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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…

By 2020, tensions between the United States and Iran increasingly played out in invisible cyberspace. Both governments acknowledged that cyberattacks were central to their strategies. The scope was unknown, but cyberspace has turned into a virtual battlefield. Cyber offered an alternative to…

On October 20, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that it released $700 million in frozen funds to Iran—a sign of thawing relations between the two Gulf countries. On October 14, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said there have been “some contacts between Iran and the United Arab Emirates in…

October 21 Justice/Diplomacy: Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran sent the United States a list of names for a proposed prison swap. Tehran did not publicize the list, but Zarif said he hoped to hear “good news” regarding the release of Iranian scientist Masoud Soleimani. The United…

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 1, more than 1,000 demonstrators took to the streets of Baghdad to protest corruption, unemployment and a lack of basic services. The protests also targeted growing Iranian influence in Iraq. Some protestors chanted anti-Iranian slogans, while others displayed posters of Iraq’s former…

In mid-October, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan traveled to Iran and Saudi Arabia to discuss ways to reduce regional tensions. Khan met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani on October 13. After the meeting, Tehran indicated a desire to engage with…

Some 68 percent of Iranians say their country’s economic situation is bad, and 55 percent say it is getting worse, according to a new poll by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) and IranPoll.com. Some 54 percent of Iranians say that domestic mismanagement and…

On October 16, Hossein Fereydoun, the brother of President Hassan Rouhani and a senior negotiator in nuclear talks with the United States, began a five-year prison term in Tehran’s Evin prison. He was arrested in 2017 and initially sentenced to seven years in prison; an appeals court reduced the…

For the first time, less than half of Iranians approve of the 2015 nuclear agreement brokered between Iran and six world powers, according to a new poll by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) and IranPoll.com. The United States withdrew from the deal in May 2018.…

October 14 Economics: Iran’s oil ministry released images of the tanker Sabiti, which clearly showed two holes in its hull just above the waterline. President Hassan Rouhani claimed a foreign government was responsible for the October 11 attack, which occurred in the Red Sea some 60 miles away…

As commander of Iran’s elite Qods Force, Qassem Soleimani has become one of the most powerful military leaders in the Middle East. He has reportedly masterminded major military operations, bombings and assassinations since he took over the external operations wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard…

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…

By Andrew Hanna Iran marked a historic milestone in October 2019, as thousands of women attended a soccer match for the first time in nearly four decades. The match drew some 4,000 women to Azadi stadium in Tehran for a World Cup qualifier match against Cambodia. Between 1981 and 2019, Iranian…

After Turkey’s invasion of Syria on October 9, Iran called on its longstanding ally and neighbor to rethink its plan to create a buffer zone inside Syria. “We are calling on our friendly and brotherly neighbor Turkey to act with more patience and restraint, and to revise its decision and chosen…

By Andrew Hanna In April 2016, Iran, India and Afghanistan signed an agreement to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar as a shipping hub with rail links that connected India to Afghanistan through Iran—and circumvented Pakistan. Chabahar is on the Gulf of Oman and is Iran’s only port with access…

October 7 Justice/Espionage: Iran said Yulia Yuzik, a Russian journalist detained last week in Tehran, was arrested for a visa violation and not for spying as initially reported. Russia had summoned the Iranian ambassador on October 4 to discuss the case. Politics: Josep Borrell, the incoming E.U…

On October 4, Microsoft reported that a group it calls Phosphorus made more than 2,700 attempts to identify email addresses of current and former U.S. officials, accounts associated with a U.S. presidential campaign and journalists covering political campaigns. Microsoft said it believed the group…

October 1 Justice/Politics: Hossein Fereydoun, the brother of President Hassan Rouhani, was sentenced to five years in prison on corruption charges. He had been arrested in 2017 and was the subject of multiple investigations. Fereydoun had long been accused of corruption by hardliners. But Rouhani…

On July 1, 2019, Tehran began to breach the nuclear deal brokered with the world’s six major powers in 2015. It has exceeded the agreement's limits several times: In July 2019, Iran surpassed the limits on its stockpile of low-enriched uranium. A week later, it increased enrichment from 3.67…

By Alex Yacoubian Smuggling in Persia goes back to ancient times, but the Islamic Republic has become increasingly adept at illicit trafficking in oil since the United States re-imposed economic sanctions in November 2018. Iran’s single largest source of revenue is from oil exports; by mid-2019,…

Iranian newspapers, which reflect a broad spectrum of political views, provided positive coverage of President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to New York City for the U.N. General Assembly opening. Even the hardline newspaper, Kayhan, which is often critical of Rouhani, ran an editorial titled “Mr. Rouhani…

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 …

Iran’s critical assistance to the Assad regime has given it wide latitude to entrench itself on Syrian territory, according to new report by the Syria Study Group. Tehran is working to introduce advanced weapons systems that could threaten Israel and to establish a foothold in the eastern…

In a press conference at the end of his visit to New York, President Hassan Rouhani reiterated that Iran is open to talks with the United States — if it lifts sanctions. “Cease this policy of maximum pressure and pursue a policy of dialogue and logic and reason, and to seek that which benefits the…

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…

On September 25, U.S. Treasury announced sanctions on six Chinese companies and five Chinese nationals accused of importing oil from Iran. The United States designated the China Concord Petroleum Co. Ltd., and two units of a major Chinese shipping company, Cosco Shipping Tanker (Dalian) Co. Ltd.…

On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo continued to blame Iran for the September 14 attacks on Saudi oil facilities. He said the United States was “working diligently” to find a diplomatic resolution despite Iran’s "state-on-state act of war." The following…

On September 24, President Trump condemned Iran’s leaders for supporting terror, destabilizing the region and cheating their citizens. "Iran’s leaders will have turned a proud nation into another cautionary tale of what happens when a ruling class abandons its people and embarks upon a crusade for…

On September 23, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in New York City to attend the U.N. General Assembly. In his address to world leaders, Rouhani accused the United States of “economic terrorism.” He said Tehran would not enter talks on its nuclear program or other issues unless the United…