France in No Position to Dictate Iran’s Defense Policy” 3/4/2018 11:32:33 AM   facebook Google+ ► Print Velayati responds to the increasing international pressure on Irans missile program Iran Front Page, March 3, 2018  - A foreign policy advisor to Iran’s Leader says the Islamic Republic’s defense policy has nothing to do with foreign powers, reacting to frequent calls from French officials for curbs on Tehran’s missile program. “It’s not France’s business to tell us what kind of missiles we should have,” Ali Akbar Velayati said Wednesday. France, along with other European powers, Germany and Britain, has for a while been requesting Iran to stop developing ballistic missiles. They argue curbs on Iran’s missile program and regional activities will convince US President Donald Trump not to “terminate” the 2015 nuclear deal. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is expected to arrive in Iran for an official visit Monday, during which he ...

VIDEO: The recent Iran uprising was the most widespread crisis for the regime since 1979 3/2/2018 10:32:40 AM   facebook Google+ ► Print Dec. 30, 2017. A wave of spontaneous protests over Irans weak economy swept into Tehran An associate professor at Tehran University said: More than 4,000 aghazadeh (corrupt rich kids of the Iranian regime officials) are studying in the UK as students. Most of them return to the country and ask for their share of power. Their bold presence in decision-making organs creates crisis. According to the state-run Bahar News, Akbar Valizadeh considers the issue of ‘Aghazadeh’ as one of the crises the country is facing. He speaks of the activation of a generation of ‘Aghazadeh’ who are neither literate nor have managerial skills but are demanding, and are not satisfied with minor responsibilities and positions and that the decision making of this stratum in the structure can lead to a crisis. In his view, a...

UN faces rival drafts on Iran missiles to Yemen 2/25/2018 5:48:25 PM US in December unveiled missile and drone parts it said proved Irans involvement UNITED NATIONS (UNITED STATES) (AFP) - 25 February 2018 -  The UN Security Council on Sunday was considering two draft resolutions on Yemen after Russia put forward a rival text aimed at blocking action against Iran over missiles sent to the country's Huthi rebels. The council is set to vote on Monday on renewing sanctions on Yemen for a year, but a British-drafted text also calls for 'additional measures' in response to a UN report which found that Iran had violated the arms embargo on Yemen. The rival Russian-drafted text presented to the council on Saturday and seen by AFP would extend the sanctions regime on Yemen until February 2019 without any reference to the UN report's findings on Iran and possible action targeting Tehran. Diplomats said Russia could veto the British text, allowin...

‘We do not work for you,’ Iraqi officials tell advisor to Iran’s Khamenei 2/19/2018 4:49:50 PM Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Al Arabiya, 19 February 2018  - Iranian politician Ali Akbar Velayati’s statements that Tehran will not allow liberals or civil society activists or anyone who does not fit Tehran’s criteria to return to power sparked Iraqi officials’ outrage. National Coalition bloc MP Abdul Karim Abtan slammed Velayati and said Iraqis do not work for him. “We do not work for Velayati or anyone else. We are Iraqis and our national project is Iraqi. Velayati may have power over one or two Iraqi (politicians) but this power will not last,” Abtan told Al-Hadath television channel, adding that they will not allow Velayati to interfere in Iraqi affairs. He added that neither the Sunnis nor the Shiites will accept tutelage over Iraq. Meanwhile, Iraqi Communist Party leader Raid Fahmy said Velayati’s ...

Britain troubled by the threat from Iran, says UK foreign affairs chairman 2/13/2018 9:43:15 AM   facebook Google+ ► Print Tom Tugendhat warns that Irans proxy conflicts have damaged the relationship that forged the 2015 nuclear agreement The National, February 12, 2018  - Tom Tugendhat MP said: The actions of Iran not just in the region but in many other parts of the world as well has been extremely distressing to see and it’s a great shame.' It is a view troubled by the threat from Iran, which he says is fuelling proxy conflicts across its neighbors and by such actions should have forfeited the goodwill for wholesale sanctions relief after the 2015 nuclear agreement. “The actions of Iran not just in the region but in many other parts of the world as well has been extremely distressing to see and it’s a great shame,” he told The National. “The reality is that the lifting of sanctions that the Iranians are now claiming should have happene...

Iran's Oil Exports to Europe Down About 40% 11/13/2017 5:46:41 PM Iranian regime oil tankers sitting idle due to drop on Irans oil export Iran, November 12, 2017  - Iran's state-run Fars news agency, affiliated to IRGC, reported a 39% reduction in Iranian oil export to Europe blaming the US for the fall in the country's oil export. The report says, “Iran's oil sales to Europe have fallen because of the U.S. threats, which has made the Europeans plan to reduce their purchases of oil from Iran despite the nuclear agreement with, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA. Iran's total crude oil and condensate exports in October will drop by about a fifth to a month earlier this month, reaching the lowest figure in the past 19 months, according to international news agencies. Iran's exports to Europe this month are expected to drop by 39% from a month earlier from 837,000 barrels to 510,000 barrels a day. Italy, Spain, Turkey an...

Iran rejects Macron call for talks on Iranian missiles 11/12/2017 3:29:13 PM A display featuring missiles and a portrait of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen at Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran DUBAI, Reuters, November 12, 2017  - Iran rejected on Sunday a call by French President Emmanuel Macron for talks on Tehran's ballistic missiles, saying they were defensive and unrelated to a nuclear agreement with world powers. On Thursday, Macron said during a visit to Dubai that he was 'very concerned' by Iran's ballistic missile programme, mentioning a missile fired from Yemen and intercepted by Saudi Arabia earlier this month. He raised the prospect of possible sanctions with regard to those activities. 'There are negotiations we need to start on Iran's ballistic missiles,' Macron said. But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi rejected that possibility. 'France is fully aware of our country'...

US House of Representatives unanimously passes sanctions on Hizbollah 10/26/2017 12:13:24 AM   facebook Google+ ► Print The US Congress voted through measures designed to curb Irans ballistic missile programme Democratic and Republican members of Congress unanimously voted through measures designed to curb Iran's ballistic missile programme and Hizbollah’s funding The National, Oct. 25, 2017  - In a move that marks further US escalation directed at the Iranian government and the Lebanese armed group Hizbollah, US Congress took first step on Wednesday in approving unanimously three resolutions that tighten the economic screws on Tehran and the Shiite militant party. After almost six months of deliberations and amendments, the US House of Representatives passed a bundle of bills with measures designed to curb Iran’s ballistic missile programme and Hizbollah’s funding. A unanimous majority of Democratic and Republican members of Congress ...

Trump Takes Aim At The IRGC 10/20/2017 7:08:33 PM   facebook Google+ ► Print Trump Takes Aim at Irans Clandestine Nuclear Weapons Program by Ilan Berman Al-Hurra Digital , October 18, 2017  - You wouldn't know it from the media coverage surrounding President Trump's October 13th  speech   on Iran, but the most notable element of the Administration's new, 'comprehensive' strategy toward the Islamic Republic isn't its plan to revisit the 2015 nuclear deal formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Of course, President Trump's decision to formally 'decertify' that agreement should have come as a surprise to no one. During last year's presidential election, candidate Trump campaigned heavily on his opposition to the Obama administration's signature foreign policy achievement. And, since taking office in January, Mr. Trump has consistently maintained that the deal concluded two years ...