New Articles
U.S. Sanctions Iran’s Qods Force and Hezbollah
On Jan. 31, 2024, the United States imposed financial sanctions on an individual and three entities that were part of a network that helped fund the operations of the Qods Force, the elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards in charge of foreign operations, as well as Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia.…
News Digest: Week of January 29
January 29Diplomacy: Deputy Interior Minister Majid Mirahmadi met with Syrian Minister of Interior Mohammad Khaled al Rahmoun in Damascus to discuss security coordination and counterterrorism efforts. They reviewed the complex security landscape in Syria and the regional challenges both states face…
U.S. Sanctions Iran’s Qods Force and Houthis
On January 12, 2024, the United States sanctioned foreign companies in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates for shipping goods on behalf of the Houthis, a Yemeni militia supported by the Qods Force, the elite Iranian unit in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that funds, arms and coordinates…
Report: Iran’s Torture, Sexual Assaults & Killings
In its annual report, Human Rights Watch charged that Iran executed more than 700 people in 2023, a significant increase from 2022. It also engaged in mass arrests of human rights and labor activists, lawyers, journalists, students, and artists as well as family members of protestors. Security…
U.S. Sanctions Network Supporting Iran’s Drone Program
On Dec. 19, 2023, the United States sanctioned 10 companies and four men based in Iran, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia for supporting Iran’s unmanned aerial vehicle program (UAV) program. The network procured components made in the United States and elsewhere worth hundreds of thousands of…
Proxy Attacks: Iraq, Syria & Yemen
Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria launched sporadic drone and rocket attacks on U.S. forces based in Iraq and Syria on Oct. 17, 2023—10 days after war erupted between Hamas and Israel. The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, an umbrella group for Iranian-backed factions, targeted U.S. forces who had…
U.S. Comments: Flashpoints with Iran in 2023
In 2023, the Biden administration condemned Iran for advancing its nuclear program, supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine, cracking down on protesters, and backing militant proxies across the Middle East. Officials lauded the Iranian people, who faced suppression and intimidation from the…
Iran in 2023: Timeline
For Iran, 2023 was a tumultuous year that included controversial nuclear advances, rising tensions with Washington over proxy attacks on U.S. forces and support for Russia’s war against Ukraine, chronic inflation, and tensions over enforcement of the Islamic dress code. The following is a timeline…
Iran Comments: Flashpoints in 2023
In 2023, Iranian officials blamed the United States and its allies for many of the world’s ills. In his U.N. speech, President Ebrahim Raisi declared that Western power was waning. “The world is changing and transitioning to an emerging international order, and this path is irreversible,” he told…
Iran 2024: Advancing Nuclear Program
What was the status of Iran’s nuclear program at the end of 2023? Given the way Tehran has accelerated its program in the past, what are the biggest dangers of further advances in 2024?Overall, Iran's nuclear program continued to trend in the wrong direction. During 2023, the proliferation risks…
Iran 2024: Political Challenges
What are Iran’s political challenges in 2024?The main challenges for the government are maintaining political stability and stabilizing the dire economic situation, especially the very high inflation rate. Officials understand that the legitimacy of the regime has eroded, especially since the…
Notable Women Detained in Iran
Updated: November 26, 2023
Since 2018, Iran has detained many women activists, students, lawyers and even revolutionary insiders, such as Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, who criticized the regime or participated in protests. It has picked up journalists, including Niloofar Hamedi and…
U.S. on Iran Threats Since Gaza War
On November 15, FBI director Christopher Wray warned that the United States faced growing dangers at home from the war between Hamas and Israel thousands of miles away. Wray specifically cited Iran, “the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism,” for operations directly and indirectly through…
U.S. and Britain Sanction Hamas and PIJ Leaders
On November 14, the United States and Britain sanctioned the leadership of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well as mechanisms used by Iran to support the militant groups. “Together with our partners we are decisively moving to degrade Hamas’s financial infrastructure, cut them off from…
Raisi in Saudi Arabia on Gaza War
On November 11, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi condemned Israel for allegedly committing the “most heinous crimes” in history during its campaign against Hamas — a response to the brutal attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 Israelis on October 7. “What has happened in the past five weeks in…
