U.S. Policy

On November 22, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iran’s communications minister, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, for his role in internet censorship. In a surprise overnight announcement on November 15, Iran hiked gas prices—by up to 300 percent—and introduced a new rationing system. The government’s…
The Trump administration offered support to Iranians protesting a hike in gas prices announced on November 15. “We condemn the lethal force and severe communications restrictions used against demonstrators. Tehran has fanatically pursued nuclear weapons and missile programs, and supported terrorism…
On November 5, President Hassan Rouhani announced a major increase in Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity. He said that Iran would start injecting gas into centrifuges at Fordo, heavily fortified facility. Built inside a mountain, Fordo was intended to be a research facility under the 2015 nuclear…
On October 31, the U.S. State Department announced sanctions on Iran’s construction sector and the sale of certain materials used in Tehran’s nuclear, military or ballistic missile programs. The sale of raw and semi-finished metals, graphite, coal, and software for integrating industrial purposes…
On October 30, the United States and six Gulf countries—Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, and Kuwait—imposed sanctions on a financing network controlled by Iran’s military and linked to Hezbollah, a Lebanese militia and political movement. The Terrorist Financing…
On October 25, the U.S. Treasury announced a new financial channel “to ensure unprecedented transparency into humanitarian trade with Iran.” The Treasury Department said the mechanism would allow “permissible trade” to support the Iranian population while continuing to deprive Tehran of the…
On October 16, Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on U.S. policy toward Iran. Hook told lawmakers that Washington’s policy was rooted in “an unprecedented pressure campaign” with two objectives: “to deprive the Iranian regime of the…
On October 11, the United States announced the deployment of nearly 3,000 additional troops to Saudi Arabia. The move followed an attack on Saudi oil facilities on September 14, which temporarily cut the kingdom's production in half. Washington blamed Tehran for the strike, which involved…
President Trump began increasing unilateral sanctions on Iran within weeks of taking office in January 2017. By the end of the year, the U.S. had imposed eight new rounds of sanctions, on individuals and companies linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).   In May 2018, the United States …
On September 25, President Trump announced that the United States would ban senior Iranian officials and their families from entering the country. He said the action was based on Iran’s behavior, which “threatens peace and stability in the Middle East and beyond.” The following is an announcement…