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News Digest: Week of March 10, 2025
March 10International: Two alleged Russian mob members, Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov, will face trial in the United States for their participation in an unsuccessful attempt to kill an Iranian American journalist and activist in New York. U.S. federal prosecutors said that Iran’s IRGC had…
U.S. Sanctions Iran’s Oil Minister and Shadow Fleet Operators
On March 13, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Iran’s oil minister, Mohsen Paknejad, along with companies in Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India and other locations, for involvement in transporting Iranian oil to China in violation of U.S. sanctions. China is reportedly the destination…
U.S. Ends Waiver for Iraq to Buy Iran’s Electricity
Power transmission lines in Tehran on Dec. 18, 2024 (Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times)
On March 8, the United States allowed a waiver to expire that had permitted Iraq to buy Iranian electricity. The move was the latest in the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign to cut off Iran’…
U.S. Sanctions Swedish Gang Working for Iran
On March 12, 2025, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned the Foxtrot Network, a Sweden-based transnational criminal organization, and its leader, Rawa Majid. The organization, known for trafficking illicit drugs, has perpetrated contract killings in the past. In January 2024, the Foxtrot Network…
U.N. Nuclear Watchdog on Iran’s Stonewalling
The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog and officials from Western powers criticized Iran for failing to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) during a meeting of its 35-member Board of Governors from March 3 to March 7, 2025. Director General Rafael Grossi warned that the…
Former Navy Sailor Plotted Attack on Behalf of Iran
On Feb. 27, 2025, Xuanyu Harry Pang, a former Navy sailor, pled guilty to plotting to attack Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, Illinois, allegedly on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In 2021, Pang had communicated with an individual in Colombia about a plan to take…
Alabama Man Sentenced to Prison for Sanctions Violations
On Feb. 25, 2025, Ray Hunt of Alabama was sentenced to five years in prison for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Hunt, also known as Abdolrahman Hantoosh, Rahman Hantoosh, and Rahman Natooshas, conspired with two companies in Tehran to export U.S.-made industrial equipment for Iran’s oil, gas and…
U.S. Sanctions Iranian Drone Procurement Network
On Feb. 26, 2025, the United States sanctioned six companies based in Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China involved in procuring components for Iran’s drone and ballistic missile programs. “Iran continues to try to find new ways to procure the key components it needs to bolster its UAV…
Report: Executions of Minorities in Iran in 2024
In 2024, Iran’s ethnic minorities were overrepresented in death penalty statistics, and authorities did not publicize many executions in provinces with large Azeri, Kurdish and Baluch populations, according to an annual report by Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) with the support of ECPM (Together Against…
U.S. Sanctions More of Iran’s Shadow Fleet
On Feb. 24, 2025, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 22 people and 13 vessels for involvement in smuggling oil and petroleum products on behalf of Iran. They were based in Iran, China, Hong Kong, India, and the United Arab Emirates. Tehran “continues to rely on a shadowy network of vessels,…
News Digest: Week of February 17, 2025
February 18International: Central Bank Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin traveled to Yekaterinburg, Russia to meet with his Russia counterpart, Elvira Nabiullina. The officials discussed bilateral banking agreements including the next phases of the integrated Mir-Shetab card payment systems to…
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…
News Digest: Week of February 3, 2025
February 3International: The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hossein Salami, said that, despite the success of Iran’s enemies in Syria, the situation will change. His comment followed repeated hostile statements by Iranian officials towards Syria’s transitional government…
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 27, 2025
January 27International: Israeli officials accused two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reservists of espionage on behalf of Iran. Yuri Eliasfov, a member of the IDF’s Iron Dome air defense unit, and his co-conspirator, Georgi Andreyev, allegedly transferred classified information to their Iranian…
News Digest: Week of January 20, 2025
January 22Nuclear: U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said that Iran was “pressing the gas pedal” on its uranium enrichment program by increasing monthly production of uranium enriched up to 60 percent from around seven kilograms to over 30 kilograms. He encouraged diplomacy between Iran and…
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…