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Year One: Raisi on the U.S. & the West
In his first year in office, President Ebrahim Raisi blamed many of the Middle East’s problems on Western powers. Foreign intervention, notably by the United States, had produced only conflict and political discord, he argued. The “idea of hegemony, but also the project of imposing Westernized…
Year One: Raisi on the Economy
In his first year in office, President Ebrahim Raisi pledged to stabilize the economy, address people’s basic needs, fight corruption and to better manage water and gas resources. Raisi took weekly trips to the provinces after he took office in August 2021 to learn about the problems facing average…
News Digest: Week of September 12
Updated: September 14, 2022
September 12
Nuclear/Diplomacy: Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Iran’s latest response to the E.U. draft deal on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal was “clearly a step backwards and makes the prospects for an agreement in the near term — I would say — unlikely.” He said that Tehran had…
Europeans: No More Flexibility on Iran Deal
On September 10, Britain, France and Germany warned that the intense international diplomacy—between the world’s six major powers and Iran—to revive the 2015 nuclear deal was in grave jeopardy because Tehran had abruptly backtracked from compromises in the final draft. A month earlier, the European…
U.S. Sanctions Iranian Intelligence Ministry
On September 9, the United States sanctioned Iran’s intelligence ministry and minister for cyberattacks against the United States and its allies. “Iran’s cyberattacks targeting civilian government services and critical infrastructure sectors can cause grave damage to these services and disregard…
Albania Cuts Ties with Iran Over Cyberattack
Updated: September 12, 2022
On September 6, Albania severed diplomatic ties with Iran over an alleged cyberattack on July 15. Iran had tried to “paralyze public services and hack data and electronic communications from the government systems,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said in a statement. Tehran had allegedly directed four…
Iran Seizes and Releases U.S. Sea Drones
In two provocative incidents just days apart, Iranian naval forces briefly seized three U.S. drones collecting data in the international waters of the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. The seizures coincided with growing tensions between the United States and Iran over militia activities in Syria and…
U.S. Sanctions Iran for Providing Drones to Russia
Updated: September 13, 2022
On September 8, the United States sanctioned four Iranian companies and a defense contractor for providing drones to Russia for use in Ukraine. The move reflects a tightening of the sanctions noose around countries facilitating Vladimir Putin’s war machine. “The Russian military is suffering from…
News Digest: Week of September 5
September 5
Human Rights: Two Iranian women, Zahra Hamadani and Elham Chubdar, were sentenced to death for their activism on behalf of the LGBTQ community. They were reportedly found guilty of “corruption on Earth,” “promoting Christianity,” and “communicating with the media opposing the Islamic…
Part 3: Iran on Its Space Program
The Iranian government has long considered the space program a source of national pride. Despite Western criticism, Tehran has claimed its program is completely peaceful and will not be used for military purposes. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly boasted that the space…
Part 2: U.S. on Iran’s Space Program
For more than a decade, the United States has warned that Iran’s space program could be adapted to advance its ballistic missile program, with implications for the entire Middle East and beyond. As of 2022, Iran already had missiles with a 2,000-kilometer (or 1,200-mile) range. The Trump…
US-Iran Tensions in Syria: Timeline
Updated: March 23, 2023
Syria has become a sporadic battlefield for Iran-backed militias, which support the Assad regime, and U.S.-led coalition forces since 2017. The following is a detailed timeline.
