U.S. Policy
On September 24, President Donald Trump announced new travel restrictions on certain foreigners from Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. The move replaced key parts of a controversial travel ban signed earlier in 2017.
Trump has argued that that security…
On September 5, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley criticized the nuclear deal and argued that U.N. inspectors cannot know if Iran is cheating. Iranian leaders have vowed to not allow inspections of military sites. The regime has "hundreds of undeclared sites that have suspicious…
On August 15, the U.S. State Department issued an updated travel warning for Iran to “highlight the risk of arrest and detention for U.S. citizens, particularly dual national Iranian-Americans.” The update comes after the Iranian Foreign Ministry announced it would take “reciprocal action” in…
On August 2, President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill imposing sanctions on Iran and Russia. It also increased the President’s ability to sanction individuals connected to North Korea. Congress had voted overwhelmingly to pass the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which…
Since Donald Trump took office in January 2017, the United States has imposed sanctions on dozens of individuals and entities for connections to Iran’s ballistic missile program, support for terror or human rights abuses. The first set of sanctions came just two weeks after President Trump’s…
On July 20, Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo said that Iran’s implementation of the nuclear deal has been “grudging” and “minimalist.” At the Aspen Security Forum (an annual gathering of government officials, industry experts and journalists), he argued that the nuclear deal…
Iran has carried out acts of cyberterrorism against foreign governments and the private sector, according to a new State Department report. Tehran maintains funding for terrorist groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza as of 2016, and has provided weapons and training to militant groups opposed to the…
On July 17, President Donald Trump agreed to recertify Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal. It was the second time he has done so since taking office. Trump reluctantly agreed only after arguing with his top national security advisors less than a week before the legal deadline,…
On June 14, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson implied that the United States supports regime change in Iran, which would be a significant departure from U.S. policy under previous administrations. Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) asked Tillerson, who was testifying on the budget request for the State…
Iran “remains a significant challenge to the United States within the Middle East and Southwest Asia,” according to the Defense Intelligence Agency’s annual “Worldwide Threat Assessment.” On May 23, DIA Director and Lt. Gen Vincent Stewart briefed the Senate Armed Services Committee on the report’s…