Garrett Nada's Blog

Election Results: Hardliners Gain, Turnout Low

Iranian hardliners consolidated their grip on power in the March 1 election for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts. The 290 seats of Parliament are elected every four years. Elected every eight years, the 88-member assembly has been charged with selecting and overseeing the supreme leader. Many…

U.S. Sanctions Technology Smuggling Network

On Feb. 14, 2024, the United States sanctioned a network that smuggled U.S. goods and technology from American companies to the Central Bank of Iran and other users in the Islamic Republic. The Central Bank of Iran had previously been sanctioned for providing financial support to the Qods Force,…

Comments: Congress on Strikes in Syria and Iraq

On Feb. 2, 2024, U.S. warplanes struck more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria in response to the Jan. 28 drone strike that killed three American soldiers in northern Jordan. The facilities were used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and affiliated militias responsible for more than 160 attacks on U.S…

Raisi Blasts U.S. & West at U.N.

In his 2023 U.N. speech, President Ebrahim Raisi accused Western intelligence agencies of instigating one of the biggest psychological wars in history by provoking three months of nationwide protests after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022. The Iranian leader…

Iran-US Prisoner Swap: Hostage History

Iran’s practice of imprisoning foreign nationals, including Americans, has been a recurrent flashpoint since the seizure of the U.S. Embassy and 66 hostages after the 1979 revolution. Between 1979 and 2023, Iran detained nearly 100 Americans, including several U.S.-Iranian nationals. The Americans…

Iran-US Prisoner Swap: Iran Statements

On Sept. 18, 2023, President Ebrahim Raisi welcomed the prisoner swap with the United States as a “confidence builder” that could lead to future “humanitarian actions.” But he also criticized Washington. The swap “could have been accomplished much sooner had it not been for the wrong calculus of…

Iran-US Prisoner Swap: Hostages Speak

The following are statements by the Americans held hostage in Iran after their release on Sept. 18, 2023.     Siamak Namazi I would not be free today, if it wasn’t for all of you who didn’t allow the world to forget me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for being my voice when I…

Iran to Join the BRICS Alliance

On August 24, Iran and five other countries – Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – were invited to join the BRICS bloc of emerging economies. The announcement was a diplomatic win for Iran, which has been isolated for its crackdown on protesters, nuclear advances…

News Digest: Week of August 14

August 14 Diplomatic: Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian will visit Saudi Arabia “in the near future,” the foreign ministry announced. Spokesman Nasser Kanani did not provide a specific date but said that “the relations between the two countries are progressing step by step” since they…

U.S. Report on Human Trafficking in Iran

Iran’s government “did not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and, even considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity, is not making significant efforts to do so,” according to the State Department’s annual report on human…