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Human Rights Watch on Iran: Repression in 2022

Iran’s security forces and judiciary carried out extensive violations of human rights in 2022, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report. Authorities harassed journalists and civil society activists and discriminated against women and minorities. The judiciary conducted unfair trials and…

Comments: Biden & U.S. Officials on Iran in 2023

Updated: August 10, 2023
In 2023, the Biden administration condemned Iran for advancing its nuclear program, supporting Russia in the war against Ukraine, cracking down on protesters, and backing militant proxies across the Middle East. Officials lauded the Iranian people, who faced suppression and intimidation from the…

News Digest: Week of January 16

January 16 International: Thousands of protestors marched to the E.U. parliament in Strasbourg in support of Iranian protesters. On the same day, the words “Stop Executions in Iran” were displayed in a light show on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  International: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol…

Iran Executes Former Cabinet Official

Updated: May 1, 2023
On January 14, 2023, Iran executed Alireza Akbari, a former deputy defense minister (2000-2004), after he was convicted of spying for Britain and “corruption on earth.” Akbari, who served in the reformist government of President Mohammad Khatami, also had British citizenship after a decade living…

Christine Abizaid on Iran

In confirmation hearings in June 2021, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Christine Abizaid warned that the United States faced an “intensifying confrontation with Iran,” which the United States viewed as the foremost state sponsor of terrorism. Iran employed terrorism as a key…

Timeline: U.S. Sanctions & Iran's Drones to Russia

Updated: April 19, 2023
The United States and its allies have faced a problem in countering Iran’s drones since the 2010s, when Tehran increasingly deployed unmanned aircraft to harass adversaries across the Middle East. But Iran’s UAV arsenal became even more of a flashpoint after it exported drones to Russia in August…

A Hostage’s Plaintive Letter to President Biden

Updated: January 22, 2023
On January 16, Siamak Namazi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, appealed to President Joe Biden to do more to free him and other Americans held in Iran. “In the past I implored you to reach for your moral compass and find the resolve to bring the US hostages in Iran home. To no avail,” he wrote in an…

News Digest: Week of January 9

January 7  Human Rights: Iran executed two more men arrested in connection with anti-government protests. The two men, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini, were convicted for allegedly killing a paramilitary volunteer during a protest. In total, Iran has executed four men since…

Explainer: Timing of Key Sunsets in Nuclear Deal

Updated: October 18, 2023
International restrictions on Iranian weapons—which include “sunset clauses” with expiration dates—were imposed by the 2015 nuclear agreement and U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the deal. The clauses cover Iran’s nuclear program, missile production, arms trade, and…

Explainer: Can the Iran Deal Be Resuscitated?

Kelsey Davenport is the Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association.   Is restoring the nuclear deal with Iran—brokered in 2015 and abandoned by the United States in 2018—still possible after almost two years of stalled diplomacy? From a technical perspective, restoring…

U.S. Sanctions Iranians for Drone Supply to Russia

On January 6, the United States sanctioned six executives of an Iranian firm that produced drones exported to Russia for use against Ukraine. It also sanctioned the director of an organization that managed Iran’s ballistic missile program. “Iran must cease its support for Russia’s unprovoked war of…

News Digest: Week of January 2

Updated: January 6, 2022
January 2 Nuclear Negotiations: Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri told reporters that the nuclear negotiations were not at a stalemate and were continuing. Bagheri headed Iran’s delegation in indirect talks with the United States, which were last held in August 2022. …

Iran Commemorates Soleimani Assassination

In early January, Iran marked the third anniversary of the U.S. assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Qods Force, with official speeches, commemorative rallies, major media coverage, and inflammatory threats. Soleimani, who was considered a military hero for…

Iran in 2023: Pivotal Year Ahead

In early 2023, Iran faced the greatest array of challenges since the early days of the revolution. At home, the unpopular government was dealing with enduring protests, soaring inflation, and energy shortages. Abroad, Iran was increasingly isolated over its human rights record, controversial…

U.S. Sanctions for Serious Human Rights Abuses

On December 21, the United States sanctioned Iran’s prosecutor general, four military officials and one company for the crackdown on nationwide protests that erupted in September 2022. Iranian authorities “have killed hundreds of peaceful protestors, including dozens of children, and arbitrarily…

