Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has condemned US President Donald Trump's move in designating the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terror organization, saying the United States as the “world’s leading terrorist” is in no position to make such a decision.

“You made another mistake and called the IRGC terrorist; nobody cares what you do,” Rouhani said in a speech delivered on the occasion of the National Nuclear Energy Day in Tehran on Tuesday. ››read more

President Donald Trump has been laying the groundwork for today’s designation of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group for at least 18 months, a review of US statements shows.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo himself suggested as much when he made the decision official, telling reporters at the State Department that the IRGC designation should “surprise no one” but rather “builds on” the administration’s sanctions against more than 970 Iranian businesses and individuals since the president took office. ››read more

THREAD. Usual suspects pushed Trump to designate #IRGC as FTO. Why?
- Constrain Trump’s deal-making instincts
- Box in next US president on Iran (Dems say will rejoin JCPOA)
- Force Lebanon/Iraq into picking between Iran/US
- Force Europe to further cut whatever meager outreach
- provoke Iran to scrap JCPOA
- and, ideally, initiate military confrontation

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The US action against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is a dangerous escalation which can only endanger a fragile world peace and widen the breach between the Trump administration and many of its closest allies, principally the EU.

On Monday, the US designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a “terrorist organization”.

It is the equivalent of declaring the US Marine Corps a terrorist organization, though with much less justification given that Iran hasn’t invaded another country for centuries. Washington’s description of Iran as “expansionist” is enough to make a horse laugh given the world-wide projection of US bases and military hardware around the world – and around Iran. ››read more

In a Monday Tweet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Trump for declaring Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization, saying that he had personally requested Trump’s move.
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Iran’s foreign minister says the US is waging “economic terrorism” against the Islamic Republic by employing restrictive measures that are troubling the relief efforts targeting flood-stricken people across the country.

Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted the remarks on Monday, saying the sanctions are “impeding aid efforts by Iranian Red Crescent to all communities devastated by unprecedented floods. Blocked equipment includes relief choppers.”

“This isn't just economic warfare; it's economic TERRORISM,” he added. ››read more

A new alliance being formed by Qatar, Turkey, and Iran, with the potential to receive the backing of Russia and China, is a major concern to the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.

The aftermath of over eight years of war in Syria has changed the regional dynamics in a way almost certainly never envisioned by the United States and its allies. Through leaked documents, we have known for some time now that Washington’s interim goal was to, at the very least, destabilise the Assad government in the hopes of scaling back Iranian influence. (Its ultimate goal was quite clearly regime change, which was very close to fruition during at least one stage of the war).

This anti-Assad strategy has, of course, backfired to the point where Iranian-backed forces have essentially amassed along the Syria-Israel border, threatening Washington’s most beloved ally in the region. The other notable – and realistically, most important – development is that Russia, not the United States, emerged out of the rubble of Syria as the major power-broker and military tactician. ››read more

US President Donald Trump had to sneak in to Iraq, a supposed US ally, arriving at the Ein Al-Assad airbase for an unannounced visit on 26 December. Not a single Iraqi official was there to welcome him. Instead, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel-Mahdi angrily snubbed him, refusing to travel to the airbase to meet him as requested. Many members of the Iraqi parliament went so far as to demand the departure of the some 5000 US troops based there. Eventually, President Trump had to sneak out of Iraq the same way he entered.

In stark contrast, on his visit to Iraq between 11 and 14 March Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was received as a statesman. Welcomed with honour, he stepped onto the red carpet and was received by the Iraqi President, Barham Salih, on arrival. ››read more

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the Trump administration is giving voice to Israel's falsification of the Torah to promote Iranophobia.

“Even the Torah is distorted to serve Iranophobia. What it actually says: Persian king saved Jews from captivity in Babylon. Another Persian king saved Jews from genocide. Genocide plotter hailed from Negev, not Persia. Persian king is only foreigner referred to as MESSIAH,” Zarif said in a message posted on his Twitter on Sunday. ››read more

Golan HeightsThe Arab League, Russia, Iran and Turkey have strongly warned the US after President Donald Trump declared Thursday that he will recognize Syria's Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

The strategic highlands have been under the Israeli occupation since 1967, but Trump's abrupt declaration a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Israel brings the dispute to a boiling point. ››read more

SanctionsBecause of sanctions, Iran's health sector is struggling to keep up with soaring prices of medications and medical instruments, doctors tell CNN. European banks, fearing secondary US penalties, are reluctant to do business with Iranian companies even those not blacklisted by the US. Medical companies have had to resort to paying intermediaries exorbitant sums to secure needed supplies, including imported medicines and medical instruments which have more than tripled in value during Iran's rapidly dropping currency, health professionals explain. "Sanctions is the first problem in our country and in our system. We can't transfer the money and make the preparations for surgery. It's a big problem for us," says Dr. Mohammad Hassan Bani Asad, managing director of the Gandhi Hotel Hospital. "We have the procedures, but we don't have the instruments. It is very difficult for patients and maybe leads to death of some patients." ››read more

Rajavi and SaddamEver since the group set up shop in Albania, however, more and more members have defected. Some tell stories of torture experienced in the camp and of group sessions in which members are required to open up about their sexual fantasies. Women are allegedly forced to wear headscarves. And all of it takes place in the name of a phantom leader named Masoud Rajavi, who hasn't been seen since 2003. Indeed, it isn't even clear if he is still alive; photos from the 1990s show a mustachioed man in a green uniform.

