On August 24, Rafael Grossi, the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s chief, arrived in Tehran to press for access to two suspected former nuclear sites. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) met with top officials, including President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO). “Our conversation today was very constructive.

On August 20, the United States notified the U.N. Security Council that it would reimpose multilateral sanctions on Iran for violating terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notified U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Security Council President Dian Triansyah Djani that the United States had triggered the so-called snapback mechanism negotiated as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In New York, Pompeo declared that all U.N. sanctions suspended under the JCPOA would resume after 30 days. 

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, Singapore and others have harnessed strong leadership, high tech, a certain amount of risk-taking regionally and globally as well as their highly educated populace to succeed diplomatically, economically and in terms of security. 

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 Syria and Venezuela, as well as terrorist groups throughout the Middle East,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.

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 Muslims.”

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 and Yazd provinces were considered “red zones” due to high rates of infections and deaths.

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 border with Pakistan. Chabahar, Iran’s only oceanic port, is on its coast on the Gulf of Oman. Chabahar has the potential to be a key trading hub for the Middle East and South Asia.

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 Markazi provinces were all considered “red zones” due to high rates of infections.

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 forces used tear gas and plastic bullets to disperse a protest over a drinking water shortage near Ahvaz, the provincial capital.

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 provides fairly consistent media coverage of such incidents–shows that these kinds of events occur frequently.