Page 9 - IRANRptJul19

2.5 Iran describes US Middle East peace plan as “doomed” and puts flea in ear of UK minister
Iran said on June 24 that it regards the US Middle East peace plan to be presented at an international conference in Bahrain as “shameful” and “doomed to failure”.
“This conference and the sale of Palestine will lead nowhere,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.
Mousavi also put a flea in the ear of Andrew Murrison, Britain’s minister for the Middle East, for remarks he made on June 23 after a visit to Tehran. Murrison said Iran almost certainly bears responsibility for the recent attacks on tankers in the Gulf of Oman.
“What [Murrison] said after the meetings was not constructive. It seems Britain is siding with America due to its domestic problems and Brexit crisis,” Mousavi said. He noted that Murrison was new to his job and “only recently entered [the foreign office]”.
"This visit has provided an important opportunity for open, frank and constructive engagement with the Iranian government," Murrison said, following his return to the UK.
He added: "In Tehran, I was clear about the UK's long-held concerns over Iran's activities in the region... And I was clear that the UK will continue to play its full part alongside international partners to find diplomatic solutions to reduce the current tensions."
2.6 Polls & Sociology
Iran drops six places to 170 on latest World Press Freedom Index
Iran has placed 170th out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index 2019 compiled by Reporters Without Borders, six places down on where it finished in the previous year’s ranking.
The decline has coincided with the sanctions-led economic attack which the US launched last year to strangle Iran's economy to force concessions on its Middle East policies. Analysts say this has given hardliners in Iran the upper hand in many areas of Iranian society which were previously starting to liberalise as economic growth rates improved in line with the multilateral nuclear deal. Since the US walked out of that deal and imposed its heaviest sanctions ever on the Islamic Republic, the country has found itself pushed back into recession.
In a short summary put out with the latest ranking, the Reporters Without Borders said: “Iran has been one of the world’s most repressive countries for journalists for the past 40 years. State control of news and information is unrelenting and at least 860 journalists and citizen-journalists have been imprisoned or executed since 1979.
It added: “The Islamic regime exercises extensive control over the media landscape and its harassment of independent journalists, citizen-journalists
9 IRAN Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com