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Why did the United Arab Emirates decide to establish formal diplomatic ties with Israel? How much was Iran a factor? The UAE leadership has long viewed Israel as a model for how a small nation can nonetheless thrive in a region filled with security threats. The Emiratis have studied how Israel,…

On August 19, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned two companies based in the United Arab Emirates for providing parts and logistics services to Iranian airline Mahan Air. “The Iranian regime uses Mahan Air as a tool to spread its destabilizing agenda around the world, including to the corrupt regimes in…

On August 14, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met top Lebanese officials 10 days after twin explosions at the Beirut port killed more than 175 people and wounded some 6,000. Zarif accused Western countries of demanding political change in Lebanon as a precondition for billions of…

On August 12, the United States took control of Iranian oil aboard four privately-owned tankers bound for energy-strapped Venezuela. The tankers, owned by a Greek shipping magnate, collectively carried 1.1 million barrels of Iranian petroleum, according to the Department of Justice. It was the…

Iranian leaders have roundly condemned the U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates to normalize diplomatic relations, which was announced on August 13. President Hassan Rouhani called it a “clear betrayal of the Palestinian people, the cause of al Quds (Jerusalem) and…

August 17 Health: Iran’s Ministry of Health reported 345,450 cases and 19,804 deaths from COVID-19. Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari said that 2,887,938 Iranians had been tested for the virus. Health/Economy: Iranian Minister of Tourism Ali Asghar Mounesan said that the country’s tourism…

On August 14, a U.S. resolution that would require all U.N. member states to indefinitely forbid the sale of conventional arms to Iran failed at the Security Council in one of the worst diplomatic defeats ever for Washington. The vote in the 15-member body was only two in favor (the United States…

August 10 Health: Iran’s Ministry of Health reported 328,844 cases and 18,616 deaths from COVID-19. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari announced that Tehran, Mazandaran, East Azerbaijan, Isfahan, Ardabil, Khorasan Razavi, North Khorasan, Gilan, Alborz, Semnan, Golestan, Markazi, Kerman…

Born in 1963, Nasrin Sotoudeh has been a vocal critic of Iran’s judicial process, treatment of women, and death penalty. She has represented Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi as well as women’s rights activists, victims of domestic abuse, minors on death row, journalists and Kurdish rights activists…

After the 1979 revolution, the women’s movement in Iran faced challenges restoring rights they had recently gained under the monarchy, but over the next four decades they closed the gender gap in education, political representation and social rights. By 2020, women held more political rights in…

Many of Iran’s most pressing issues – in politics, the environment, the economy, health and security – converge in Sistan and Baluchistan. The largely mountainous southeast province is one of Iran’s most strategic frontiers. It shares a nearly 200-mile border with Afghanistan and a nearly 575-mile…

August 3 Health: Iran’s Ministry of Health reported 312,035 cases including 17,405 deaths from COVID-19. Health Ministry spokesman Sima Sadat Lari said that Tehran, Mazandaran, East Azerbaijan, Khorasan Razavi, Alborz, Golestan, Kerman, Isfahan, Ardabil, North Khorasan, Semnan, Yazd, Gilan, and…

During a wargame on July 28, Iran ran a mock attack on a fake U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired missiles at a dummy war ship near the Strait of Hormuz. The exercise – dubbed Great Prophet 14 – involved the IRGC’s air force and navy, but…

In 2020, Iran’s myriad challenges – political, economic, environmental and from the coronavirus pandemic – converged in oil-rich Khuzestan province. In May, protests in the province, home to Iran’s restive Arab minority, flared over unpaid wages and growing water scarcity. On May 23, security…

July 27 Health: Iran reported 293,606 cases and 15,912 deaths from COVID-19. Iranian state media announced that government spokesman Ali Rabiei had tested positive for COVID-19. Rabiei had reportedly been hospitalized but was in good condition, according to Mehr news agency. Economy: The Swiss…

On July 23, a Mahan Air commercial airliner was intercepted by a U.S. F-15 fighter jet over southeast Syria. The flight was en route to Beirut from Tehran when the U.S. fighter flew close for visual inspection. Video footage purportedly taken from inside the Mahan Air flight showed passengers…

On July 22, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, in Moscow to discuss trade, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the situation in Syria and security in the Persian Gulf. During the visit, Zarif announced that Iran intended to renew a…

In July 2020, Iran and Iraq held diplomatic talks to ease bilateral tensions and discuss the U.S. presence in Iraq. On July 21, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei hosted Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kadhimi in Tehran. The Supreme Leader said that Iraq should expel U.S. forces for the assassination of…

July 20 Health: Iran’s Ministry of Health reported 276,202 infections, including 14,405 deaths from COVID-19. Health Ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said that over 240,000 Iranians had recovered from the virus. Justice/Espionage: Iran executed Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd for allegedly providing…

The fires and explosions in Iran in the summer of 2020 were not anomalies. Some were quite ordinary, especially in a country with a long record of neglected infrastructure and especially in summertime. Data retrieved from the archives of IRNA — used for consistency and because the news agency…

How far is Israel willing to go to undermine Iran's nuclear program? What are Israel’s red lines? Since at least 2000, Israel has sought to prevent Iran from becoming a military nuclear power—or the tenth nation to get the bomb. The urgency to develop overt and covert operations has increased…

July 13 Health: Iran reported 259,652 infections, including 13,032 deaths from COVID-19. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the resurgence of COVID-19 "truly tragic" in a virtual meeting with lawmakers. Khamenei urged all citizens to "play their part in the best way to break the chain of…

On July 10, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld the death sentences for three young activists who participated in protests over economic and political grievances in November 2019: Amirhossein Moradi, age 25, Mohammad Rajabi, age 25, Saeed Tamjidi, age 27 The demonstrations were sparked by the government…

Since February 2018, Iran has imprisoned at least nine prominent human rights lawyers who were representing activists, dissidents or political prisoners, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran. Others have been subject to harassment or faced shorter detentions. Amnesty International…

On July 14, 2020, Iran and the six major world powers - Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States - marked the fifth anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The landmark arms control agreement, reached in 2015, limited Tehran's nuclear program in exchange…

Iran’s leaders are currently grappling with three key questions that are directly relevant to European interests. The first of these questions concerns how to rescue the economy and the role the West can and should play in this. The second centres on whether Tehran should engage in any form of…

Iran’s leaders are currently grappling with three key questions that are directly relevant to European interests. The first of these questions concerns how to rescue the economy and the role the West can and should play in this. The second centres on whether Tehran should engage in any form of…

What are the main power blocs shaping decisions in Iran? While the supreme leader is the ultimate decision-maker in Iran, three main groups operate within the nezam [system] framework: the ‘modernisers’; a political faction formally calling itself the ‘Principlists’; and ‘securocrats’. These…

Iran’s leaders are currently grappling with three key questions that are directly relevant to European interests. The first of these questions concerns how to rescue the economy and the role the West can and should play in this. The second centres on whether Tehran should engage in any form of…

Beginning in June 2020, Iran experienced a notable string of explosions, fires and industrial accidents. The damaged sites included Iran’s nuclear facility in Natanz, a missile plant in Khojir, the power grid in Shiraz and a chemical plant in Mahshahr. The most destructive incident was an explosion…