, placed alongside anticipated costs and expenses. The intention of this piece is to provide a much-needed close examination of Iran’s budget. Iran’s next fiscal budget (from March 2018 to March 2019) is equal to around $350 billion. How is this money provided for? In general, Iran’s budget is funded through oil, taxes, increasing bonds and eliminating cash handouts or subsidies. Oil, a natural resource belonging to the Iranian people, is currently being plu

Iran Regime's Dismal Human Rights Record Highlighted by UN Secretary General Saturday, 03 March 2018 15:16 The UN Secretary General’s report on human rights in Iran was published, including his concern over the harassment of families of victims of the 1988 mass executions for their quest to uncover the truth. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres submitted the report on February 26 to the 37th Session of the Human Rights Council, currently meeting in Geneva. The report noted that the families of the victims of the 1988 mass killings in Iran continue to face harassment in their quest to find out the truth, and that human rights defenders working on their behalf face harassment, intimidation and prosecution. The report also emphasized the climate of fear cultivated in Iran by the Judiciary and the government’s various security apparatus. It noted violation of basic freedoms, including freedom of opinion, expression, and peaceful assembly, as well as prosecutions of individuals for

Iran Regime Behind Car Bomb in Kuristan, 2 Peshmerga of PDKI Killed and Injured Saturday, 03 March 2018 14:38 NCRI Staff NCRI - March 02 2018, the Kurdistan Democratic Party inside Iran has accused the regime's apparatuses of orchestrating the terror bombing. Mohammed Saleh Qaderi, one of the party's cadres, said the Iranian intelligence is behind the Thursday bombing, which targeted two of the members of the party in the district of Binslawa near Erbil. "The Iranian intelligence has been sending threats to the leaders of the party, saying they will target them and their relatives," he added. Qaderi said the bombing bears the fingerprints of the regime, affirming the party expected these attacks would be carried out by the regime after the mass protests that swept across the Kurdish regions in Iran. On Friday Mar. 2, 2018 around 4:00 pm local time the bomb was placed under the chassis of a car belonging to two Peshmerga from PDKI (Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdist

Iran Regime Lies About Arming Houthis Saturday, 03 March 2018 09:46 NCRI Staff NCRI - The Iranian Regime is once again lying about its involvement in the Yemeni war, which has caused thousands of deaths and triggered a humanitarian crisis; just days after Russia vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have condemned Iran for supplying the Yemeni Houthis with weapons and missiles, in violation of an arms embargo. Bahram Qassemi, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, outright denied that Iran sent weapons to Yemen and accused the UK of “dishonest behaviour” for drafting the resolution. He said: "We don’t send weapons to Yemen. Such allegations and attempts are made to project the blame on others by those who want to use the existing situation against Iran. We are witnessing a [sic] dishonest behaviour from the British government that uses the international mechanisms to defend the aggressor despite its slogans about a peaceful settlement of the Yemen crisis.&quo

Iran Regime's New Budget Benefits the Mullahs and the Military Above All Else Saturday, 03 March 2018 09:36 NCRI Staff NCRI - Iranian regime’s latest budget is roughly $350 billion for the financial year 2018/2019. It is currently most well known for a highly unpopular draft that sparked nationwide anti-regime protests in Iran at the turn of the year. Let’s look at it now. How is it funded? • oil: a natural resource that belongs to the Iranian people and is being stolen by the mullahs, which amounted to $50 billion in the last fiscal year • taxes: President Hassan Rouhani will raise taxes by 11% or $55 billion, which means they’ll be taking more in taxes than in oil • increasing bonds: Rouhani wants to increase its bonds to $45 billion, but this is only appropriate under a popular government, not one where the people are openly calling for your death • eliminating cash handouts or subsidies: this will hurt at least 30 million people living in poverty, in order to raise another $5

European MP Ties to Islamic Republic of Iran Saturday, 03 March 2018 08:29 Ana Gomes, MEP and Josef Weidenholzer By David N. Neumann After lashing out against opponents of the Islamic Republic of Iran in several parliamentary debates, a member of the European Parliament has admitted to doing the bidding of Tehran. In a meeting in Brussels, Portuguese socialist MEP Ana Gomes acknowledged that she had been instructed in Tehran to bash the Iranian opposition. “I met with relatives of the victims of a terrorist organisation called MEK,” she said on her visit to Tehran in a meeting of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on 22 February 2018. After making a number of allegations about the Iranian opposition movement PMOI or MEK, she added: “We cannot continue to allow some members of this parliament, possibly out of naiveté, to continue to abet some of the members of this organization.” Her claims are particularly surprising, given that competent European and American court

