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January 10, 2022 Iran’s Inflation Rate in 2022 Will Depend on Fate of Nuclear Negotiations Iran’s annual inflation rate in 2021 was 43.4 percent, according to the Statistical Center of Iran, but President Ebrahim Raisi is determined to reduce inflation in 2022, since high inflation harms the... January 5, 2022 China’s Sharp Economic Slowdown Threatens to Constrain Xi in 2022 With 10 months until China’s 20th Party Congress, at which Xi Jinping will likely assume a once-unthinkable third term as general secretary, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is grappling with an economic... January 4, 2022 Erdogan’s Wealth Amnesty Offers Illicit-Finance Loophole for the Eighth Time Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on December 31 extending the country’s wealth amnesty law. This decree, the eighth episode of wealth amnesties that Erdogan has declared since 2008,... December 20, 2021 EPA Misses Mark With Proposed Cybersecurity Standard Water sector groups raised concerns earlier this month with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding the agency’s pursuit of a new cybersecurity requirement without prior consultation and collaboration... December 17, 2021 Raisi’s Contractionary Budget Implies No Definitive Resolution of the Nuclear Crisis in the Coming Months Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi sent his first annual budget bill to the Islamic Consultative Council, or Majles, on Sunday, providing important insight into his priorities for the next Persian year, April... December 17, 2021 Paraguayan Raids Further Expose U.S. Intermediaries’ Role in TBA Money Laundering Schemes Paraguayan authorities last week raided the offices of a dozen U.S.-linked companies and their accountants tied to suspected Paraguayan drug kingpin Reinaldo Javier Cabaña Santacruz, alias Cucho. Asunción’s... December 16, 2021 Biden Administration Targets Corruption in Ukraine’s Judiciary During last week’s Summit for Democracy, the Biden administration imposed sanctions against Oleksandr Tupytskyi, chairman of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU), and Andriy Portnov, a top aide to... December 15, 2021 Macron Looks to Revive Saudi Financing for French Military Contracts in Lebanon After meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in Jeddah on December 4, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the Saudis would re-engage in Lebanese affairs “to help the people of Lebanon... December 13, 2021 Biden Administration Limits Itself to Symbolic Sanctions on Syria The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on five Syrian military officers last week, including commanders with direct responsibility for the use of chemical weapons against civilians. While these five... December 9, 2021 Biden Administration Creates Potential Sanctions Loophole for Assad The Biden administration in late November lifted a longstanding rule that forbade non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from doing business with the regime of Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad, justifying the... December 6, 2021 Washington Seeks to Counter China’s Quantum Computing Drive The U.S. Department of Commerce last month sanctioned eight Chinese companies for supporting the efforts of the People’s Republic of China to develop quantum computing technology for military applications.... December 3, 2021 Turkey’s Council of Europe Voting Rights and Membership at Risk The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe announced today its decision to begin infringement procedures against Turkey for Ankara’s refusal to release Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala despite... December 3, 2021 U.S. and Europe Must Counter Potential Weapons-Grade Enrichment by Iran Israel has shared intelligence with the United States and other allies indicating the Islamic Republic of Iran plans to enrich uranium to 90 percent purity, the level necessary for nuclear weapons. This... December 1, 2021 China Seeks to Exploit Interpol Leadership Role to Hunt Dissidents Interpol’s General Assembly voted last week to elect a senior Chinese public security official, Hu Binchen, to serve on the international police organization’s 13-member Executive Committee. The election... November 17, 2021 Washington and Jerusalem Enhance Cooperation to Counter Ransomware The United States and Israel are forming a new cyber partnership to combat ransomware threats, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo announced on Sunday during a trip to the Jewish state. The initiative... November 12, 2021 Sudanese Military Looks to Play Russia Against the U.S. Speaking to Sputnik News last week in his first interview since his October 25 military putsch, Sudan’s top general, Abdul-Fattah al-Burhan, offered a qualified commitment to a previously suspended agreement... November 9, 2021 Turkish Airlines in EU Crosshairs for Facilitating Lukashenko’s “Hybrid Warfare” With Belarus Flights The European Union reportedly has Turkish Airlines, Turkey’s national flag