Archive
On January 8, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Falih al Fayyadh, Chairman of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Commission (PMC) and former National Security Advisor to the Iraqi Prime Minister, for human rights abuses. Fayyadh headed the PMC when its forces, including militias supported by Iran, allegedly… Read More
In Iran, the attempt to seize the Capitol in Washington on January 6 generated live television coverage, widespread commentary and denunciations by top officials. President Hassan Rouhani said that the unrest reflected the frailty of the American political system. “What we saw in the U.S. last… Read More
In late 2020, Iran condemned President Donald Trump for deploying additional U.S. military warplanes and warships to the Persian Gulf during his final days in office. In November and December, the Pentagon ordered three flights of B-52 bombers, a nuclear-powered submarine and a carrier strike group… Read More
January 4
Maritime: Iran seized a South Korean-flagged chemical tanker, the Hankuk Chemi, in the Persian Gulf. The ship’s 20-member crew, which included nationals from South Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar, was detained at the Bandar Abbas port. Tehran denied that the crew were being held… Read More
Of all the pressing issues in the volatile Middle East—wars in Syria, Yemen and Libya, unstable Iraq, imploding Lebanon, and the 10,000 ISIS fighters and other al-Qaida franchises still on the loose—the most pressing for President-elect Joe Biden will be Iran’s controversial nuclear program. He has… Read More
In late 2020, the Pentagon ramped up aerial and naval deployments around Iran amid military tensions in the Persian Gulf. The new deployments began in late November 2020 and continued through 2022. They included several flights of B-52 or B-1 bombers, a nuclear-powered submarine and a carrier… Read More
On January 5, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned 12 Iranian and four foreign-based companies as well as one Iranian man involved with steel production and sales. Concurrently, the State Department sanctioned an Iran-based shipping company involved in supplying graphite, a key element in steel production… Read More
Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba, an Iraqi militia trained, armed and advised by Iran's Revolutionary GuardsSince the 1979 revolution, Iran has built a network of proxies across the Middle East. By the end of 2023, Tehran had allies among more than a dozen major militias, some with their own political… Read More
On January 4, Iran resumed enriching uranium to 20 percent at an underground nuclear facility, a major breach of the 2015 nuclear deal. The landmark agreement, negotiated between Iran and six major world powers, stipulated that Tehran could only enrich uranium to 3.67 percent. It also banned… Read More
On December 23, 150 House Democrats sent a letter to President-elect Joe Biden expressing support for renewed diplomacy with Iran to curb its nuclear program. “We are united in our support for swiftly taking the necessary diplomatic steps to restore constraints on Iran’s nuclear program and return… Read More
In 2020, Iran began shipping fuel to Venezuela, its closest ally in Latin America. Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves. But years of government mismanagement and U.S. sanctions on its oil industry have left its refineries in disrepair. Caracas faced gas shortages and widespread blackouts… Read More
In November 2020, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif traveled to Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia. The three countries shared Iran's anti-Americanism and sought deeper bilateral relations with Tehran. On November 5, Zarif met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other government… Read More
Henry Rome is a senior analyst on Iran, Israel and global macro issues at Eurasia Group. Follow him on Twitter @hrome2.
In 2020, Iran’s economy faced two overarching challenges – U.S. economic sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trump administration further ratcheted up sanctions as part of… Read More
On December 16, the Treasury Department sanctioned four companies – two based in China and two based in the United Arab Emirates – for facilitating the export of Iranian oil by a previously designated firm, Triliance. Four companies, including Triliance, were sanctioned in January 2020 for… Read More
For Iran, 2020 was a particularly tumultuous year. It faced unprecedented economic challenges from tightening U.S. sanctions, a major political transition after a parliamentary election, and a health crisis that killed tens of thousands. It also marked the last full year of President Hassan Rouhani… Read More
Iran reported its first deaths from the new COVID-19 virus on February 19, 2020. It soon became one of the world’s early epicenters. The Health Ministry claimed that the disease had been spread by travelers between Iran’s holy city of Qom and China’s industrial center at Wuhan, where the… Read More
In 2020, the United States ratcheted up its “maximum pressure” campaign to force Tehran to negotiate a new and broader deal on Iran’s nuclear program, missiles test, intervention in the Middle East and support for extremist movements. U.S. sanctions on Iran caused “a currency crisis, mounting… Read More
On December 15, the State Department designated Saraya al Mukhtar, a Bahrain-based militia with ties to Iran, as a terrorist organization. Saraya al Mukhtar “plotted attacks against U.S. personnel in Bahrain and has offered cash rewards for the assassination of Bahraini officials,” Secretary of… Read More
December 14
Diplomacy/Nuclear Program: President Hassan Rouhani said that the United States must return to the 2015 nuclear deal without preconditions. “Joe Biden has stated that he would like to return to the nuclear deal, but this time they are looking for a stronger agreement that would include… Read More
Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has detained or imprisoned tens of thousands of human rights activists, including peaceful protestors, dissidents, union members, civil society organizers, feminists, students, journalists, lawyers and the unemployed. It notoriously cracked down when millions took to… Read More
On December 14, a bipartisan group of over 50 American national security leaders issued a statement urging the incoming Biden Administration to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) swiftly and without preconditions. “The immediate U.S. commitment to rejoin the JCPOA will require… Read More
On December 14, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on two Iranians allegedly involved in the disappearance of former FBI agent Robert Levinson. Levinson was abducted on Iran’s Kish Island in March 2007. Thirteen years later, in March 2020, Levinson’s wife and children said that they… Read More
December 7
Natural disaster: Major floods in killed at least seven people in southern Iran. The flooding affected six provinces: Isfahan, Bushehr, Tehran, Fars, Hormozgan and Yazd.
@SKhatibzadeh addressing Monday press conference: The first foreign visit of Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal… Read More
Since the 1979 revolution, the status of women in Iran has improved significantly in the fields of education and literacy, the labor force and lifespan. The number of women in parliament has quadrupled. But the gains are uneven. Women, for example, are still a distinct minority in top government… Read More
Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader from 1979-1989
Iran’s two supreme leaders have both been prolific on the subject of women’s rights and obligations in an Islamic state. But their interpretations often differed, sometimes significantly.
During his one decade in power, between 1979 and 1989,… Read More
Iran proposed a mechanism to break a deadlock over how compliance for compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal could work. On February 1, 2021, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested that Josep Borrell, the E.U. foreign policy chief and the coordinator of the deal’s Joint Commission, could “… Read More
On December 8, the United States imposed sanctions on two men and one university:
Ambassador Hasan Irlu, Iran’s diplomatic envoy to the Houthis in Yemen
Yousef Ali Muraj, a Pakistani operative with alleged ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
Al Mustafa International University, a Qom-based… Read More
Logo of Iran's JudiciaryWomen have long faced legal, political, economic and social challenges in Iran. Iran's 1906 constitution, written by its first parliament, promised “equal rights before the law” for all Iranians, but it said nothing specific about women. Between 1967 and 1975, women gained… Read More
On December 1, Iran’s parliament, which is dominated by conservatives and hardliners, passed a bill requiring the government to take two steps: First, resume enriching uranium to 20 percent immediately. And second, to produce 120 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20 percent annually. Since July 2019… Read More
On December 3, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Iran would return to full compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal if the United States formally rejoined the historic accord that President Trump abandoned in May 2018. But Iran will never renegotiate the deal, he said. “The United States… Read More