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Gallup: U.S. Views on Iran Nuclear Threat
More than three-quarters of Americans named Iran’s potential development of nuclear weapons as a critical threat to U.S. interests, according to Gallup poll. Iran’s nuclear program came in second—with 77 percent—in a list of 13 flashpoints. The only more critical danger to Americans was…
News Digest: Week of March 4
March 4Domestic: Iran’s interior ministry announced the results of the March 1 election. Hardliners consolidated their grip on power in both Parliament and the Assembly of Experts. The 290 seats of Parliament are elected every four years. Elected every eight years, the 88-member assembly has been…
U.S. Sanctions Target Houthi Finances
On March 6, the United States targeted a revenue stream of the Houthis, the Yemeni rebel group that has been attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 2023. The Treasury and State Departments sanctioned two ship owners based in Hong Kong and the Marshall Islands…
Photos: 2024 Elections
On March 1, 2024, Iranians elected 290 members for parliament and 88 senior Islamic jurists for the Assembly of Experts. Iranians posted photos and videos of empty polling stations in Tehran and other major cities. The government kept polls open for an extra six hours to encourage people to vote,…
Report: Executions Surge in Iran
Iran executed at least 834 people in 2023, a 43 percent increase compared to 2022, according to the annual report by Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) and Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM). Some 56 percent of the executions were drug-related. Marginalized ethnic minorities, such as the Baluch of…
Election Results: Hardliners Gain, Turnout Low
Iranian hardliners consolidated their grip on power in the March 1 election for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts. The 290 seats of Parliament are elected every four years. Elected every eight years, the 88-member assembly has been charged with selecting and overseeing the supreme leader. Many…
U.S. Charges Iranian for Hacking Defense Firms
On Feb. 29, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice charged Alireza Shafie Nasab, age 39, with involvement in a multi-year hacking campaign. He and his co-conspirators targeted the Treasury and State Departments as well as more than a dozen American companies, including defense contractors. They tried…
News Digest: Week of February 26
February 26International: Iranian security forces shot at and injured 20 Kurds crossing the border area of Nowsud in western Kermanshah province. Border guards have repeatedly targeted kolbars, porters who transport untaxed goods across Iran’s borders with Iraq and Turkey. “The injuries sustained…
U.S. & Britain Sanction Iranian & Houthi Leaders
On Feb. 27, 2024, the United States and Britain sanctioned the deputy commander of the Qods Force, the external operations branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and a member of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. The U.S. Treasury also designated the owner and operator of a ship that transported…
U.S. Sanctions Iranian Shipping to China
On Feb. 27, 2024, the United States sanctioned two companies that shipped more than $100 million in Iranian goods to businesses in China on behalf of Iran’s Ministry of Defense. The Panama-flagged Kohana was on its way to China when the Treasury Department made the announcement. The vessel was…
Explainer: Disillusioned Iranians Head to the Polls
On March 1, Iranians will vote in elections for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts, a body charged with selecting and overseeing the supreme leader. Iranian leaders consider voting a national duty because it represents a commitment to the 1979 revolution and its values. “Everyone should…
U.S. Sanctions Target Iran-Russia Military Ties
On Feb. 23, 2023, the United States sanctioned Iranian and Russian companies involved in transferring munitions as well as parts, components and materials for suicide drones. Moscow has increased its capacity to manufacture Iranian-designed suicide drones. For the first time, Washington designated…
News Digest: Week of February 19
February 19International: Mehr News Agency signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with TV BRICS at the 24th Iran Media Expo. The MoU set up further cooperation on content production and distribution across media outlets from BRICS member states, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South…
U.S. Sanctions Technology Smuggling Network
On Feb. 14, 2024, the United States sanctioned a network that smuggled U.S. goods and technology from American companies to the Central Bank of Iran and other users in the Islamic Republic. The Central Bank of Iran had previously been sanctioned for providing financial support to the Qods Force,…
News Digest: Week of February 12
February 12Diplomacy: Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian spoke with Qatari officials in Doha about the war in Gaza and regional tensions.Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha. pic.twitter.com/uj0oK3qa8O— Press TV (@…
Iran’s 45th Anniversary Celebrates Soleimani
