Georgia is becoming Iran’s sanctions evasion hub

Excerpt

Tbilisi’s TV Tower lit up in the colors of the Islamic Republic on Feb. 11 to mark the anniversary of the 1979 revolution that brought Iran’s theocratic rulers to power. The streets in Tbilisi tell a different story: Ordinary Georgians have rallied behind the Iranian people in their struggle against the clerical regime.

These Georgians fear their own increasingly authoritarian ruling party, Georgian Dream, is becoming more like Tehran’s dictatorship. But that has not stopped Georgian Dream from pursuing closer ties with Iran, handing Tehran an avenue to circumvent U.S. sanctions.

A new report by the Georgian NGO Civic IDEA provides a clear snapshot of this burgeoning relationship. It finds that 72 companies registered in Georgia imported Iranian oil and petroleum products from 2022 to 2025. These importers include companies linked to Georgian Dream donors, state tenders, and public officials, including a former Georgian Dream member of Parliament.

Keti Korkiya is a research analyst in the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.