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U.S. Sanctions Ship Smuggling for the Houthis

On March 15, 2024, the United States sanctioned shipping company Vishnu Inc. and its vessel, the Lady Sofia, for smuggling goods to China. The revenue was used to support the Houthis in Yemen and Iran’s Qods Force, the external operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). “The…

U.S. Sanctions Iran's Bahrain Allies

On March 12, 2024, the Treasury Department sanctioned four Iran-based operatives and a financial facilitator for the al Ashtar Brigades, an Iran-backed group committed to overthrowing Bahrain’s government. “Today’s action, taken in coordination with the Kingdom of Bahrain, underscores our…

Biden Renews State of Emergency with Iran

On March 12, 2024, 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. In 1995, President Bill Clinton declared the state of emergency, which must be extended…

2024 U.S. Intelligence Report on Iran

On March 11, 2024, the annual U.S. intelligence assessment reported that Iran’s advanced nuclear program had not yet produced a weapon. But it warned that Tehran had accelerated production and operation of centrifuges to enrich uranium, the fuel used for both a bomb and a nuclear energy plant. Iran…

News Digest: Week of March 11

March 11International: An Iranian court ordered the United States and Tondar, an opposition group based in California, to pay $2.47 billion to victims of the 2008 bombing in Shiraz. Iran accused Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd, the creator of Tondar’s website, of orchestrating the attack.…

U.N. Report on Protest Crackdown

Iran committed serious human rights violations during the crackdown on the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests, according to a U.N. fact-finding mission report released on March 8, 2024. Anti-government demonstrations broke out nationwide after the death of Mahsa Amini – young woman arrested by the…

Biden on Iran & Gaza in State of the Union

In his 2024 State of the Union address, President Biden pledged to protect U.S. personnel from the threat posed by Iran and its allies, including the Houthi rebels in Yemen. “That’s why I built a coalition of more than a dozen countries to defend international shipping and freedom of navigation in…

Gallup: U.S. Views on Iran Nuclear Threat

More than three-quarters of Americans named Iran’s potential development of nuclear weapons as a critical threat to U.S. interests, according to Gallup poll. Iran’s nuclear program came in second—with 77 percent—in a list of 13 flashpoints. The only more critical danger to Americans was…

News Digest: Week of March 4

March 4Domestic: Iran’s interior ministry announced the results of the March 1 election. Hardliners consolidated their grip on power in both 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…

U.S. Sanctions Target Houthi Finances

On March 6, the United States targeted a revenue stream of the Houthis, the Yemeni rebel group that has been attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023. The Treasury and State Departments sanctioned two ship owners based in Hong Kong and the Marshall Islands…

Photos: 2024 Elections

On March 1, 2024, Iranians elected 290 members for parliament and 88 senior Islamic jurists for the Assembly of Experts. Iranians posted photos and videos of empty polling stations in Tehran and other major cities. The government kept polls open for an extra six hours to encourage people to vote,…

Report: Executions Surge in Iran

Iran executed at least 834 people in 2023, a 43 percent increase compared to 2022, according to the annual report by Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM). Some 56 percent of the executions were drug-related. Marginalized ethnic minorities, such as the Baluch of…

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. Charges Iranian for Hacking Defense Firms

On Feb. 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Alireza Shafie Nasab, age 39, with involvement in a multi-year hacking campaign. He and his co-conspirators targeted the Treasury and State Departments as well as more than a dozen American companies, including defense contractors. They tried…

News Digest: Week of February 26

February 26International: Iranian security forces shot at and injured 20 Kurds crossing the border area of Nowsud in western Kermanshah province. Border guards have repeatedly targeted kolbars, porters who transport untaxed goods across Iran’s borders with Iraq and Turkey. “The injuries sustained…

U.S. & Britain Sanction Iranian & Houthi Leaders

On Feb. 27, 2024, the United States and Britain sanctioned the deputy commander of the Qods Force, the external operations branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and a member of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. The U.S. Treasury also designated the owner and operator of a ship that transported…

U.S. Sanctions Iranian Shipping to China

On Feb. 27, 2024, the United States sanctioned two companies that shipped more than $100 million in Iranian goods to businesses in China on behalf of Iran’s Ministry of Defense. The Panama-flagged Kohana was on its way to China when the Treasury Department made the announcement. The vessel was…

Explainer: Disillusioned Iranians Head to the Polls

On March 1, Iranians will vote in elections for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts, a body charged with selecting and overseeing the supreme leader. Iranian leaders consider voting a national duty because it represents a commitment to the 1979 revolution and its values. “Everyone should…

U.S. Sanctions Target Iran-Russia Military Ties

On Feb. 23, 2023, the United States sanctioned Iranian and Russian companies involved in transferring munitions as well as parts, components and materials for suicide drones. Moscow has increased its capacity to manufacture Iranian-designed suicide drones. For the first time, Washington designated…

News Digest: Week of February 19

February 19International: Mehr News Agency signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with TV BRICS at the 24th Iran Media Expo. The MoU set up further cooperation on content production and distribution across media outlets from BRICS member states, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South…

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,…

News Digest: Week of February 12

February 12Diplomacy: Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke with Qatari officials in Doha about the war in Gaza and regional tensions.Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha. pic.twitter.com/uj0oK3qa8O— Press TV (@…

Iran’s 45th Anniversary Celebrates Soleimani

Some of the most striking images from the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Islamic revolution were pervasive posters of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Qods Force unit who was killed in a U.S. drone strike on Jan. 3, 2020. Iranians young and old carried photos of the slain…

Iran’s Revolution Marks 45th Anniversary

On Feb. 11, 2024, President Ebrahim Raisi addressed the nation to mark the 45th anniversary of the Iranian revolution. He heralded the Islamic Republic’s break from both East and West since the 1979 ouster of the U.S.-backed monarchy. “The time has passed when the heads of great powers come to…

U.S. Kills Kataib Hezbollah Commander

On Feb. 7, 2024, a U.S. airstrike killed Abu Baqir al Saadi, a senior commander in Kataib Hezbollah who reportedly ran its drone operations in Syria. He had been linked to the deaths of three American soldiers based at Tower 22, a military outpost in Jordan along the borders with Syria and Iraq.…

News Digest: Week of February 5

February 5Nuclear: Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammed Eslami, announced the start of the construction of a new domestically designed 10-megawatt research reactor in central Isfahan. It would produce materials for cancer diagnostics and treatment. Eslami had also announced the construction of a nuclear…

MAPS: Militia Attacks on U.S. & U.S. Counterstrikes

Iranian-backed militias escalated attacks on U.S. military targets in Iraq and Syria after the war erupted between Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The militias are part of a network in the so-called Axis of Resistance. The Pentagon has specifically cited Kataib Hezbollah, the largest militia with…

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…

Comments: Iran & Allies on Strikes in Syria & Iraq

Iran and its allies condemned the United States for launching airstrikes on seven facilities – four in Syria and three in Iraq – used by the Revolutionary Guards and affiliated militias. The February 2 attacks were retaliation for the January 28 drone strike that killed three American soldiers at a…

Comments: U.S. on Strikes in Syria and Iraq

On Feb. 2, 2024, the United States launched airstrikes on more than 85 targets in seven facilities – four in Syria and three in Iraq. The Pentagon reported that the sites included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and drone and munition storage…