Some of the most striking images from the celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Islamic revolution were pervasive posters of Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Qods Force unit who was killed in a U.S. drone strike on Jan. 3, 2020. Iranians young and old carried photos of the slain…
Iran’s Revolution Marks 45th Anniversary
On Feb. 11, 2024, President Ebrahim Raisi addressed the nation to mark the 45th anniversary of the Iranian revolution. He heralded the Islamic Republic’s break from both East and West since the 1979 ouster of the U.S.-backed monarchy. “The time has passed when the heads of great powers come to…
U.S. Kills Kataib Hezbollah Commander
On Feb. 7, 2024, a U.S. airstrike killed Abu Baqir al Saadi, a senior commander in Kataib Hezbollah who reportedly ran its drone operations in Syria. He had been linked to the deaths of three American soldiers based at Tower 22, a military outpost in Jordan along the borders with Syria and Iraq.…
News Digest: Week of February 5
February 5Nuclear: Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammed Eslami, announced the start of the construction of a new domestically designed 10-megawatt research reactor in central Isfahan. It would produce materials for cancer diagnostics and treatment. Eslami had also announced the construction of a nuclear…
MAPS: Militia Attacks on U.S. & U.S. Counterstrikes
Iranian-backed militias escalated attacks on U.S. military targets in Iraq and Syria after the war erupted between Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The militias are part of a network in the so-called Axis of Resistance. The Pentagon has specifically cited Kataib Hezbollah, the largest militia with…
Comments: Congress on Strikes in Syria and Iraq
On Feb. 2, 2024, U.S. warplanes struck more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria in response to the Jan. 28 drone strike that killed three American soldiers in northern Jordan. The facilities were used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and affiliated militias responsible for more than 160 attacks on U.S…
Comments: Iran & Allies on Strikes in Syria & Iraq
Iran and its allies condemned the United States for launching airstrikes on seven facilities – four in Syria and three in Iraq – used by the Revolutionary Guards and affiliated militias. The February 2 attacks were retaliation for the January 28 drone strike that killed three American soldiers at a…
Comments: U.S. on Strikes in Syria and Iraq
On Feb. 2, 2024, the United States launched airstrikes on more than 85 targets in seven facilities – four in Syria and three in Iraq. The Pentagon reported that the sites included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and drone and munition storage…
Profiles: Iran’s Militia Allies in Iraq
Since 2003, Iranian influence has deepened in Iraq through an array of Shiite militias trained, armed, aided, and supported financially by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). All shared Tehran’s strategic goal of expelling U.S. forces from the Middle East, although they have also had…
Roster of Iran’s Drones
Updated: April 12, 2024
By 2024, Iran’s military-industrial complex had produced thousands of advanced drones used for surveillance, reconnaissance, and combat used against U.S. forces as well as American allies in the Middle East. The drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) have become one of the greatest assets of the Iranian…
U.S. Sanctions Network Supplying Iran’s Missile & Drone Programs
On Feb. 2, 2024, the United States sanctioned a network that supplied materials and technology for Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs. The new sanctions followed the attack on Jan. 28, 2024 on a U.S. outpost in northeast Jordan along the border abutting Syria and Iraq. Three American…
U.S. Sanctions Iranian Officials for Cyberattacks
On Feb. 2, 2024, the United States sanctioned six Iranian officials for cyber-attacks in the United States and other countries. The new sanctions followed the attack on Jan. 28, 2024, on a U.S. outpost in northeast Jordan along the border abutting Syria and Iraq. Three American soldiers were killed…
Timeline of Proxy Attacks: Iraq, Syria and Jordan
Updated: April 1, 2024
U.S. forces deployed across the Middle East were attacked more than 160 times by pro-Iranian militias during the first four months of the Gaza war—from October 2023 to February 2024—between Israel and Hamas. They faced barrages of drone, rocket, and missile strikes on their positions in Iraq, Syria…
Timeline: Houthi Attacks and U.S. Responses
Updated: April 11, 2024
Tensions soared between the Houthi militia in Yemen and the United States after Houthis seized the crew of a commercial shipping vessel on Nov. 19, 2023. Houthis launched attacks–using drones, missiles, and small boats–on commercial shipping and naval warships in the Red Sea, one of the world’s…
U.S. Allies on Attack in Jordan
Western and Arab allies were quick to support the United States after a drone attack that killed three American soldiers and injured more than 40 U.S. forces at a military outpost in Jordan on Jan. 28, 2024. They were also critical of Iran’s network of proxies and allies that have attacked U.S.…