On June 15, the Senate unanimously approved the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (S.712). The bipartisan legislation aims to strengthen U.S. government efforts to repatriate Americans held hostage or unlawfully detained abroad. It would establish a Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, an interagency Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell and a Hostage Recovery Group, which would make policy recommendations. The bill had been approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 21.

In early 2020, Europe, China and Russia rejected the Trump administration’s initiative to extend the U.N. arms embargo on Iran. The disagreement deepened the divide among the six major world powers – Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States – that negotiated the Iran nuclear deal in 2015. It also threatened to exacerbate the transatlantic rift – already deeper than at any time since World War II – between the United States and its European allies.

Iran’s government has continued to imprison, harass and intimidate people based on religious beliefs, according to an annual State Department report on religious freedom released on June 10. At least 90 percent of Iran’s population is Shiite. In 2019, religious minorities, such as Sunni Muslims and Sufis, as well as Bahai’s, Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians, faced both government and societal discrimination.

On June 8, the United States expanded sanctions on Iran’s shipping industry. The Treasury Department blacklisted Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its Shanghai-based subsidiary, E-Sail Shipping Company Ltd, along with more than 100 ships and tankers. “IRISL has repeatedly transported items related to Iran’s ballistic missile and military programs and is also a longstanding carrier of other proliferation-sensitive items,” including items that can be used in Iran’s nuclear program, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

On June 4, Iran released Michael White, an American who had been detained for nearly two years. The U.S. Navy veteran was arrested on unspecified charges in July 2018 while visiting his girlfriend in Iran. In March 2019, White was sentenced to two years in prison for insulting the supreme leader and 10 years for posting a private photograph on social media.

On June 2, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced that Sirous Asgari, a scientist who had been imprisoned in the United States, was on a plane back to Iran. “Congratulations to his wife and his esteemed family,” he wrote on Instagram. Dr. Asgari was indicted in 2016 on charges of stealing trade secrets related to research he had done at Case Western Reserve University in 2012 and 2013. The scientist, an engineer who specializes in metals and materials, had been working on a project for the U.S.

Iranian leaders exploited U.S. unrest over the death of George Floyd—an African American killed in police custody in Minneapolis—to criticize the U.S. government. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the U.S. government of racism against African Americans. “If you're dark-skinned walking in the U.S., you can't be sure you'll be alive in the next few minutes. #ICantBreathe #BlackLivesMatter,” Khamenei tweeted. “Racial discrimination is still a dilemma in a country that claims to support freedom and human rights #Black_Lives_Matter.”

Victims of chemical weapons during Iran’s eight-year war with Iraq have proven to be among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Iran’s doctors and nurses have made heavy sacrifices in the fight against COVID-19. In the first three months of the pandemic, more than 100 healthcare workers died and some 10,000 had been infected.

Iran’s new parliament held its opening session on May 27 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawmakers were required to follow health protocols, but many did not practice social distancing or wear masks. The 268 members of parliament who attended the session had all tested negative for the virus, according to state media. Their temperatures were checked before entering the building. Iran, the epicenter of the outbreak in the Middle East, recorded 141,591 infections and 7,564 deaths from COVID-19 on the day parliament convened.