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Shooting at Shiraz Shrine
On Aug. 13, 2023, a gunman killed one person and injured eight others at the Shahcheragh shrine in Shiraz, Fars province. Security forces and shrine workers reportedly detained the assailant, Tajik national Rahmatollah Nowruzof. An injured member of the security forces died at the hospital two days…
News Digest: Week of August 7
August 7
Domestic: Iran opened candidate registration for the March 2024 parliamentary elections. They were the first national elections since protests rocked the country in 2022. Candidates for the 290-seat parliament could register online.
Military: More than 3,000 American military personnel…
U.S. and Iran Reach Agreement on Prisoners
Updated: September 12, 2023
On Aug. 10, 2023, Iran released four Americans to house arrest as part of a reported prisoner deal with the United States. The terms involved Iran's release of five Americans. In return, the United States reportedly agreed to unfreeze some $6 billion of Iranian assets held in South Korean banks and…
U.S. Deploys Marines & Warships to Deter Iran
On July 20, 2023, the United States announced the deployment of some 3,000 sailors and Marines with three naval ships to the Middle East in response to Iranian threats to international commercial shipping. The announcement followed the deployment of a guided-missile destroyer, as well as F-35 and F…
News Digest: Week of July 31
Updated: August 7, 2023
July 31
International: Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said that Iran would “never hold talks with the U.S. on the basis of trust” and would only enter negotiations “to fulfill the country’s national interests.” At a press conference, Kanaani added, “we are making efforts to have the…
News Digest: Week of July 24
Updated: July 31, 2023
July 24
Domestic: Authorities closed a Tehran office of Digikala, Iran’s largest e-commerce site, after the company published pictures of female employees without hijab at a company gathering. Iran’s judiciary announced that legal proceeds would begin soon.
Security: Iran’s Intelligence…
Amnesty International: Iran’s Hijab Enforcement
Iran has doubled down on hijab enforcement and policing women since protests erupted in fall 2022, Amnesty International reported on July 26, 2023. Demonstrations had lulled by early 2023. But between April and July, “authorities…waged an intensified nationwide crackdown on women and girls who…
News Digest: Week of July 17
Updated: July 24, 2023
July 17
International: Finance Minister Ehsan Khandouzi announced a series of joint trade and cooperation projects between Iran and China. “China is Iran’s largest trading partner and the most important for the export of Iranian goods and an important part of our imports are also from China,”…
News Digest: Week of July 10
Updated: July 17, 2023
July 10
Military: Ramazan Zirrahi, a Revolutionary Guards commander, criticized the U.S. Navy for interfering when Iran intercepted a ship allegedly smuggling fuel on July 6. “The Americans sought to prevent [the interception] through a series of unprofessional and risky actions,” he said. …
U.N. Report: Human Rights in Iran
On June 21, U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada al Nashif expressed concern over Iran’s human rights record between August 2022 and April 2023. “The overall human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran has markedly deteriorated against the backdrop of continuously…
U.S. Report on Human Trafficking in Iran
Iran’s government “did not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and, even considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity, is not making significant efforts to do so,” according to the State Department’s annual report on human…
U.S. Intelligence on Iran’s Nuclear Program
On July 10, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) reported that Iran was not producing a nuclear weapon. But it warned that Tehran had accelerated its overall nuclear program. “Iran continues to increase the size and enrichment level of its uranium stockpile beyond JCPOA [Joint…
News Digest: Week of July 3
Updated: July 10, 2023
July 3
Domestic: The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group reported that Iran had executed at least 354 people in the first six months of 2023. Some 36 percent more people were executed compared to the same period in 2022. Nearly 20 percent of all executions were members of the Baluch, a Sunni…
Iran’s Response to Attempted Coup in Russia
Iranian leaders uniformly backed Russia’s government in the aftermath of the failed rebellion by the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary force with close ties to the Kremlin. “Iran supports the national sovereignty of Russia,” President Ebrahim Raisi assured President Vladimir Putin in a phone call…
News Digest: Week of June 26, 2023
Updated: July 3, 2023
June 26
International: The European Council sanctioned seven individuals in Iran for human rights violations. They included judiciary officials, provincial governors, and leaders of security forces responsible for harsh sentences, arbitrary detentions, and violence against protesters.