carrier, in its crosshairs due to the airline’s alleged role in trafficking migrants to Belarus. If Brussels goes forward with... November 5, 2021 Turkish Streamers Colluded With Iran-Based Money Launderers: Amazon Subsidiary Twitch Should Take Action Twenty-four hundred Turkish streamers have reportedly helped launder nearly $10 million for Iran-based credit card theft schemes through the Amazon subsidiary Twitch, a live streaming service that leads... November 5, 2021 China Consolidates Rare Earth Supply Chain Peng Huagang, secretary general of China’ State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, confirmed last month that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will “promote the restructuring of... October 29, 2021 Russian Hackers Continue Targeting the Software Supply Chain The Russian state-sponsored hacker group responsible for last year’s massive SolarWinds breach has continued targeting managed service providers (MSPs) in an effort to piggyback into other victim networks,... October 18, 2021 U.S. Trade Representative Outlines Roadmap for China Trade Policy, But Provides Few Details U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai announced during a speech last week an initial roadmap for managing trade disputes with China. However, Tai’s address, which followed a lengthy internal... October 18, 2021 Turkey Threatens New Military Offensive in Northern Syria Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on October 11 that he has “no patience left” for attacks by Syrian Kurdish fighters targeting Turkey’s border towns and Turkish forces in northern Syria,... October 14, 2021 Western Governmental Funds Divest From West Bank While Investing in China In September, Norway’s Government Pension Fund became the third major Western governmental investment fund since March to divest from companies doing business in West Bank settlements. Participating in... October 14, 2021 Blinken Affirms Softening of U.S. Policy Toward Assad Regime Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday became the first Cabinet-level official to confirm that the United States will no longer stand in the way of Arab states pursuing the diplomatic rehabilitation... October 8, 2021 Florida Businessman Indicted in Nader Mohamad Farhat’s Money Laundering Case Florida’s Southern District Court in Miami indicted Florida businessman Elias Daher last week on money laundering charges, making him a co-defendant in the Mohamad Nader Farhat money laundering case.... October 7, 2021 Tehran Demands Access to $10 Billion of Frozen Iranian Assets as Reward for Negotiating Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Saturday that Washington should unfreeze $10 billion of Iranian assets as a goodwill gesture before Tehran resumes negotiations over compliance with... October 5, 2021 Lawsuit Alleges Ransomware Led to Baby’s Death in Hospital A ransomware attack in 2019 severely hindered an Alabama hospital’s ability to treat and ultimately save a baby born with a severe brain injury, according to a lawsuit first disclosed publicly by The... October 5, 2021 A Unified and Capable “Quad” Is Bad News for the CCP The Australian, Indian, Japanese, and American heads of state met at the White House last month for the first-ever in-person “Quad” Leaders’ Summit. Pictures of the four leaders standing shoulder-to-shoulder... October 5, 2021 White House Quiet as U.S. Allies Rehabilitate Assad. Congress Should Not Be. King Abdullah of Jordan spoke by phone on Sunday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the first public contact between the two leaders since the conflict in Syria began in 2011. Their call marks the culmination... September 29, 2021 Congress Joins European Allies in Targeting Erdogan’s Far-Right Partners The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on September 23 that includes an amendment requiring the secretary of state to submit a report assessing whether Turkey’s Grey Wolves — a far-right militant... September 28, 2021 Kuwait Needs U.S. Support to Combat Iranian Terror Finance The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Kuwaiti nationals earlier this month for their role in transferring millions of dollars from Kuwait to Lebanese Hezbollah. The two sanctioned individuals... September 24, 2021 Senate Republicans Offer Biden a Deal on the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Key Senate Republicans offered the Biden administration a deal last week: If President Biden sanctions Nord Stream 2 AG (NS2 AG), the Russian-owned company responsible for the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) gas pipeline,... September 24, 2021 U.S. Law Will Likely Prevent the PLO From Reopening Its Office in Washington Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh’s call for the Biden administration to reopen the PLO Delegation office in Washington, DC, was echoed again this week by Congressman Andy Levin... September 23, 2021 Treasury Takes Aim at Ransomware and Illicit Cryptocurrency Trading The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday issued the first-ever sanctions