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Report: Corruption Perceptions in Iran 2024
Iran was among the most corrupt countries in the world, according to an annual Transparency International report released in February 2025. The Islamic Republic ranked 151st out of 180 governments evaluated. Its corruption perceptions index (CPI) score fell to 23 out of 100. The CPI is a global…
U.S. Sanctions Oil Smuggling Network
On Feb. 6, 2025, the United States sanctioned an international network that smuggled millions of barrels of Iranian oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars. China, which reportedly purchases some 90 percent of Iran’s crude oil exports, was the destination for the cargo. The Treasury Department…
FBI Seeking Information on Iranian Intelligence Officers
On Feb. 4, 2025, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the names of two senior Iranian intelligence officers who were involved in the abduction of Robert. A “Bob” Levinson in 2007. The retired FBI agent was reportedly on a rogue Central Intelligence Agency mission when he disappeared…
President Trump Reimposes “Maximum Pressure” on Iran
On Feb. 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum to impose “maximum pressure” on Iran’s government, deny Tehran all paths to a nuclear weapon, and counter the regime’s malign influence in the Middle East. It is “in the national interest to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime to…
News Digest: Week of January 13, 2025
January 13Military: Iran’s army received one thousand new drones with “high stealth and anti-fortification abilities,” according to state media. The delivery comes after an uptick in war games and military exercises across the country as part of a two-month initiative to defend against possible…
The Coming Iranian Nuclear Challenge in 2025
Kelsey Davenport is the Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association. Where does Iran’s nuclear program stand at the beginning of 2025?Iran has become a nuclear weapons threshold state. It has developed the technologies and capabilities that would allow Tehran to move…
U.S. Sanctions Iranian Organization for Election Interference
On Dec. 31, 2024, the United States sanctioned the Cognitive Design Production Center, an organization under Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, for attempting to inflame sociopolitical tensions and influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. election. Concurrently, the Treasury Department also…
IRGC Captain Charged with Murder of American
On Dec. 20, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Mohammad Reza Nouri, an Iranian national and officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), for plotting the murder of American Stephen Troell, who was working at an English language institute in Iraq in 2022. The United…
U.S. Sanctions More of Iran's Dark Fleet
On Dec. 19, 2024, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned four companies and three vessels involved in trading Iranian oil and petrochemicals worth billions of dollars. Petrochemicals, derived from oil and natural gas, are essential to manufacturing paints, plastics, solar panels, medicine, and mobile phones…
News Digest: Week of December 16
December 16Domestic: Iran delayed the implementation of a new modesty law after receiving criticism from the international community and human rights groups. The Supreme National Security Council requested to delay the bill to conduct further investigations and address controversies. The United…
U.S. Sanctions Supporters of Iran’s Weapons Programs
On Dec. 18, 2024, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned one Iranian company, one Swiss company and two Iranians for involvement in procuring equipment used in Iranian drones and missiles. “The United States will continue to disrupt Iran’s attempts to provide its deadly weapons to Russia, its…
U.S. and E3: Iran Must Change Nuclear Course
On Dec. 17, 2024, United States, Britain, France, and Germany urged Iran to choose diplomacy instead of continuing to expand its controversial nuclear program. “Though diplomacy is the best option, the United States also has been clear a nuclear Iran can never be an option,” Ambassador Robert Wood…
U.S. Charges Two Iranians Linked to Drone Strike
On Dec. 16, 2024, the United States charged two men for conspiring to export electronic equipment from the United States to Iran in violation of sanctions and export control laws. Mahdi Mohammad Sadeghi, a dual U.S.-Iranian national living in Massachusetts, appeared in court in Massachusetts while…
U.S. Report: Iran’s Support for Terrorism
Iran continued to support terrorism in 2023, according to the State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2023. In the Middle East, Iran provided arms, training and/or funding to militant groups in Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, the West Bank and Gaza, and Yemen. Several groups took advantage of the…
News Digest: Week of December 9
December 11International: Britain, France, and Germany signaled their intent to the U.N. Security Council to trigger a “snap back” of international sanctions on Iran to deter it from producing a nuclear weapon. Under U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which enshrined the 2015 nuclear deal,…
