U.S. Policy
At the United Nations, the United States and Iran charged each other with sabotaging the talks in Vienna on the future of the 2015 nuclear deal. U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield charged that Iran had taken “vague, unrealistic, maximalist, and unconstructive positions on both nuclear and…
On December 7, the Justice Department announced the forfeiture of Iranian weapons bound for Yemen and oil bound for Venezuela. The property was obtained through three seizures:
On Nov. 25, 2019 and Feb. 9, 2020, U.S. Navy Central Command seized weapons from two flagless ships in the Arabian Sea,…
On November 29, the world’s major powers and Iran opened the seventh round of talks on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal. From April to June 2021, Iran and the major powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States – held six rounds of talks. The goal has been to draft a roadmap…
On November 18, the United States sanctioned six Iranian men and one company, Emennet Pasargad, for attempting to interfere with the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Sectary of State Antony Blinken said that the move represents “the collective efforts of the Department of the Treasury, the…
On November 17, the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned Iran for supporting militias and proliferating weapons across the region. Ballistic missiles and drones “have been used by Iran or its proxies in hundreds of attacks against civilians and critical infrastructure in…
On October 30, President Joe Biden and the leaders of Britain, France and Germany said that the 2015 nuclear deal could be restored quickly if Iran changes course. “We call upon President [Ebrahim] Raisi to seize this opportunity and return to a good faith effort to conclude our negotiations as a…
On October 13, Robert Malley, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, said that the United States and its allies were considering alternative ways to constrain Tehran’s nuclear should diplomacy fail. “Every day they [Iranians] are not coming back to the table … is telling us that this is a team that may…
On August 5, the United States called on Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, to resume talks on restoring full U.S. and Iranian compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal. “We urge Iran to return to the negotiations soon so that we can seek to conclude our work,” State Department Spokesperson Ned Price…
On June 27, the United States conducted airstrikes against three targets operated by two Iraqi militias—Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al Shuhada—that are trained, armed, funded and sometimes directed by Iran. F-15 and F-16 fighters targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two…
Ebrahim Raisi’s election produced both criticism and congratulations from world leaders. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki warned that Raisi “will be accountable for gross violations of human rights on his watch going forward.” A hardline cleric who has been the judiciary chief since 2019,…