Iran: Arresting Steel Workers, a Desperate Attempt to End Strikes and Labor Protests Friday, 02 March 2018 22:39 Iran Uprising - No. 94 Call for the immediate and unconditional release of arrested workers The Iranian Resistance condemns the arrest of striking workers of the Ahvaz steel industrial group and calls on the general public, especially the youth and workers of Khuzestan, to express solidarity with the strikers and to support families of the detainees, and calls on all international human rights and labor rights organizations to condemn suppressive and anti-labor policies of the clerical regime and to take action for the immediate and unconditional release of the detainees. Thursday night, March 1, suppressive forces arrested at least 10 striking workers of Ahvaz steel during a raid on the homes of a number of them. This repressive action took place on the tenth day of the strike of more than 300 Ahvaz steel workers and their daily gatherings in front of the governorate. Fo

Future of the Iran Nuclear Deal Depends on EuropeNuclear 28 February 2018 Iran Focus London, 28 Feb - When the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement was signed, many hoped that it would be the start of a new era – a less belligerent and non-nuclear Iran. However, this was far from the reality. Nothing really changed with regards to Iran’s meddling and trail of destruction across the Middle East. When President Trump took office, he ended the policies of appeasement that were clearly not effective. He decertified the deal in October last year because Iran refused to let international inspectors have proper access to nuclear and military sites and because it was still trying to access missile and banned nuclear technology, among other violations. Although Iran’s compliance was decertified, the US is still a party to the deal. However, Trump will soon make the decision about whether the US will pull out fully. Whatever he decides to do, it is important that the correct policy is put into place. I

German Military Forced to Fuel Iranian Foreign Plane in Munich28 February 2018 Iran Focus London, 28 Feb - The unified armed forces of Germany, known as the Bundeswehr had to refuel Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif's plane in Munich recently. According to German media reports, local fuel companies had already refused to do because they did not want to violate US sanctions against Iran. The daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR reported on Tuesday that Zarif was attending the Munich Security Conference with other foreign officials and security experts before the incident occurred. Zarif was told by Munich Airport a week before the conference that it would be unable to refuel his diplomatic plane after it arrived from Mumbai, India. According to the airport, it could not buy fuel from local companies, who feared contravening US sanctions against Iran by delivering the fuel. This forced Germany's military to step in. The incident a

Violent Attacks Against Women Protesting the Hijab Continue28 February 2018 Iran Focus London, 28 Feb - In recent days, women have been brutalized and arrested by the regime’s forces as they protest wearing the compulsory veil. These actions are vehemently condemned by Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ) in an article published on February 27th, 2018. Calling on Iran’s youth, and the sisterhood of women, The NCRI Women’s Committee are pleading that the Revolutionary Guard and the regime’s security forces not be allowed to apprehend the protesting women. After their arrests, the women are harassed and mistreated in the detention centers, according to reports that also allege that those who have been wounded or who have suffered broken bones are denied medical treatment. International human rights and women’s rights organizations are urged by the Women’s Committee of the NCRI to condemn these practices and take urgent action to secure the release of

Iranian Opposition Organises Protest Against Presence of Iranian Justice Minister at UN in Geneva 01 March 2018   Iran Focus London, 01 Mar - Protests organised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) have taken place because of the attendance and participation of Iran’s minister of justice at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Seyyed Alireza Avaei was formerly a prosecutor in Iran and is notorious for his role in the arbitrary execution of thousands of political opponents. He also was in charge of the 2009 trials that caused international outrage because those on trial were anti-government protesters. Some of this outrage came from the United Nations itself. It is shocking that such a criminal would be allowed to attend and address a session at the United Nations Human Rights Council and countless people have expressed their disgust. In protest against his presence, several European diplomats left the chamber, including Margot Wallstrom – the

US General Says Iran Has Increased Spending on Terrorist Proxies Since Nuclear Deal Was ImplementedTerrorism 01 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 01 Mar - General Joseph Votel, the United States’ top general who is in charge of the US Central Command, has said that Iran has been increasing its investments in terrorist and militant groups across the whole of the Middle East in the few years since the nuclear deal took effect. Speaking to lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee, General Votel said: “What it took 20 years for Iran to do in Lebanon with the Lebanese Hezbollah, they’re attempting to do in about five years with the Houthis in Yemen. They’re accelerating their pace and their ability to do this.” He was asked whether he believes that Iran has increased, decreased or maintained its level of investment in various proxy groups since the 2015 nuclear deal came into force. He responded: “I would characterize it as an enhanced investment in their proxies and partners.” Iran is

France to Take Steps to Curb Iran Ballistic Missile ThreatNuclear 01 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 01 Mar - Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Foreign Minister of France, said that Iran’s ballistic missile program is a grave concern to his country and he wants to ensure that it is not going to become an issue that will threaten Iran’s neighbours. He said that there is a huge risk factor surrounding the country’s missile program and he wants to ensure that steps are taken to counter it. “There is a risk, and everything possible needs to be done to avoid this risk and take the necessary measures so that this ballistic threat is not such for all regional actors.” Speaking in Moscow with Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, Le Drian said yesterday that the security in the whole of the Middle East risks being undermined. With regards to how he is going to tackle the problem, he promised that Iran’s ballistic missile program would be brought into discussion when he visits Tehran in a few days