Iran is the Biggest Regional Loser of Assad’s Fall
Among the central factors that led to the ouster of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad was Iran’s and Russia’s decisions to not intervene yet again to prop him up. Tehran had long used Syria as vector to project influence in the region and marshalled significant resources and manpower to…
U.S. Intelligence on Iran’s Nuclear Advances
Iran has increasingly undertaken activities that “better position it” to produce a nuclear weapon if it chooses to do so, U.S. intelligence warned in a report released on Dec. 5, 2024. Iran had enough uranium that, if further enriched, could fuel a dozen nuclear weapons. The Office of the Director…
News Digest: Week of December 2
December 2Diplomatic: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone to discuss the escalation in Syria following the rebel offensive. The two leaders expressed their support for the Assad regime and discussed continued cooperation under the Astana…
U.S. Sanctions Iranian “Shadow Fleet”
On Dec. 3, 2024, the United States sanctioned 35 firms and vessels for transporting Iranian oil in violation of sanctions. The designated companies were based in the United Arab Emirates, Panama, India, China, and Hong Kong. The geographic spread reflected Iran’s extensive network of partners, the…
News Digest: Week of November 25
November 25International: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for the death sentence for Israeli leaders in response to the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for the Prime Minister Benjmain Netanyahu and his former defense chief, Yoav Gallant.November…
IAEA Board Censures Iran Over Nuclear Program
On Nov. 21, 2024, the U.N. nuclear watchdog’s 35-member board of governors censured Iran for failing to fully cooperate with the agency. Britain, France and Germany – the so-called E3 – sponsored the resolution, which was also backed by the United States. The closed-door vote was:19…
U.N. Committee Condemns Iran’s Human Rights Record
On Nov. 20, 2024, the U.N. General Assembly’s Third Committee passed a resolution condemning Iran’s government for wide-ranging human rights abuses. The resolution highlighted an “alarming increase in the application of the death penalty,” the systematic arrest and detention of dual and foreign…
44 Rights Groups Urge U.N. Intervention for Narges Mohammadi
On Nov. 18, 2024, 44 human rights groups urged the U.N. Human Rights Council to secure the release of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi, one of the country’s most prominent activists, on medical grounds. Since the 1990s, Mohammadi has advocated against the death penalty, solitary…
News Digest: Week of November 18
November 18International: Canada’s former justice minister Irwin Cotler said that Iran had attempted to assassinate him in late October. Cotler, a long-time critic of Iran’s government, said that Canadian intelligence provided him with a security detail after they flagged him as a potential high…
E.U. & British Sanctions on Iran for Supporting Russia
On Nov. 18, 2024, the European Union and Britain announced sanctions on Iran for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine. Britain froze the assets of Iran’s national airline, Iran Air, in response to the transfer of ballistic missiles to Russia. “Iran’s attempts to undermine global security are…
U.S. Sanctions Syrian Network Funding Qods Force & Houthis
On Nov. 14, 2024, the United States imposed sanctions on 26 companies, individuals and vessels connected to a Syrian company, Al-Qatirji. The network sold Iranian oil to Syria and China to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the Qods Force, the external operations arm of the Islamic…
News Digest: Week of November 11
November 11International: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman warned Israel against launching further attacks on Iran in a statement at a summit of Muslim and Arab leaders in Riyadh. He also condemned Israel for committing “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.Economy: Iran deepened financial…
News Digest: Week of November 4
November 4Military: Two members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed in a helicopter crash while carrying out an anti-terror operation in southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan province, where clashes between Iranian armed forces and Baluchi minority rebels had mounted since late- October. The…
U.S. Charges Iranian for Plot to Kill Donald Trump
On Nov. 8, 2024, the Department of Justice announced charges against an Iranian and two others for plotting to murder President-elect Donald Trump as well as an Iranian-American dissident residing in New York. Farhad Shakeri, an Iranian national, was tasked by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…
News Digest: Week of October 28
October 28International: Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to the supreme leader, said that Iran was open to cooperation with Western countries that “respect Iran’s sovereignty and treat [Iran] as an equal.” He said that the Islamic Republic will reassess its foreign policy with various…