Iran Focus

London, 25 April - The US recently placed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on its list of foreign terrorist organisations, which is a bold move that complements the Treasury Department’s previous listing of the IRGC as a banned terror group. It was the first time that an entire division of a foreign government was formally labelled as a terrorist organization.

By Pooya Stone

After three days, the Iranian rulers have finally responded on Wednesday to the US decision to remove sanctions waivers on the eight countries still currently allowed to purchase Iranian oil.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei claimed: “America's efforts in sanctioning the sale of Iranian oil won't get anywhere… We can export as much of our oil as we need and want."

By Mehdi

The United States warned Iran to keep the straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab open, a State Department official said on Tuesday, after the U.S. ended sanctions waivers for buyers of Iranian oil.

“We call on Iran, and all countries, to respect the free flow of energy and commerce, and freedom of navigation” in the straits, the official said, Reuters reported.

By Jubin Katiraie

Iran's main opposition group the People's Mujahedin (MEK) on Tuesday announced the names of 28 anti-regime activists arrested, some as little as a month ago, for their role in nationwide protests against the regime.

The MEK, also known as the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI), called for urgent international action for the protesters' release.

Iran Focus

London, 24 April - Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday adopted a bill that labels all United States military forces as terrorist, state TV reported, a day after Washington ratcheted up pressure on Tehran by ending sanctions waivers on the purchase of Iranian oil.

The bill is a step further from the one last week, when Iranian lawmakers approved labelling U.S. troops in the Middle East as terrorist, in response to the U.S. terrorism designation for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards earlier this month.

By Jubin Katiraie

The US vowed to eliminate in May all waivers granted to eight countries that allowed them to keep buying Iranian oil from November 2018 as part of the US campaign to increase pressure on Iran by cutting off their oil revenues.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the US wanted to reduce Iranian oil exports to zero and had no plans to give any of the countries involved a grace period to comply with the sanctions.

By Pooya Stone

Donald Trump tweeted on Monday morning that former Secretary of State John Kerry could have violated the Logan Act over his talks with Iran.

The tweet was sent after current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US was ending waivers for sanctions on Iranian oil in order to ratchet up economic pressure on Iran.

By Mehdi

Iran’s inflation rate is 51.4% for the first month of the Iranian year (March 21-April 20), according to the Iranian Statistical Center (ISC). This means that, compared with the same month last year, prices have risen by more than 50%.

The ISC also found that Iran’s inflation rate for the past 12 months was 30.6%, which is lower than the International Monetary Fund’s inflation estimate for Iran in 2018. However, there are two potential reasons for this. One, the IMF goes January 1 to December 31, while the ISC goes March 21 to March 20, and two, Iranian institutions usually underreport statistics that make them look bad, even if the ISC is more reliable than most.

Iran Focus

London, 22 April - Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei has appointed Brigadier General Hossein Salami as the new head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), just days after the US placed the group on its list of foreign terrorist organisations.

In a statement on his website, Khamenei wrote: "Considering [Salami’s] capabilities and significant experience with different revolutionary responsibilities ... I promote [him] to major general and commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards."

By Jubin Katiraie

In the early 2010s, relations between Iran and the European Union were strained because of the Iranian nuclear programme. In 2015, a solution was found in the form of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a binding agreement between the United Nations, the EU, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and Iran.

By Pooya Stone

Amnesty International has demanded that the Iranian government stop harassing, arresting and imprisoning peaceful protesters advocating for an end to the “degrading and discriminatory” compulsory hijab laws in the country, as well as immediately and unconditionally releasing those already detained on this basis.

Iran Focus

London, 18 April - Syria is facing a major shortage of fuel after Iran cut off credit to them in October under pressure from Us sanctions, according to Syrian government-controlled newspaper Al-Watan.

The paper reports that no oil tanker has come into Syrian ports in the past six months, according to the Syrian Oil Ministry, while the government-controlled regions in Syria are only producing 24,000 barrels per day, which is roughly 20% of what the country needs.

By Mehdi

The US will continue to increase pressure on Iran, according to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday, however, he declined to say whether the Donald Trump administration would extend sanctions waivers on eight countries that import Iranian oil.

By Jubin Katiraie

The US must act now to stop Iran taking over Yemen, according to political scientist Dr Majid Rafizadeh.

He explains, in a piece for the Gatestone Institute, that one of the Iran’s primary ideals is to export their malign revolution across the Middle East and, by extension, the world. The mullahs plan to carry this out by effectively taking over other countries, which they have already done with Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.

By Pooya Stone

Although Iranian authorities provided assurances that he would not be tortured, the European Court of Human Rights has held that the extradition of a man accused of theft to Iran would breach Article 3 of the human rights convention.

The Strasbourg court provides guidance on the kind of assurances required from the state requesting extradition in GS v Bulgaria (application no. 36538/17). It will not allow extradition unless the assurance is both specific and trustworthy. In this case, GS was wanted for theft, but if he was convicted, he was at risk of receiving corporal punishment — seventy-four lashes. The Strasbourg court would not allow extradition, because it labeled this manner of treatment as torture. In accordance with past case law, it found that the possibility of acquittal or the imposition of a different sentence was not sufficient to dispel the real risk of torture.

Iran Focus

London, 16 April - The US’s designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a foreign terrorist organisation formally came into effect on Monday, while the White House and Congress are divided on whether to extend the sanctions waivers granted to eight countries still importing Iranian oil.