The residents of the camp are just one part of the movement, which is led by Maryam Rajavi, the wife of the vanished leader. The 65-year-old commutes between Albania and her office in Paris, from which she leads the group's political arm, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which is active in both Europe and the U.S. NCRI is structured as a kind of interim government, ready to take over in Tehran as soon as the current regime is toppled and the group has offices in many capital cities, including one in Washington not far from the White House. ››read more

Newsweek also tested the terms “Heil Hitler” and “Supporting Nazis in Europe” to inquire whether the app would flag payments that were not related to sanctions but could raise concerns.

"[PayPal] and Venmo do not allow our services to be used to accept payments or donations to organizations for activities that promote hate, violence or discriminatory intolerance," a Venmo spokesperson said. "We regularly assess activity and discontinue our relationship with account holders who are found to violate our policies. We remain vigilant and committed to ensuring that our platforms are not used to perpetuate hate and violence or discriminatory intolerance." ››read more

The Trump administration tried to make this week’s Middle East conference in Warsaw what the administration had intended it to be all along: an Iran-bashing exercise that would get Europeans to join in more of the bashing. But the conference instead became what most European governments—whose attendance at the gathering was spotty and often low-level—warned it would be: a demonstration not of U.S.-European unity on policy toward Iran but instead of disunity. That the conference’s final statement makes no mention of Iran has to be a major disappointment for the administration.
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“a desperate anti-Iran circus.” A conference in Warsaw this week was billed as reinstating the US’ lead role in diplomacy for the Mideast. The absence of Russia and other European leaders only served to expose the ill-conceived summit and Washington’s isolation.

When the forum was initially planned last year by the Trump administration, the purpose was to bring Washington back in from the diplomatic cold which it had opted for by abandoning the international nuclear accord with Iran. ››read more

Tehran has welcomed the European Union’s “positive positions” on the 2015 nuclear deal outlined in a 12-point statement, but remains critical of certain other points raised in the document, including those regarding Iran’s national defense program and regional role. ››read more

BaskervilleI have had the opportunity to travel to Iran on seven occasions since 2005. Most recently, in November 2016, I went there to participate in a conference with Christian and Muslim religious leaders from around the world. While there I received word that Donald Trump had just been elected president. Iranian academics and religious colleagues as well as Iranian citizens I met during my visit asked with deep concern whether Trump’s election would alter or even terminate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the agreement with Iran to terminate its development of nuclear weapons. ››read more

On February 13-14, the U.S. will host a summit on the Middle East in Warsaw, Poland. The aim of the conference will be to set the stage for an unnecessary conflict with Iran.

Instead of a summit to confront Iran, we need the world to pressure the United States to reenter the Iran nuclear deal after Trump’s unilateral withdrawal and to lift the devastating sanctions it has imposed on Iran. Sign our letter asking EU countries to skip Pompeo’s belligerent conference in Warsaw next month and instead host a gathering on Middle East peace with all Middle Eastern nations including Iran. ››read more

With respect to my return from Iran to the UK (British-Iranian academic detained in Iran since April returns to UK, 25 December), it should be pointed out that, during my detention and confinement, my family and I neither sought nor received any consular support from the UK government. In addition, the Foreign Office was only informed about my return to the UK by Imperial College London, where I work.

وزارت امور خارجه بریتانیا نقشی در بازگشت من از ایران نداشته است

در ارتباط با بازگشت من از ايران به انگلستان (مقاله پاتريك وينتور در گاردين ٢٥ دسامبر ٢٠١٨) باید خاطرنشان کرد که من و خانواده ام در طول دوره بازداشت در ایران نه هيچگونه حمايت كنسولي از دولت بريتانيا درخواست كردیم و نه هیچگونه حمایتی دريافت كرديم.

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The BBC Persian article published on 25 December, 2018 has a lede that says the British government has "confirmed" the release and return of Professor Abbas Edalat. But it omits the crucial fact that this was a confirmation of a statement that first appeared on CASMII website on Dec. 22.

*** گزارش بی بی سی فارسی در مورد پروفسور عدالت گمراه کننده است‌ ***

بی بی سی فارسی در روز ۲۵ دسامبر ۲۰۱۸ گزارشی منتشر کرد که در قسمت ابتدایی آن آمده: "دولت بریتانیا تایید کرده است که عباس عدالت، استاد ریاضی و علوم کامپیوتری دانشگاه امپریال کالج لندن، که در ایران زندانی بود آزاد و به بریتانیا بازگشته است." ...

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