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Pezeshkian in New York
In his debut address to the U.N. General Assembly, President Masoud Pezeshkian said that he wants Iran to play a “constructive role in the evolving global order.” He also signaled willingness to engage with Western powers on reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement, which curbed Iran’s controversial…
News Digest: Week of September 23
September 23Nuclear: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran was ready to resume nuclear talks. “If the other parties are ready, we can restart the negotiations during this trip,” he wrote on X. He announced that he would remain in New York for several days after the U.N. General Assembly to…
Graphics: Hezbollah-Israel Attacks & Arsenals
In solidarity with Hamas and Palestinians, Hezbollah launched a new offensive on Israel, a day after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. In the first year of the Gaza War, Hezbollah launched more than 8,800 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel. Israel launched more than 8,000 strikes. They were mostly…
Israeli Attacks: Reaction by Hezbollah, Iran & Allies
Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah vowed revenge for Israel’s twin cyberattacks on the pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives that injured thousands and killed more than three dozen on Sept. 17 and 18, 2024. "The enemy transgressed all boundaries and red lines" and…
World Reaction to Israeli Attacks on Hezbollah
Updated: September 19, 2024
Reaction to Israel’s twin cyberattacks on the pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives—injuring thousands and killing dozens – varied widely based on political ties. The United States and European Union warned that hostilities across the Middle East, already volatile because of the…
Israeli Cyberattacks Cripple Hezbollah
In unprecedented covert operations, Israel triggered explosions on thousands of pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah fighters and followers in back-to-back attacks on Sept. 17 and 18, 2024. Both attacks targeted Hezbollah in at least three strongholds—Beirut, the eastern Bekaa…
U.S. Sanctions 12 Iranians for Repression
On Sept. 18, 2024, the United States imposed sanctions on 12 Iranians linked to repression in Iran and abroad. They included members of the Revolutionary Guards, the Prisons Organization, and Ministry of Intelligence and Security. The announcement came two days after the anniversary of the death of…
U.N. Report on Oppression of Women in Iran
Iran has ramped up enforcement of the Islamic dress code in the two years since the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained for allegedly improper hijab (head covering). Iran has been “encouraging, sanctioning and endorsing human rights violations against women and girls…
U.S. & Allies Mark Anniversary of Amini’s Death
The United States and its allies pledged support for Iranians on the second anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman who died in police detention for alleged “improper” hijab, or headscarf, in 2022. “We call on the new Iranian administration to fulfil its pledge to ease…
News Digest: Week of September 16
September 16Military: President Pezeshkian refuted allegations that the missile the Houthis launched at central Israel on September 15 was supplied by Tehran. "It takes a person a week to travel to Yemen (from Iran), how could this missile have gotten there? We don't have such missiles to provide…
United States and E3 Sanction Iran Air
Updated: September 14, 2024
On Sept. 10, 2024, the United States, Britain, France, and Germany announced new sanctions on Iran after accusing it of transferring ballistic missiles to Russia for the first time. The “supply of Iranian missiles enables Russia to use more of its arsenal for targets that are further from the…
New Negotiations? Iran Comments
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has often issued important signals about Iran’s willingness to deal with the world’s major powers, including the United States, on nuclear issues. On Aug. 27, 2024, he told Pezeshkian’s cabinet that there was “no barrier” to engaging with Iran’s “enemy,” a term…
Pezeshkian Cabinet: Profiles
Iran’s parliament approved all 19 cabinet nominees submitted by President Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist who won the snap presidential election in July 2024. His cabinet was more diverse than the previous cabinet of President Ebrahim Raisi, the hardliner who died in a helicopter crash in May 2024.…
U.S. Charges Man linked to Iran for Murder Plot
On Aug. 6, 2024, the Department of Justice announced charges against Asif Merchant — a 46-year-old Pakistani national with ties to Iran — for plotting the assassination of a politician or U.S. officials. Merchant had spent time in Iran before traveling from Pakistan to New York in approximately…
Microsoft: Iran Trying to Influence U.S. Election
Groups linked to Iran’s government have stepped up efforts to interfere in the 2024 U.S. election, according to a Microsoft report released on Aug. 9, 2024. They have spread disinformation and polarizing messages using covert news sites and social media. The goal appeared to be to sow chaos and…