2017
May 18: U.S.-led coalition forces struck Iran-backed militants that were breaching the 55-kilometer (34-mile)…
US-Iran Tensions in Syria: 2022
In August, tensions flared between the United States and Iran in Syria. The United States launched airstrikes on Iran-backed militias in response to drone and rocket attacks on bases housing U.S. troops on August 15. “We've sent a very loud and clear message and a proportional message, that any…
News Digest: Week of August 15
August 15
Nuclear: Iran sent a response to the European Union’s latest draft text to restore the 2015 nuclear deal. “There are three issues that if resolved, we can reach an agreement in the coming days,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had said earlier in the day. “We have told them…
Iran Poll on Nuclear Deal
Seven years after it was negotiated, Iranian public opinion was split on the 2015 nuclear deal. Some 48 percent disapproved of the agreement while 47 percent approved of it, according to a new poll by the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) and IranPoll. The deal had a…
Iran and the Rushdie Attack
On August 12, award-winning novelist Salman Rushdie was stabbed in the neck and abdomen in an assassination attempt while lecturing at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Hadi Matar, the 24-year-old assailant and the son of immigrants from Lebanon, supported Iran and Hezbollah, its Lebanese…
Timeline: Israeli Attacks on Iran
Updated: January 30, 2023
Since 2010, Israel has allegedly conducted at least two dozen operations – including assassinations, drone strikes and cyberattacks – on Iran. Most of the targets were connected to Tehran’s controversial nuclear program, which Israel considers an existential threat. In 2022, however, two facilities…
U.S. Charges Iranian for Bolton Murder Plot
On August 10, the Justice Department announced charges against an Iranian national for plotting to murder John Bolton, who served as national security advisor to President Donald Trump from 2018 to 2019. Shahram Poursafi, 45, planned the operation, “likely in retaliation” for the U.S. assassination…
2022: Sweeping Crackdown on Dissent
In 2022, Iran detained and imprisoned dozens of activists, artists and academics. Many were charged with propaganda against the state and collusion against national security. The crackdown coincided with a surge of protests over food prices, pensions and salaries, taxes, and corruption in Tehran…
U.S. Announces Arms Sales to Gulf, Joint Military Exercise
On August 2, the Biden administration approved major arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Iran’s regional rival, and its ally, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Saudi Arabia requested 300 Patriot missiles and related equipment, training and services worth a total of $3 billion. The UAE requested 96 Terminal…
Explainer: Raisi's First Year in Power
The U.S. Institute of Peace interviewed Dr. Kenneth Katzman, a former CIA analyst, who is now an Iran expert at the Congressional Research Service (CRS). His responses are made in his personal capacity, not for CRS or the Library of Congress.
Ebrahim Raisi, a hardliner, has now been in power for…
News Digest: Week of August 1
Updated: August 3, 2022
August 1
Human Rights: Iran’s intelligence ministry announced the arrest of an unspecified number of members of the Baha’i faith with links to a Baha’i religious center in Israel. The individuals were arrested for allegedly spreading propaganda and proselytizing in schools. The Islamic Republic…
U.S. Sanctions Firms Helping Iran Smuggle Oil
On August 1, the United States sanctioned six companies for helping to sell millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and petrochemical products to East Asian buyers. Petrochemicals, derived from oil and natural gas, are essential to manufacturing paints, plastics, solar panels, medicine, and…
Putin Visits Tehran for Strategic Talks
On July 19, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran to boost ties with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts. The trip came just three days after President Biden toured the region to rally support against Iran. Relations between Russia and Iran have steadily improved, according to Gallup…
U.S. Report on Human Trafficking in Iran
On July 19, 2022, the State Department released its annual report on human trafficking. It cited Iran as one of 11 countries where the government participates in trafficking. "Official government involvement in trafficking crimes and authorities’ abuse of trafficking victims continued unabated."…
Biden Executive Order on Hostages
On July 19, President Joe Biden issued an executive order expanding U.S. government tools to deter hostage-taking. The order “creates new ways to impose costs on terrorist organizations, criminal groups, and other malicious actors who take hostages for financial, political, or other gains,”…
News Digest: Week of July 18
July 18
Nuclear: Kamal Kharrazi, an advisor to the Supreme Leader and a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, claimed that Iran has the technical capability to build a nuclear bomb. But it has “not made a decision to build an atomic bomb,” he told Al Jazeera. He said that Iran had conducted military…
Biden on Iran in Mideast Trip
In his first trip to the Middle East as president, Joe Biden renewed his pledge to never allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon. “There will be no nuclear Iran. This is not only a threat to Israel, but to the world,” Biden said on July 14. During the four-day tour, Biden visited Iran’s main regional…
Iran & Russia: Growing Economic Competition
Henry Rome is the deputy head of research at Eurasia Group.
Iran and Russia have had a contentious relationship going back almost four centuries, including the Qajar dynasty’s loss of territory to the Russian Empire in the 19th century and the Soviet Union’s brief occupation of Iran in the 20th…
Sweden Imprisons Iranian for 1988 Massacre
In a groundbreaking human rights case, Sweden sentenced Hamid Noury, a former Iranian prosecutor, to life imprisonment for his role in the 1988 prison massacre of an estimated 5,000 dissidents. The verdict, announced on July 14, 2022 after a nine-month trial, was the first time anyone has been…