Biden Renews State of Emergency with Iran
On Nov. 7, 2023, President Biden renewed the national emergency with respect to Iran, which gives the president broad powers to unilaterally impose sanctions or other punitive measures and regulate trade. President Jimmy Carter declared the state of emergency, which must be extended every year, in…
Blinken in Middle East Amid Gaza War
On Nov. 2, 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the Middle East for consultations with regional leaders on the war between Israel and Hamas. He worked to prevent the conflict from spreading, secure the release of hostages, and increase the volume of aid entering Gaza. The following are…
Iran Commemorates U.S. Embassy Seizure
A woman posing in front of a mural outside of the former embassyOn Nov. 4, 2023, Iran held celebrations to mark the 44th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. Embassy, when 52 American diplomats were held for 444 days. The takeover, which gripped world attention, ended a presidency and introduced…
Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, on the Gaza War
Updated: November 11, 2023
In a much-anticipated speech on November 3, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah heralded the Hamas offensive against Israel and said his Shiite militia was playing a supporting role by targeting Israeli troops along the northern border, thereby dividing Israel’s military forces. “Some say I’m going…
Iran and the Palestinians in Gaza
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the two militant movements in Gaza, have violently challenged Israel’s right to exist since their creation in the 1980s. Both have a similar agenda—to defeat Israel and create an Islamic state in historic Palestine. “The day that enemies usurp part of…
Iran Says U.S. Will “Not Be Spared From This Fire”
On October 26, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke to the U.N. General Assembly about the war between Hamas and Israel. Tehran has armed, financed and supported Hamas, a movement of Palestinian extremists, since it grew out of the First Intifadah in 1987. Hamas initiated the war…
U.S.-Iran Tensions Soar During Israel-Hamas War
Updated: November 15, 2023
Attacks against U.S. forces deployed in the Middle East, most notably in Iraq and Syria, intensified after the Hamas-Israel war erupted on October 7, 2023. The United States blamed most of the incidents on Iranian proxy militias but also cited Iran as the sponsor and facilitator of the armed…
Hamas: Chronology of U.S. Sanctions 1995 to 2023
The United States first sanctioned Hamas in 1995 and put the Sunni extremist movement on the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 1997. Five presidents – Clinton, Bush, Obama, Trump and Biden – sporadically imposed additional sanctions on the Palestinian organization’s political and military…
Timeline: Iran and Hezbollah
Since 1982, Hezbollah has embodied Iran’s grand strategy to create a network of proxy forces across the Middle East, both to expand Tehran’s sphere of influence and promote its security interests and Islamic ideology. The Shiite movement took root after Israel’s 1982 invasion and amid the chaos of…
Profile: Lebanon's Hezbollah
Lebanon’s main Islamist party has undergone a profound transformation over the past four decades. Once associated with suicide bombings and hostage-taking, Hezbollah has steadily evolved from an underground movement in 1982 to the dominant political player in Lebanon in 2023. Yet even though…
Doctrine of Hamas
Since its creation in December 1987, Hamas has invoked militant interpretations of Islam to spearhead a Sunni extremist movement committed to destroying Israel. Hamas distanced itself from the longstanding Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)—an umbrella organization for disparate Palestinian…
Doctrine of Hezbollah
Since its creation in 1982, Hezbollah rhetoric has been laden with inflammatory language threatening Israel’s existence and the U.S. presence in the Middle East. Its formal name is the Party of God. Its power base is among Lebanese Shiites, a sect that has historically been marginalized in Lebanese…
U.S. Sanctions Hamas Operatives and Financiers
On October 18, the United States sanctioned 10 Hamas operatives and financial facilitators in response to the brutal terrorist attack on Israel. The nine men and one company were based in Gaza and the West Bank as well as Algeria, Qatar, Sudan, and Turkey. A Hamas operative based in Qatar had close…
U.S. Sanctions Networks Supporting Iran’s Missile & Drone Programs
On October 18, the United States sanctioned 11 people, eight entities and one vessel linked to Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs. They were based in Iran, Hong Kong, China and Venezuela and had materially supported the Revolutionary Guards, the defense ministry, or…
Israel-Hamas War: Quotes from Iran's Allies
Updated: October 16, 2023
Iran’s network of proxy militias uniformly rallied around Hamas in its multi-prong attack on Israel, including murderous atrocities against hundreds of civilians, on Oct. 7, 2023. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that the war “sends a message to the Arab and Islamic world, and the…