Iran Focus

London, 25 Jan - The 2015 Iran nuclear deal was a great source of positivity for many when it was being signed. U.S. President Barack Obama who oversaw the negotiations promised his nation that the deal would make Iran more moderate and more of an international player than it had been. The EU saw the deal as necessary in order to contain the Iran nuclear threat. But the biggest winner of all was Iran.

Iran Focus

London, 24 Jan - The Iranian Writers Association (IWA) objected to the high and unaffordable bails that judicial authorities set for three of its members, accused of vague national security charges, which has caused the members to be stuck in the notorious Evin prison.

In the IWA’s Tuesday statement, they describe the roughly $240,000 bail set for Bektash Abtin, Kayvan Bazhan, and Reza Khandan Mahabadi as "unacceptable" and demanded their immediate release.

Iran Focus

London, 24 Jan - The UAE has condemned Iran for its interference in the Middle East, accusing the Gulf country of creating tension and instability in the region, during the UN Security Council’s quarterly Open Debate on the situation in the Middle East.

Saud Al Shamsi, Deputy Permanent Representative of the UAE to the UN, delivered a statement to the debate, which read: “The conflicts in Yemen and Syria clearly show that Iran is the common perpetrator. Iran has created more tension and instability in our region, posing a serious threat to the stability of the Middle East. We therefore call on the international community and the Security Council to seriously pressure Iran to end its interference and support for terrorist and sectarian militias in Arab countries.”

Iran Focus

London, 23 Jan - Following allegations by the U.S., Iran’s Mahan Air has been banned by Germany’s government from operating in their country. U.S. officials say that Mahan’s aircraft transported weapons and fighters to war-torn Syria.

The move against Mahan Air is believed to be the result of pressure from the Trump administration, but a spokesman for the German government said that the ban was necessary to protect the interests of the federal government.

Iran Focus

London, 23 Jan - Europe is deeply divided over Iran into several issues and there are major disagreements on how to deal with Iranian government between the various governments that make up the EU, the factions within those governments, and even the EU’s security and political establishments.

Iran Focus

London, 22 Jan - There is little chance of Iran being able to save its damaged banking sector as US sanctions really take their toll on the economy, causing bad loans to mount up, according to a new report.

The report, released on Tuesday by Fitch Solutions, said: “Many Iranian banks are in need of recapitalisation and restructuring, having accumulated high levels of non-performing loans. We see little scope for meaningful progress.”

Iran Focus

London, 22 Jan - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo conveyed one clear message on his recent trip to the Middle East, where he was reassuring US allies that the Donald Trump administration remained committed to the region, and it was that Iran must be contained.

Pompeo travelled to Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman for high-level talks with monarchs and ministers over just seven days, but at each meeting, Iran was a focus.

Iran Focus

London, 21 Jan - A contentious documentary series, “Out of Sight,” produced by Mehdi Naghavian, which purports to be about Iran’s enemies, was recently re-released by the country’s state broadcaster. The series was first broadcast in December 2017 on Iran’s youth-oriented Channel Three. It resumed broadcasting with the ninth episode of the series earlier this week, after a year.

Iran Focus

London, 21 Jan - According to Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2019, in response to protests across the country over economic conditions, corruption, and repression, arbitrary mass arrests and serious due process violations were practiced by Iranian authorities during 2018. The crackdown on peaceful activism included detaining lawyers, human rights defenders, and women’s rights activists.

Iran Focus

London, 21 Jan - Iranian civic activist Sepideh Qolian and labour leader Esmail Bakhshi, who were tortured during their imprisonment last year, was arrested again on Sunday.

In a short tweet, Qolian said: "I've been arrested."

By Jubin Katiraie

Iran’s theocratic government has not only been condemned for human rights abuse, it allows its 80 million citizens to struggle to feed their families, its corruption and mismanagement has led to power outages and water shortages. Food prices that have risen by more than 50 percent, and the people are fed up with the government using its money and resources for the export of terror.

The second round of U.S. sanctions that came into effect on November 5th target oil and banking. Today, Iran produces 1 million fewer barrels of oil per day than it did prior to the sanctions.The Iranian economy has lost $2 billion since November. Still, the government continues to fund terrorism.

Iran Focus

London, 18 Jan - Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized Iran for "widespread arrests" of protesters and activists in its 2019 annual report into human rights violations around the world, citing specifically the thousands of arrests made during the nationwide anti-government protests in the winter of 2018, as well as the arrests of environmentalists and women who protested against compulsory hijab.

In the report, which draws on events from late 2017 to November 2018, HRW also condemned Iran's shadowy "security apparatus" and "suppressive and non-accountable Judiciary" for their work to suppress human rights.

By Pooya Stone

The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this week that Iran is proving that it is an untrustworthy member of the international community following its attempt to put a satellite into orbit.

Iran had conducted a satellite launch even though the United States urged it not to. A rocket containing the Payam satellite did not gather enough speed in order to succeed in its mission according to the country’s Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi.

Iran Focus

London, 17 Jan - The Trump administration has made it very clear that it will not tolerate Iran’s belligerence and malign acts. Even before taking office, U.S. President Donald Trump had spoken about the Iran threat. He promised that he would withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which he eventually announced last May. Since then, crippling economic sanctions have been put back in place and his administration recently announced that no more waivers would be granted to any countries with regards to the importation of Iranian oil.

Iran Focus

London, 17 Jan - Canadian senators will be shown a new and effective way to fight for human rights in Iran when they reconvene in February, thanks to an Iran-focused motion, tabled by Conservative Senator Linda Frum, that condemns the country’s human rights violations.

The motion advises using the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (the Sergei Magnitsky law) to “sanction [the] Iranian government … entities and individuals involved in egregious human rights abuses”.

By Mehdi

Imran Khan was elected to be the Prime Minister of Pakistan last July. Before being elected, many were surprised at his pro-Iran rhetoric given that the country has a history of good relations with the countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

He founded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in 1996 and it supported the 2015 Iran nuclear deal which was seen as a way of enabling and allowing Iran’s destabilisation of the Middle East. Furthermore, Khan and his party had a big role in Pakistan’s shunning of the Saudi-led coalition to act in Yemen. Khan said at the time that his country was taking heed of past experiences and ensuring that his country is not drawn into another war.