Reports
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have used sophisticated weapons similar to those manufactured in Iran, according to a new report by the U.N. Panel of Experts on Yemen. Some weapons, including a new type of drone and a new model of cruise missile, had not been seen in Yemen before 2019. The Houthi rebels are…
Iran’s space launch efforts are not necessarily related to its ballistic missile program, according to a Congressional Research Service report updated in January. Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMS) “share many similar technologies and processes inherent in a space launch program, but many…
American politicians divided on partisan lines over President Donald Trump’s decision to kill Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani. Republicans in Congress defended the strike as justified retribution for the deaths of Americans, while Democrats condemned the strike as a dangerous escalation. But…
Iran has expanded its military capabilities and is poised to purchase more advanced weapons starting in 2020. Tehran’s “combination of lethal conventional capabilities and proxy forces poses a persistent threat” to U.S. interests and allies in the Middle East, according to a new Defense…
In its quarterly report, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said that Iran had violated the 2015 nuclear deal by increasing its stockpile of enriched uranium. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also reported that its inspectors had found traces of uranium “at a location in Iran not declared to…
In 2018 and 2019, internet freedom in Iran remained highly restricted, according to a new report by Freedom House. Authorities “handed down harsh prison sentences to online journalists and other users, and continued to block access to independent news sites and a number of social media and…
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…
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.…
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…
For more than a decade, one of Iran’s top national security priorities has been to maintain its ability to enrich uranium. Although Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003, according to U.S. intelligence, Tehran wanted to maintain the core capabilities necessary for weaponization should it…