Archive
Between November 2022 and March 2023, up to 7,000 schoolgirls were poisoned at dozens of schools in at least 28 of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to human rights groups and government officials. Hundreds were hospitalized with symptoms that included respiratory distress, numbness in limbs, heart… Read More
After years of stonewalling, Iran pledged on March 4, 2023 to cooperate with a U.N. probe into traces of uranium at three undeclared sites that date back to a covert program before 2003. Tehran also promised to reinstall monitoring equipment, including cameras, that had been removed from nuclear… Read More
To mark International Women’s Day on March 8, the United States, Britain, the European Union, and Australia imposed sanctions on more than a dozen Iranian government and security officials, business leaders, companies, and government institutions for human rights abuses of women and girls. The… Read More
Senior U.S. officials have been increasingly critical of the Iranian government for the brutal treatment of girls and women – including murder, rape, torture, and mass arrests – since the death of Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, 2022 ignited nationwide protests. “The regime is brutally repressing the… Read More
On March 8, the U.S. intelligence community warned that Iran is an escalating threat to the United States and its allies because of its advances in both conventional and unconventional capabilities, including cyber technology, ballistic and cruise missiles, arsenal of drones and nuclear potential.… Read More
March 6
Domestic: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described the poisoning of schoolgirls “a huge, unforgivable crime.” He demanded that the perpetrators, when caught, face the death penalty. The new crisis followed nationwide protests over personal freedoms, soaring inflation as the value of… Read More
On March 2, the United States sanctioned six companies for selling or shipping Iranian petroleum and petrochemical products. Petrochemicals, derived from oil and natural gas, are essential to manufacturing paints, plastics, solar panels, medicine, and mobile phones that facilitate modern life.… Read More
February 26
Economic: Iran’s currency fell to a record 600,000 rials for one U.S. dollar. The rial traded at 32,000 to the dollar in 2015, when Iran signed the JCPOA. Inflation had also reached more than 50 percent in January 2023.
Domestic: A health official said that girls’ schools across Iran… Read More
In August 2022, Iran’s supply of lethal drones to Russia sparked international interest and alarm. By December, Iran had reportedly supplied more than 1,700 drones capable of suicide bombings, surveillance and intelligence, and combat, according to Ukrainian military intelligence. By early 2023,… Read More
When did Iran start building a drone fleet?
Iran’s interest in drones and uninhabited vehicles really goes back to the Iran-Iraq war in the mid-1980s. The Iranians have been in the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) business for several decades. The first generation of the Ababil that was used during… Read More
The majority of components in Iran’s drones—including microchips and GPS modules—were made in the United States, which is supporting Ukraine. The components, used for functions ranging from navigation to data processing, have been traced to two Iranian suicide drones—the Shahed-131 and Shahed-136—… Read More
In 2023, U.S. officials expressed increasing concern about Iran’s drone capabilities as a threat to global security as well as allies in the Middle East. Pentagon, State Department, White House, and intelligence officials cited Iran’s export of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia, which began… Read More
On February 25, the European Union sanctioned seven Iranian weapons manufacturers and four men in Iran for supplying drones to Russia, which were used to attack government and civilian targets in Ukraine. The list included the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)… Read More
Since mid-2022, Iran has become Russia’s top military backer, according to John Kirby of the National Security Council. Iran’s decision to aid Russia in the war on Ukraine reflected the expanding strategic alliance with Moscow. Since August, Iran has provided Russia with hundreds of drones,… Read More
On February 20, the European Union and Britain separately imposed punitive sanctions on dozens of Iranian government and security officials for serious human rights violations, particularly during the protests that broke out in September 2022. The European Union, a group of 27 nations that included… Read More
Kenneth Katzman, a former CIA analyst and lead Iran specialist at the Congressional Research Service, is now a senior advisor at the Soufan Group.
What does Iran want from its intelligence agencies? What are their primary objectives?
Minister of Intelligence and Security Khatib
The… Read More
On February 16, the United States and the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned Iran for its disruptive behavior in the region and committed to expand defense cooperation to deter Tehran. Further “interoperability” is necessary to “constrain Iran’s ability to conduct… Read More
Amid rising tensions with Western powers, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to strengthen security and economic cooperation. During Raisi’s three-day visit to Beijing, the two countries signed 20 agreements—including on trade, transportation, information… Read More
February 13
Human Rights: Reza Khandan, husband of influential rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, was ordered to Evin Prison within 30 days to serve at least five years of a six-year sentence from 2019. He was reportedly charged with “gathering and collusion against national security”; “… Read More
By July 2023, members of Congress had introduced more than a dozen bills and resolutions related to Iran. They spanned a wide range of issues, including the government’s human rights violations and nuclear advances. Some of the legislation recommended the enforcement or expansion of U.S. economic… Read More
During a visit to Washington, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein acknowledged that Iran had influence with political parties, even though the government led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Sudani was willing to tell its Iranian counterparts that some of Tehran’s actions were “unacceptable.” Iran… Read More
Iran’s leaders marked the 44th anniversary of the 1979 revolution by defiantly blaming adversaries, including the United States, for nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022 after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in detention. “The enemy’s goal is to force the revolution and the government of… Read More
On February 9, the United States sanctioned nine companies based in Iran, Singapore, and Malaysia that produced, sold, and shipped Iranian petroleum and petrochemicals. Petrochemicals, derived from oil and natural gas, are essential to manufacturing paints, plastics, solar panels, medicine, and… Read More
February 5
Human Rights: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pardoned or reduced the sentences of tens of thousands of prisoners, including some protesters, to mark the 44th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. But the pardons were heavily conditioned on good behavior, a formal apology,… Read More
After five months of protests, a visible schism emerged among Iran’s senior ayatollahs over the death sentences handed down to protesters charged with “corruption on earth” and “enmity toward God.” The numbers of clerics daring to challenge the system were small in a country with tens of thousands… Read More
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pardoned or reduced the sentences of tens of thousands of prisoners, including some protesters, to mark the 44th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. But the pardons were heavily conditioned on good behavior, a formal apology, and a pledge not… Read More
In late January 2023, Iran’s judiciary sentenced both Astiyazh Haghighi and Amir Mohammad Ahmadi, a young couple in their early 20s, to five years in prison for posting a video dancing publicly. Haghighi was not wearing the mandatory hijab or headscarf in the video shot at the iconic… Read More
On Feb. 5, 2023, First Lady Jill Biden announced that Shervin Hajipour, a popular 25-year-old Iranian singer, had won the inaugural Grammy Award for Best Song for Social Change. The lyrics of “Baraye”—“For…” or “Because of…” in Persian—were pulled from phrases used in Twitter posts about Mahsa… Read More
On February 3, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei participated in a coming-of-age ceremony—known as taklif—for hundreds of schoolgirls. “You are now young girls with responsibilities, and you can have an influence on your family, in your school environment, and when you are playing with your… Read More
On February 3, the United States sanctioned eight executives of Paravar Pars Company, which manufactures suicide drones for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC exported hundreds of the Shahed-series drones to Russia for use against Ukraine. Russia launched the drones against both… Read More