The US Must Act on Iran's Human Rights Abuses01 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 01 Mar - The United Nations Human Rights Council has invited the Iranian Justice Minister Alireza Avayi to speak at its latest session, which began this week, and that sets a very low bar for human rights. Avayi has been sanctioned by the European Union for many reasons, but the worst is his long record of human rights violations, including his role in the mass execution of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988. The massacre, described as one of the worst crimes against humanity since World War II, was ordered in a fatwa by then-Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Political prisoners, mainly members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), were hauled before death commissions, interrogated about their political affiliations, and then sentenced to death after a so-called trial that lasted less than five minutes. They killed children, the elderly, those who had already been sentenced, those w

Iranian Death Row Inmate Granted Swedish Citizenship01 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 01 Mar - Sweden recently granted citizenship to a disaster medicine expert currently on death row in Iran, with the hopes that it will allow the Swedish Foreign Ministry to intervene in the case and get the doctor released. Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, who taught at the Karolinska Institute of Medicine in Stockholm and worked in the research department of the Free University Brussels (VUB), visited Iran for a medical conference in 2016, where he was arrested and charged with spying for Israel. In October 2017, he was tried and sentenced to death. Djalali’s wife Vida Mehrannia explained that decision to grant him Swedish citizenship gives her hope that he will be released. She said : "I was so happy, because I got some hope that the Swedish government can [do] more to help my husband and he will get more support from Sweden." Ami Hedenborg of Amnesty International's Sweden branch also noted th

Iran Cybersecurity Threat Sets Sight on the Middle EastTerrorism 01 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 01 Mar - An Iranian hacking group that has previously conducted surveillance on the Iranian people for the Regime is now setting its sights on other places in the Middle East, according to a new report from Symantec . The cybersecurity firm reports that in 2017 the group, known as Chafer, had been targeting airlines, aircraft services, telecom firms, and technology companies serving the air and sea transport sectors in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The report read: "The group staged a number of ambitious new attacks last year, including the compromise of a major telecoms services provider in the region. There is also evidence that it attempted to attack a major international travel reservations firm.” The report described this as "heightened ambitions" from the Iranian hackers and said that Symantec also found evidence of attacks agains

Satellite Images Show Iran's Military Base in SyriaTerrorism 01 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 01 Mar - Reports indicate that Iran has built and set up a military base just outside the Syrian capital. It is being used to store its missiles that are reportedly able to strike Israel. The base, with brand new hangars, is located eight miles from Damascus. ImageSat International has satellite images showing the structure. Intelligence experts have said that the base is being operated by the special operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – the Quds Force. There are apparently a couple of hangars that contain short-range and medium-range missiles. Last year, a similar base just south of the city was destroyed after being hit by Israeli surface-to-surface missiles. Israel’s UN ambassador recently warned that Iran was setting up military bases in Syria. He said last week that Iran is currently in command of around 82,000 fighters in Syria. He explained that 60,0

Iran Wants International Rewards Without Displaying the Behaviour That Merits ItEconomy 02 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 02 Mar - Earlier this week, the Financial Action Task Force met in Paris. One of the items on the agenda was to discuss whether Iran’s banking system is clean. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global standard setting body for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT). For more than two decades, the United States Treasury Department has attempted to trace how banks in Iran are being used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to fund militias and terror groups. The FATF called on Iran to address the “remaining action items” in full. One such issue is a legal loophole that the parliament in Iran is to address with regards to the country’s financing of terrorism. The loophole allows for groups that try “to end foreign occupation, colonialism and racism”. So, the body that has the task of combatting the financing of

Iran's Network of Terrorism in Latin AmericaTerrorism 02 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 02 Mar - Iran’s activities in Latin America are a threat to the US’ role in the West. Iran is trying to replace the US as the power ally of the countries in Latin America. Iran’s belligerence and quest for hegemony in the Middle East is well-covered. It is no secret and Iran barely makes an effort to cover up its activities. However, this cannot be said for its activities in Latin America which, although they have been going on for many years, are relatively under the radar. However, at the beginning of last month, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that he wants to put an end to Hezbollah’s fundraising efforts in Latin America in order to cut the funding to terrorism. This suggests that the US is looking extensively into Iran’s and Hezbollah’s infiltration in the region. Iran played a role in the 1994 terrorist bombing in Buenos Aires by instructing and guiding Hezbollah. A Jewish centre

Iran MP Calls for Separation of Intelligence Agencies Powers02 March 2018 Iran Focus London, 02 Mar - An Iranian MP on the Parliamentary Committee for National Security and Foreign Policy is drafting a bill to separate the powers of the Intelligence Ministry and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Organization. On February 26, Mostafa Kavakebian told the semi-official Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA): “In my opinion, under the law, the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization is considered an agency that enforces judicial orders. At the same time, we have always believed that the legal authority in charge of espionage operations is the Intelligence Ministry and its decisions are also carried out by the Judiciary. So, naturally, there has to be a separation of responsibilities between these two security organizations.” Kavakebian questioned why the Intelligence Ministry and the IRGC have ward under their control in Evin Prison, as the facility is under the jurisdiction