US Intelligence Predicts Attack From IranTerrorism 28 September 2018

Iran Focus
London, 28 Sep - US intelligence suggests that Iranian-backed militias and proxy forces could be planning an attack on US military forces or interests in the Middle East, according to three defence officials.
The officials said that their concern is mainly focused on the threat from Iran-backed forces in Syria and several other locations in the Middle East – something that they called ongoing and worrisome – but refused to describe the specific intelligence from the recent assessment as more information continues to be gathered through public statements from the mullahs and intercepting overhead satellites.
The worry is that these militias have access to ballistic missiles and other advanced weapons because Iran has been secretly moving these weapons into the country over the past few years.
The US threat assessment is that Iran could possibly use these forces as opposed to ones that are directly linked to Iran in order to keep their hands looking clean. This is what Iran has been doing for years to avoid blame for its terrorism and continue to look like a country that it is acceptable to do business with.

LIFE IN IRAN
Ordinary Iranians Crave ModernityLife in Iran 28 September 2018

Iran Focus
London, 28 Sep - While the mullahs in Iran rage on about the “Great Satan” and scream that their people hate the US, the young people in Tehran and other major cities are enjoying Western media and culture. In fact, 60% of Iran’s 82 million people are under 30 and many of them are obsessed with Western pop culture.
Mohammadreza Azali, 31, co-founder of Iran’s tech news website Techrasa and a tech road show called Silk Road Startup, said: “We love American music. We watch American TV series and movies… Whatever is trendy in the U.S. is trendy in Iran.”
While Saeed Mohammadi, who co-founded Iran’s e-commerce platform Digikala, said: “This generation, this post-revolutionary generation, we don’t accept extremism. There are lots of us. We have the potential to revolutionize this country within a decade.”
Given the war of words that played out between the US and Iran at the UN General Assembly earlier this week, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that the people of the two nations aren’t so different after all.
SHOWDOWN AT THE UN

Iran’s Loadings Halved by China's Sinopec Due to U.S. Pressure01 October 2018

Iran’s Loadings Halved by China's Sinopec Due to U.S. Pressure01 October 2018

Iran Focus
London, 1 Oct - As China’s state refiner, Sinopec Corp, comes under intense pressure from Washington to comply with a U.S. ban on Iranian oil from November, people with knowledge of the matter said that the company is halving loadings of crude oil from Iran this month.
Volumes were not specifically identified, but based on the prevailing supply contract between the top Chinese refiner and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), its loadings would be reduced to about 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) — 20 percent of China’s average daily imports from Iran in 2017.
This is a blow to Tehran. who believed that its major oil client would maintain imports when other buyers halted purchases to avoid U.S. sanctions.
The Hong Kong and New York-listed state oil company is making its deepest reduction in years, in face of direct pressure from a U.S administration determined stop the flow of petrodollars to the Islamic Republic.

UK Set to Outlaw Both So-Called “Military Wing” and “Political Wing” of HezbollahTerrorism 01 October 2018

Iran Focus
London, 1 Oct - Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, Sajid Javid, will announce at next week’s Conservative Party Annual Conference the decision to proscribe the Iranian-backed, Lebanese-based terror organization Hezbollah in its entirety, following formal reconsideration of the UK’s position on the Iranian sponsored terrorist group.
In July, Stephen Crabb MP attacked the “entirely artificial distinction” between Hezbollah’s two wings. In fact, Hezbollah’s own leadership mocks the idea of two separate entities. The Home Secretary is expected to announce that he will be taking action to ban all parts of Hezbollah.
Reportedly, an assessment by the Home Office says that Hezbollah “is committed to armed resistance to the state of Israel and aims to seize all Palestinian territories and Jerusalem from Israel.”
Islamists in London took part in the annual Al Quds Day rallies and waved the group’s yellow flag to express support for what the terror group claims is its “political wing” — a false distinction.

Over 2,000 Sign Letter Demanding the Release of Iranian Political Prisoner01 October 2018

Iran Focus
London, 1 Oct - Over 2,200 doctors and civil rights activists have sent a letter to the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and the chairs of the Iranian Parliament’s Health and Cultural Commissions, voicing their concerns over the deteriorating health of Farhad Maysami, a prominent publisher, physician and cultural activist currently held behind bars.
The letter reads: “The way Mr. Maysami is treated is not only inappropriate for a teacher, publisher and physician, but it’s also unbecoming for any of the dissidents in the Shi’ite country [Iran].”
It then called for Maysami to be released on bail and for a judicial investigation into the charges filed against him, while he remains in a “peaceful environment devoid of any stress”.
Maysami, 48, was arrested on July 31 and has been on hunger strike to protest the “unfair charges” that he is facing since his first interrogation on August 1, according to his mother, Seddiqeh Pishnamaz. He is being held in ward 209 of Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

LIFE IN IRAN
House Prices in Tehran Rise 74% in Past YearLife in Iran 01 October 2018

Iran Focus
London, 1 Oct - In the past year, the average cost of buying a house in Tehran has jumped by a massive 74%, according to the Central Bank of Iran. In the past Iranian month (August 21-September 21) alone, residential unit prices have jumped by 9.4%.
The CBI reports that the one square meter of an average unit in Tehran is currently worth around 84,000,000 rials ($2,000, based on Iran’s artificial exchange rate, or $500, based on the global exchange). The latter figure is more relevant in this case, as sellers can’t get cheap dollars based on the government rate.
These numbers show that although prices have risen dramatically in Iranian rial, the value has not really appreciated in US dollars.
This incredible price increase coincided, unsurprisingly, with a large drop in sales. Only 10,300 units were sold in Tehran in the past year, while house sales dropped 14% in the past month alone. Overall, sales have declined by 33%, but prices have increased further, which is a very unusual situation.

SYRIA
US Calls Iran Attack on Syria “Reckless”Syria 02 October 2018
Iran Focus
London, 2 Oct - The US has called an Iranian missile attack on supposed militant targets in eastern Syria “reckless, unsafe and escalatory”.
In a statement on Monday, Pentagon spokesperson Commander Sean Robertson said that Iran took no measures to notify other military powers in the country of the predawn missile strike, something that “professional” military forces, like the US-led coalition, would have done to ensure maximum safety.
He said: “Given the complex nature of the battle space, such strikes potentially jeopardize the forces who are actively fighting ISIS in Syria. Any Iranian activity in this area is reckless, unsafe and escalatory.”
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Monday that six missiles launched from Kermanshah, northwestern Iran, flew over central Iraq and hit targets in Albu Kamal, Syria, near the Iraqi border. The footage shown on Iranian TV was accompanied by commentary that this was a slap in the face to the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia.