On February 14, the House Foreign Affairs Committee released the Trump administration’s legal justification for killing Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Qods Force. Administration officials had said that Trump approved the drone strike, carried out on January 3 near Baghdad…
U.S. Policy
On February 13, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said that it had seized a large cache of Iranian-made weapons from a dhow in the Arabian Sea. The military equipment, which included surface-to-air-missiles and anti-tank missiles, was “identical” to the weapons systems captured by the United States in…
On February 13, the United States charged five individuals with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran. The Justice Department alleged that the five defendants planned to use a Polish shell company to illicitly purchase Iranian oil and sell it to a refinery in China. “With the goal of…
On May 6, President Donald Trump vetoed a bipartisan bill to limit his authority to conduct military action against Iran. He called it a “very insulting resolution” that was “based on misunderstandings of facts on law” in a statement. Trump also claimed the bill was "introduced by Democrats as part…
On February 9, Iran attempted to put a satellite into orbit but failed. The Simorgh (Phoenix) rocket used in the launch did not reach the speed needed to put the Zafar (Victory) 1 communications satellite into orbit. “Stage-1 and stage-2 motors of the carrier functioned properly and the satellite…
On February 4, President Trump accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons and urged it to stop supporting terror. In his State of the Union address, he encouraged Tehran to change course. “Because of our powerful sanctions, the Iranian economy is doing very poorly. We can help them make it very good…
On January 30, the House of Representatives passed two measures to limit President Trump’s ability to conduct military action against Iran. The first proposal, passed by a vote of 236-166, would repeal the 2002 congressional authorization for the war in Iraq. The second bill, approved by a 228-175…
On January 30, U.S. Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook announced sanctions on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and its chief, Ali Akbar Salehi. “The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has played a big role in Iran breaching its key nuclear commitments [under the 2015 nuclear…
The Trump Administration criticized Iran’s election process as the nation prepared to vote on a new parliament on February 21. On January 16, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo charged that the poll was rigged. “The Iranian regime consistently lies to the Iranian people and treats them with contempt,”…
On January 23, the U.S. Treasury Department designated four companies accused of purchasing Iranian oil and petrochemical products in violation of U.S. sanctions. Two companies based in Hong Kong, one company based in Shanghai and another company based in Dubai allegedly helped Iran’s state-owned…