IRAN - Syria ratifies new $1 billion credit line from Iran

Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has signed a law ratifying a $1 billion credit line from the Iranian regime, Syria's state news agency SANA said on Wednesday.

The agreement was between two state-owned banks, the Syrian Commercial Bank and Export Development Bank of Iran, it said. Syria signed a previous $3.6 billion credit line with Iran in July 2013 which has been used up mostly for oil imports, bankers have said.

The new deal was signed on May 19 and approved by the Syrian regime's parliament on Tuesday, SANA said. The money would be used for funding imports of goods and commodities and implementing projects, it said, without giving details.

The Iranian regime's financial aid has been seen as pivotal to the Syrian regime and the economy, which has shrunk by more than a half in the four years since the conflict erupted, researchers say.

Syrian officials and businessmen said in May that Damascus was about to finalise details of a new credit facility.

Syria ratifies new $1 billion credit line from Iran

IRAN- Don't be fooled by Iranian regime’s calculated negotiating tactics

Without a "firm stance" by the international community against the Iranian regime’s calculated tactics in the nuclear negotiations, Tehran will continue to "deceive, distract, and distort" on its way to build an atomic bomb, Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the US representative office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), has said.

"As the intense negotiations in Vienna inch closer to the new July 7th deadline, Tehran’s elusive tactics were put on display with Tehran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif releasing a Youtube video in which he claimed the regime had made enough compromises. To his credit, however, Secretary of State John Kerry was not impressed, insisting that the Iranian regime had to make 'hard choices' in the next couple of days, and 'quickly,' otherwise, 'we’ll be prepared to walk away,'" Jafarzadeh wrote in an opinion piece in FoxNews.com on Monday.

He pointed out that a recent report released by the opposition NCRI provides insights into how to read Tehran’s ongoing negotiating tactics, including the latest theatrics by Zarif. The 28-page analysis, relying on public and classified sources within Iran, reviews the Iranian regime’s behavior during two periods of talks (2003-2004 and 2013-2015) and discerns the principles of Tehran’s approach and tactics during negotiations to reach its objectives.

Don't be fooled by Iranian regime’s calculated negotiating tactics

IRAN -Iranian nuclear deal set to make IRGC richer - Reuters

A possible nuclear deal between the world powers and the Iranian regime could make the regime's Revolutionary Guards significantly richer, Reuters reported on Monday.

"Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have done very well out of international sanctions -- and if a nuclear deal is done in Vienna this week under which those sanctions are lifted, they are likely to do better still," the report said.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), created by Khomeini during Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, is more than just a military force; it is also an industrial empire with political clout that has grown exponentially in the last decade.

A Western diplomat who follows Iran closely told Reuters that the IRGC's recent annual turnover from all of its business activities was estimated to be around $10-12 billion.

Iranian nuclear deal set to make IRGC richer - Reuters

IRAN - Chairman Royce: Iran regime’s nuclear negotiators emboldened by concession

Ed Royce

U.S. Representative Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said in a statement Monday that the Iranian regime’s negotiators have clearly been emboldened by the Administration’s concessions to the extent that the regime is now pushing for the United Nations’ arms embargo on to be completely lifted as part of a final nuclear agreement.

Chairman Royce made the remarks after reports surfaced that Tehran is now pushing for the United Nations’ arms embargo on the Iranian regime to be completely lifted as part of a final nuclear agreement.

The Iranian regime is under a UN arms embargo that seeks to prevent Tehran regime from aiding and arming its allies and surrogates in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere in the region.

A dispute over U.N. sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program and a broader arms embargo were among issues holding up a nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers on Monday

                                                                                            

Chairman Royce: Iran regime’s nuclear negotiators emboldened by concession

Iran: Kurdish student Akam Talaj injured during Mahabad uprising dies

Akam Talaj

Akam Talaj, 26-year-old Kurdish student and one of those wounded during the May 7 uprising of people of Mahabad, died on Monday, June 29, due to the severity of his wounds after much suffering.

He was from the city of Naqadeh and a student of Mahabad’s Free University. He was directly shotby revolutionary guards and hit by 40 pellets in the hand and stomach. He suffered internal bleeding and was hospitalized in the ICU section of a hospital in Urmia because of his critical condition.

Following the martyrdom of Mr. Talaj, the henchmen refused to hand over his body to his family fearing popular wrath. They exerted a lot of pressure on his family to bury Mr. Talaj in “Shaheedan” section of the cemetery reserved for Iranian regime’s dead, but this request by the regime met the severe reaction of Mr. Talaj’s family. Ultimately, the body was then buried in Mahabad amid strict security provisions.

 Iran: Kurdish student Akam Talaj injured during Mahabad uprising 

dies

IRAN- Germany: Iranian nuclear compliance will need monitoring

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said the Iranian regime needs to help build trust and that a monitoring program will be needed to ensure it complies with a nuclear agreement it is negotiating with six world powers.

"Trust has been destroyed on the part of Iran. For this reason, Iran above all has to now offer input to help build up trust," Steinmeier said an interview with German broadcaster ARD on Tuesday.

"This means that we have to have monitoring possibilities available to have an overview as to whether Iran is fulfilling its obligations. We need to be sure that we have transparency concerning the promises Iran is making here."

Germany: Iranian nuclear compliance will need monitoring

IRAN- Iran Nuclear Deal: Prospects, Challenges

In an online question and answer session, the issue of the Iran nuclear agreement was discussed. The panel, moderated by R. Bruce McColm, President of the Institute for Democratic Strategies, included Ambassador Robert G. Joseph, Ph.D, former US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control &International Security, Professor Raymond Tanter, former White House National Security Council senior staffer and Alireza Jafarzadeh, Deputy Director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran US Representative Office.

Ambassador Joseph opened the session by saying he wanted to see a negotiated outcome and a “good agreement” at the end of the nuclear talks. However, he stated that there have been too many concessions, one being the fact that the talks are not preventing Iran from having nuclear weapon capability – a goal that has now been abandoned, meaning that Iran will one day have a large-scale enrichment capability.

Iran Nuclear Deal: Prospects, Challenges

IRAN - Maryam Rajavi: We seek an end to religious despotism in Iran

El Watan interview with Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance

NCRI – The Algerian daily El Watan has interviewed Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), on the situation inside Iran and the circumstances of the Iranian regime and its organized Resistance movement.

The Iranian Resistance has for over three decades had a decisive role in combating the ominous phenomenon of Islamic fundamentalism, Maryam Rajavi said, adding that the international community should finally side with the Iranian people and their organized Resistance to bring about genuine change.

The interview was published by El Watan in French. Below is an English translation of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi’s interview:

Maryam Rajavi: We seek an end to religious despotism in Iran