Iran Last News

Gibraltar Seizes Iranian Oil Tanker Headed to Syria IRAN (GENERAL)   05 JULY 2019 By Pooya Stone British marines and Gibraltar port authorities detained a supertanker on Thursday that they believed to be carrying crude oil from Iran to Syria in a violation of European Union sanctions. The ship was detained 4 kilometers south of Gibraltar in disputed waters claimed by both Britain and Spain. The tanker is now impounded. While Spain said that the vessel had been detained at the request of the United States, as US sanctions bar Iran from exporting any oil, the British and Gibraltar authorities specifically cited the European Union sanctions on Syria. Fabian Picardo, the chief minister of Gibraltar,  said : “We have reason to believe that the Grace 1 was carrying its shipment of crude oil to the Banyas Refinery in Syria. That refinery is the property of an entity that is subject to European Union sanctions against Syria.” While sanctions do not const...

How Are Iran-Backed Militias Still Receiving Weapons? 05 JULY 2019 London, 05 Jul - Recent US sanctions on the South Wealth Resources Company (SWRC) in Iraq have revealed how Iranian-backed militias are still managing to legally receive weapons despite sanctions. The SWRC, sanctioned for smuggling hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weaponry to Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-linked militias in Iraq, is only one of the hundreds of Iraq-based companies circumventing US sanctions. These companies follow all legal procedures in order to set up and run a business, according to a source that specializes in the affairs of Iraqi extremist groups and Islamic factions, and are able to operate due to collusion between Iraqi politicians, security apparatuses, political parties, and the Central Bank. The Iraqi state institutions are being pressured by Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, the commander of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) militia...

A Primer on Iran’s MEK 05 JULY 2019 By Pooya Stone The Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran/Mujahedin e-Khalq ( PMOI/MEK ), is the largest, most organized, and best alternative to the Iranian Regime, as it seeks and will deliver a democratic, secular Iran. Unfortunately, it is often misunderstood by international policymakers because of the Regime’s demonization campaign against them. However, the  MEK  is an important part of any conversation about a future Iran, specifically the ones taking place in the US at the moment as Donald Trump continues his “maximum pressure” campaign against the mullahs, so it’s important that we look at them in detail. Who are the MEK? It is the largest, longest-lasting, anti-fundamentalist group in the Middle East, founded in 1965 in response to the Shah’s despotic rule. They paved the way for the 1979 Revolution, even though by this point all of the  leadership ...

Republican Senators Urge Trump to Get Tougher on Iran NUCLEAR   05 JULY 2019 By Jubin Katiraie Three Republican Senators have  urged  the Donald Trump administration to get tougher on Iran in response to the country’s recent violations of the 2015 nuclear deal and threats of further violations in the coming weeks. Ted Cruz (Texas), Tom Cotton (Arkansas) and Marco Rubio (Florida) wrote a joint  letter to Trump  following confirmation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the Iranian Regime has indeed violated the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), by stockpiling over 300 kgs of low-enriched uranium. The Senators urged Trump to counter this violation with increased pressure on Iran’s nuclear program, specifically by removing the waivers given to Iran’s supposedly civilian nuclear program and invoking the snapback mechanism on US and international prohibitions that are laid out in...

Iranian Security Forces Arrest Eight Newly Converted Christians 05 JULY 2019 By Jubin Katiraie On Monday, July 1, eight newly converted Iranian Christians were arrested in the southern city of Bushehr at their houses; some of them were members of the same family. Security forces raided and searched their houses and confiscated their Bibles, Christian statues and signs, wooden crosses, paintings, laptops, cellphones, ID cards, and credit cards. The children witnessed all of these events as well as the cruelty by security forces in arresting their parents. So far there is no news about the reason for the arrest or about the whereabouts of the victims. The victims were identified as: Sam Khosravi, 36, and his wife, Maryam Falahi 35; Sam’s brother Sasan Khosravi, 35, and his wife Marjan Falahi, 33; Sam’s mother Khatoon Fatolahzadeh, 61; Poorya Peyma, 27, and his wife Fatemeh Talebi, 27; and Habib Heydari, 38. Mrs. Fatohlahzadeh was released on the same day due to her age. ...

Iran Defence Chief Advocates for Increased Military Ties With Iraq, Potentially at Risk of US Troops TERRORISM   05 JULY 2019 By Pooya Stone Iran’s defense chief reportedly  advocated  on Thursday for the country to increase military and defense ties with Iraq, where Iran-backed Shiite militias and roughly 5,000 American service members are located. Iran defense chief, Brig. Gen. Amir Hatami, told his newly-appointed Iraqi counterpart, Najah Hassan Ali Al-Shammari, that “Iraq [is] a friend of Iran with age-old religious, social and civilizational commonalities”, during a phone conversation on July 4 that was reported by Iran’s state-run Tasnim News Agency. He said: “We consider Iraq’s security, stability, and progress as being in the interests of the region, and have always defended it.” Iran’s state-run Mehr News Agency also reported on the story, saying that Hatami called for an increase in defense and military relations between the two nations ...

Maryam Rajavi’s 10-Point-Plan for a Free Iran  Bahar Many people around the world, wonder what Iran will look like after the Regime is removed for good. Luckily, they can look to the plan devised Maryam Rajavi, the leader of the Iranian Resistance Forces, to find out what lies ahead for a Free Iran. Maryam Rajavi is the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a coalition of Iranian Resistance groups, including the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) as its largest member, which serves as a parliament in exile. Let’s take a look at the ten-point-plan for a Free Iran in more detail, as it appears on Maryam Rajavi’s website. First is a strong commitment to democracy, citing free and fair elections under universal suffrage as the only legitimate path to political power. The NCRI already practice this with their own elections and should have no difficulty implementing it in a country desperate for democracy. Second ...

https://herald.report/the-optimal-answer-to-the-iranian-regimes-belligerence-is-more-sanctions/ The Optimal Answer to the Iranian Regime’s Belligerence is More Sanctions By  Masoud Dalvand After withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in May 2018, the U.S. imposed sanctions on the Iranian regime’s commercial, banking, and oil sectors on several reprises in order to block financials sources that the regime uses for development of missile and nuclear programs, increase terrorist activities and destabilize other countries. The newest sanctions announced on Monday, June 24, are against Iran regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and his office. The supreme leader in Iran has unlimited power in all matters, and he oversees a huge financial empire that is the source of widespread economic corruption in Iran. A quick review of the regime’s functions in the past four decades clearly show that increasing s...