On January 5, Secretary of State John Kerry released an exit memo with an overview of the Obama Administration’s foreign policy over the last eight years. The following is an excerpt on Iran from the memo with other remarks from January 2017.
Verifiably Preventing Iran from Obtaining a Nuclear…
U.S. Policy
On December 15, the White House announced that a bill extending the Iran Sanctions Act for 10 years would become law without President Obama’s signature. The administration had previously said that Obama would likely sign it. The White House said that the extension, “while unnecessary, is entirely…
On April 24, 2024, the United States sanctioned two companies and four men for launching operations against more than a dozen U.S. companies and government entities on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The “coordinated, multi-pronged campaign intended to destabilize our critical infrastructure…
On November 15, FBI director Christopher Wray warned that the United States faced growing dangers at home from the war between Hamas and Israel thousands of miles away. Wray specifically cited Iran, “the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism,” for operations directly and indirectly through…
On November 14, the United States and Britain sanctioned the leadership of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as well as mechanisms used by Iran to support the militant groups. “Together with our partners we are decisively moving to degrade Hamas’s financial infrastructure, cut them off from…
On Nov. 2, 2023, Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed to the Middle East for consultations with regional leaders on the war between Israel and Hamas. He worked to prevent the conflict from spreading, secure the release of hostages, and increase the volume of aid entering Gaza. The following are…
On October 18, the United States sanctioned 11 people, eight entities and one vessel linked to Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs. They were based in Iran, Hong Kong, China and Venezuela and had materially supported the Revolutionary Guards, the defense ministry, or…
On May 15, the State Department released its annual report on religious freedom. Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the Iranian government for the crackdown on protesters. “People across Iran, led by young women, continue peaceful protests demanding their human rights, including freedom of…
On April 18, the G7 countries and the European Union criticized Iran’s “unabated escalation” of its nuclear program and proliferation of weapons to militant proxies, Russia and others. The world’s most advanced economies also called on the Iranian government to end its crackdown on protesters,…
By July 2023, members of Congress had introduced more than a dozen bills and resolutions related to Iran. They spanned a wide range of issues, including the government’s human rights violations and nuclear advances. Some of the legislation recommended the enforcement or expansion of U.S. economic…