against a virtual currency exchange platform, SUEX, for knowingly facilitating ransomware payments and other illicit financial transactions.... September 22, 2021 Iran Joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) unanimously agreed on Friday to elevate Iran to full membership. The Islamic Republic of Iran’s entry into the SCO strengthens Tehran’s relationships... September 17, 2021 Treasury Sanctions Jihadist Financiers in Turkey for the Seventh Time Since 2019 The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated five Turkey-based individuals on Thursday for providing a range of financial and travel facilitation services to al-Qaeda. The new designations — the seventh... September 13, 2021 Iran’s Inflation Rate Reaches a New High The inflation rate in Iran reached 45.2 percent in August 2021, the highest rate in 26 years. At a time when Tehran continues to expand its nuclear program, the inflation rate shows that even though Washington’s... September 13, 2021 Corrupt Venezuelan Officials Face Impending Extradition to United States The constitutional court of the African island nation of Cape Verde last week authorized the extradition of Colombian businessman Alex Saab to the United States, while Spanish police arrested former Venezuelan... September 10, 2021 Businessman’s Extradition to U.S. Could Expose Turkish-Venezuelan Collusion to Evade Sanctions Cape Verde’s constitutional court issued a ruling on September 7 paving the way for the extradition of Alex Saab, a U.S.-designated Colombian-born businessman whom U.S. prosecutors indicted in 2019 for... September 3, 2021 U.S. Should Intensify Efforts to Extradite Turkish Money Laundering Suspect An Austrian court on August 25 tentatively granted Ankara’s request to extradite Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, a Turkish businessman Austrian authorities arrested on June 19 at the request of the U.S. Department... September 3, 2021 Congressional Panel Advances Public-Private Cyber Collaboration The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) debated the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on Wednesday, advancing the bill with a key cyber provision intact. The proposed creation of a Cyber... September 1, 2021 Biden, Congress Should Not Give the Taliban and al-Qaeda a Seaport Iranian officials announced last week that Tehran would continue to allow road and rail commercial shipping between Afghanistan and Iran’s Chabahar Port following Kabul’s fall to the Taliban. This development... August 31, 2021 Financial Watchdog Cracks Down on Turkish Public Lender’s German Subsidiary Germany’s financial regulatory authority on August 26 announced a series of punitive measures against an unnamed financial institution that journalists have identified as Ziraat Bank International AG,... August 31, 2021 Intelligence Community Report on COVID-19 Origins Highlights Biden’s Failed Policy The U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) on Friday released an unclassified version of its findings regarding the origins of COVID-19, noting its inability to reach definitive conclusions without Chinese cooperation.... August 25, 2021 Coordinated Law Enforcement and Treasury Action Against Money Launderers in the Tri-Border Area The U.S. and Paraguayan governments took coordinated action yesterday against the money laundering network of Kassem Mohamad Hijazi, a Brazilian citizen of Lebanese descent implicated in government corruption... August 23, 2021 With the U.S. Withdrawing From Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran May Reconsider Its Nuclear Options The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan bears important implications for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s perception of America as a threat. Encouraged by Washington’s loss of credibility and resolve to... August 10, 2021 The EU’s Flawed Framework for Sanctions on Lebanon The Council of the European Union announced on July 30 that it has adopted a framework that “provides for the possibility of imposing sanctions against persons and entities who are responsible for undermining... August 4, 2021 Biden Administration Should Stand With Israel Against Russia in Syria In an unusual move, Rear Admiral Vadim Kulit, deputy head of Russia’s Reconciliation Center for Syria, last month claimed that Syrian regime forces used Russian-made air defense systems to counter several... August 4, 2021 Treasury Designates Turkey-Backed Syrian Jihadists Implicated in War Crimes The U.S. Treasury Department designated Syrian militant group Ahrar al-Sharqiya last week, targeting a Turkish proxy for the first time since the war in Syria began. This designation reflects a new readiness... August 2, 2021 Universities Maintain Ties to Malign Chinese Entities Following Confucius Institute Closures The University of Central Arkansas (UCA) announced the closure of its Confucius Institute (CI) in early July, ending the university’s 14-year involvement in a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) program aimed...

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