A…
Iran & China: Military Ties
Since its 1979 revolution, Iran’s military ties with China have evolved through four phases. Tehran was dependent on Beijing as its primary source of weaponry during the eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s. It bought warplanes, tanks, and missiles. China welcomed the hard currency that, in turn,…
Iran & China: A Trade Lifeline
Updated: July 5, 2023
Since the early 21st century, the centerpiece of relations between Tehran and Beijing has been economic, largely based on trade in oil and consumer goods. China bought Iran’s oil to fuel industrialization, while it sold machinery, electronics, and appliances to Iran to expand its global marketplace…
Iran & China: An Iranian View
Nasser Hadian is a U.S.-educated professor of political science at the University of Tehran and a former visiting professor at Columbia University.
How do Iranian officials view China? What are Iran’s goals in shifting East?
Iran’s policy elite believe that China is a rising power, while…
Raisi Mobilizes Support for Iran in Latin America
In a defiant challenge to the United States, President Ebrahim Raisi flew to three Latin American countries—one only 90 miles from the U.S. border—to deepen Iran’s strategic and economic ties in the western hemisphere. The trip, in mid-June 2023, included stops in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, all…
News Digest: Week of June 19
June 19
Diplomacy: Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited Iran for the first time in more than two decades. Mirziyoyev met with President Ebrahim Raisi, and the two signed 10 cooperation agreements on trade, transit, medicine, insurance, technology and agriculture.
International: The leaders…
U.S. Warns Companies about Iran’s Drone Program
On June 9, 2023, the United States warned manufacturing, electronics, and shipping businesses worldwide about the military threats posed by Iran’s drone program. It called on companies to vet their clients and customers to avoid contributing—intentionally or otherwise—parts and technology to Tehran…
Supreme Leader on Nuclear Weapons & Diplomacy
On June 11, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed openness about a nuclear agreement with the West but stipulated that the “infrastructure of our nuclear industry should not be touched.” He also warned officials to be wary of promises by Western governments. “We were hurt in many places…
U.S. Sanctions Missile & Military Supply Network
On June 6, the United States sanctioned six companies and seven people in Iran, China, and Hong Kong that procured technology and parts for the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile and military programs. The network was linked to Iran’s Defense Ministry and four affiliated organizations. Three…
Zarif Firestorm Over Iran's Failure to Compromise
In highly unusual criticism, former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (2013-2021) blasted the Iranian government for its inflexible and unrealistic policies that failed at diplomacy. “Throughout history, we have set our goals based on our desires and ignored our abilities,” Zarif said in an…
News Digest: Week of June 5
June 5
Military: Two U.S. and British warships, the USS McFaul and the HMS Lancaster, responded to a distress call from a large merchant vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil transits. Three Revolutionary Guards fast-attack boats had approached the commercial…
Iran Unveils Hypersonic Missile
On June 6, 2023, the Revolutionary Guards unveiled Iran’s first hypersonic missile, which reportedly has a range of 1,400 kilometers (or 870 miles). The medium-range missile can travel at speeds of up to Mach 15—or 15 times the speed of sound. Iran dubbed it the Fattah, Persian for “conqueror.”…
U.S. Condemns Iran’s New Roles at U.N.
On June 1, the United States condemned Iran’s election as rapporteur for the U.N. First Committee—focused on disarmament and international security issues—and as one of 21 U.N. General Assembly vice presidents. A “representative of Iran’s government is unfit to serve in a leadership position…even…
Leaders Condemn U.S. on Khomeini Anniversary
Iran’s leaders blasted the United States in defiant speeches commemorating the anniversary of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death in 1989. In a televised speech on June 4, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei – Khomeini’s successor – warned that Western powers were trying to…
U.S. Sanctions for Internet Censorship
On June 2, the United States sanctioned Arvan Cloud, two of its executives, and an affiliated technology company for developing an alternative to the Internet that would allow the government to control or censor content available inside Iran. The technology also restricted Iranians from getting…
News Digest: Week of May 29
May 29
Military: Fourteen people allegedly linked to an Israeli “terrorist team” had been detained for plotting to assassinate people in Iran, the Judiciary announced.
Domestic: Elaheh Mohammadi, who reported on Masha Amini’s funeral in September 2022, began her trial in Iran’s Revolutionary…