Iran in 2022: Protests, Politics & Russian Alliance

Hadi Semati is a former professor in the faculty of Law and Political Science at Tehran University and a former scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is now an independent analyst.   What were the key political events or developments in Iran in…

Iran in 2022: Cusp of Nuclear Threshold

Kelsey Davenport is the Director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association.   What actions did Iran take in 2022 to advance its nuclear program? How did Iran’s nuclear capabilities change in 2022? Iran significantly expanded its uranium enrichment program in 2022. One of the…

Iran in 2022: Volatile Economy

Henry Rome is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, focusing on the Iranian economy, sanctions and nuclear diplomacy. Follow him @hrome2.   What was the state of Iran’s economy at the end of 2022? What were the prime challenges? Iran’s economy was stuck in a period of…

News Digest: Week of December 19

December 19 Security: Three members of the Basij paramilitary and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps member were killed in Saravan, Sistan and Baluchistan province. State media reported that they were killed in a clash with a “terrorist group.” For years, Baluch separatists have operated in the…

Iran in 2022: U.S. Sanctions

In 2022, the United States imposed sanctions on Iran for issues ranging from missile production to oil smuggling and from violence against protesters to drone exports to Russia. It sanctioned dozens of government officials, including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the…

Iran in 2022: Quotes by Biden & Top U.S. Officials

In 2022, the Biden administration condemned Iran for advancing its nuclear program, cracking down on protesters, exporting drones to Russia, and supporting militant proxies across the Middle East. It worked with European and Middle East countries to confront the multipronged threat posed by…

New E.U. and British Sanctions on Iran

In mid-December, the European Union and Britain separately imposed punitive sanctions on dozens of Iranian security and government officials as well as state media employees for the brutal crackdown on nationwide protests ignited on September 16. The group of 28 nations, including some of the world…

U.S. Bests Iran in Wrestling World Cup

On December 11, the U.S. wrestling team won the 2022 World Cup 6-4 in a hard-fought series of individual matches with Iranian wrestlers in Coralville, Iowa. The win came two weeks after Team USA beat Iran 1-0 in soccer at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The two wins marked a reversal of sports…

U.S. Sanctions for Human Rights Abuses

On December 9, the United States sanctioned 17 Iranian law enforcement, prison, and government officials for the ongoing crackdown. “We reiterate our condemnation of Iran’s brutal acts of violence against peaceful protestors, ongoing denial of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and pervasive…

U.N. Bounces Iran from Women’s Rights Body

On December 14, the U.N. Economic and Social Council removed Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women. The United States had submitted the motion in response to Iran’s repression of women and girls, including protesters in 2022. No country had ever been ousted from the panel before. The vote…

Whither the Reformists?

Hadi Semati is a former professor in the faculty of Law and Political Science at Tehran University and a former scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is now an independent analyst.   What is the state of Iran’s reformist faction—which had…

U.S. Sanctions Oil Smuggling Network

On December 8, the United States sanctioned five Turkish businessmen, an international network of 26 companies, and a tanker that smuggled oil for Iran’s Qods Force, the external operations arm of the Revolutionary Guards, and Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and militia backed by Tehran. The…

Harsh Sentences for Iranian Protesters

Updated: July 26, 2023
During the first four months of protests, the government steadily escalated the pace of arrests and trials as well as the severity of sentences. More than 2,400 people had been convicted of crimes by late November and at least 1,100 others had been indicted, the judiciary said. Security forces…

News Digest: Week of December 12

Updated: December 14, 2022
December 12 International: Iran’s foreign ministry announced sanctions on 13 British individuals and entities as well as 10 E.U. individuals and five entities for allegedly interfering in Iran's domestic affairs. The designated individuals included spy chiefs, defense officials and politicians.…

US: Iran Now Russia's Top Arms Source

Iran has become Russia’s “top military backer,” John Kirby of the National Security Council revealed on December 9. Iran’s decision to aid Russia in the war on Ukraine reflected the deepening strategic alliance with Moscow. Iran has provided Russia with hundreds of drones, including the Shahed-136…