U.S. Intelligence on Iran’s Nuclear Advances
Iran has conducted research that “better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned in a July 2024 report. The assessment also noted an increase in statements by Iranian officials about the possibility of Tehran…
U.S. Charges Two Iranians and One Pakistani for Arms Smuggling
On Aug. 8, 2024, the United States announced charges against two Iranian nationals, brothers Shahab Mir’kazei and Yunus Mir’kazei, and one Pakistani national, Muhammad Pahlawan, for smuggling Iranian weapons. The two brothers allegedly worked for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Pahlawan captained a…
Tehran’s Three Pivotal Militia Allies
Iran has armed, trained and funded militias movements since the 1979 revolution. It fostered allies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and disparate Shiite militias in Iraq, from their early days. It also tapped into existing groups with overlapping goals, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad…
Hezbollah's Losses
Updated: October 1, 2024
Israeli airstrikes killed dozens of senior Hezbollah commanders in Lebanon—as well as more than 400 fighters—during the first year of the Gaza war, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians increasingly spilled across the border. The Israeli campaign against the Lebanese militia was…
Israeli Assassinations of Hamas Leaders
Updated: September 9, 2024
Israel killed at least a dozen senior Hamas military and political officials during the first year of the Gaza war. Its most daring operations killed Haniyeh in Tehran and Mohammed Deif, the chief Hamas military commander, in Gaza, both in July 2024. In January, Mossad chief David Barnea vowed that…
Hezbollah’s Iranian Arms
Fostered by Iran, Hezbollah emerged after Israel’s 1982 invasion and amid the chaos of the Lebanese civil war. The Shiite movement evolved from a shadowy militia to become a political powerbroker and the world’s most heavily armed non-state actor four decades later. Tehran's role has been critical…
Haniyeh Assassination: U.S. & World Reaction
The Biden administration insisted that diplomacy was the only way to prevent escalation in the growing Middle East crisis after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. In an interview from Singapore, Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that the United…
Haniyeh Assassination: Iran & Allies React
Updated: August 9, 2024
Iran and Hamas blamed Israel and pledged revenge for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the exiled political leader of Hamas. The Palestinian leader was visiting Tehran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian when he was killed. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that…
Haniyeh Assassination: The News
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the exiled wing of Hamas and its chief negotiator on issues of war and peace, was assassinated on July 31 during a visit to Tehran for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. He had also met just hours earlier with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali…
News Digest: Week of July 29
July 29International: U.S. officials accused Iran of heading a campaign to undermine former President Donald Trump’s candidacy in the November 2024 election. The election security update from the Office of the Director of Natonal Intelligence warned:Iran is continuing efforts to fuel distrust in U.…
U.S. Sanctions Suppliers of Iran’s Missile & Drone Programs
On July 30, 2024, the United States sanctioned five men and seven companies based in Iran, China and Hong Kong for helping subordinates of Iran’s defense ministry procure critical components for missiles and drones. “Today’s action exposes additional key front companies and trusted agents through…
Houthi Explainer: Military Arsenal
Iran has smuggled increasingly sophisticated weapons to the Houthis in Yemen since at least 2009. By 2015, the Qods Force, the external operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, were sending missile components for local assembly. The weapons – along with training and military advisors – helped…
Houthi Explainer: U.S. Sanctions
The United States has long struggled to deal with Iran’s network of allies and proxies short of military confrontation. Financial sanctions have been an important tool for disrupting illicit activities. Since 2014, the United States has sanctioned at least 13 Houthi officials and dozens of…
Houthi Explainer: Leaders and Goals
What are the Houthis' political views and goals?Since the 2000s, Houthi leaders have issued vague or contradictory statements about Yemen's political future as their religious movement evolved into an insurgency – and, as of 2015, the dominant political and military force in Sanna after ousting the…
Houthi Explainer: Conflict in the Red Sea
What have the Houthis attacked in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since the Gaza war began in October 2023?During the first eight months of the conflict, the Houthis attacked U.S. Navy or commercial vessels more than 190 times, according to the Pentagon. Experts at The Washington Institute for Near…