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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... July 30, 2021 After Six-Month Wait, Biden Administration Imposes First Syria Sanctions The departments of State and Treasury announced on Wednesday the imposition of sanctions on eight Syrian prisons and five officials in charge of them as part of the administration’s efforts to protect... July 29, 2021 U.S. Leads International Efforts to Attribute China’s Microsoft Hack In an unprecedented show of international coordination, the United States, European Union, and NATO last week attributed the recent hack of Microsoft’s Exchange Server and other “malicious cyber activity”... July 28, 2021 Erdogan’s Provocations in Cyprus Escalate Tensions in Eastern Mediterranean During a two-day visit to Northern Cyprus last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan escalated tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean by threatening unilateral action, including an indirect land grab,... July 23, 2021 Iran’s Social Engineering Capabilities Mature Facebook last week dismantled a long-running Iranian cyber operation that collected sensitive information on U.S. military personnel and employees of American defense and aerospace companies. Unlike a previous... July 22, 2021 UN Has Now Spent Over $70 Million at the Four Seasons Damascus Newly released procurement data show that UN agencies spent $14.9 million last year on housing and other services at the Four Seasons Damascus, with total spending of $70.1 million at the hotel since 2014.... July 21, 2021 The Chinese Communist Party’s New Loyalty Push Exposes Xi’s Insecurities The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) last week issued a new set of guidelines regarding its ideological and political work, one that targets not only CCP members but “all of [Chinese] society.” The announcement,... July 21, 2021 Hariri’s Departure Exposes Contradictions of U.S. Policy Toward Lebanon After nine months of negotiations against the backdrop of a financial meltdown, Saad Hariri has failed to form a new government in Lebanon and has stepped down as prime minister-designate. Hariri’s exit... July 18, 2021 The Impact of the Ahwaz protests in Iran Iran’s Ahwazi Arab minority on July 7 launched extensive anti-regime protests centered in the country’s western Khuzestan Province. Extreme water shortages affecting the Ahwaz were the catalyst for... July 15, 2021 What Does the Rise of Baqeri Mean for the Iran Nuclear Deal? Ebrahim Raisi, who will take office on August 8 as president of the Islamic Republic in Iran, met with India’s foreign minister last week, with two top officials in tow: Mohammad Javad Zarif, Tehran’s... July 8, 2021 Iran’s Latest Nuclear Escalation Exposes Biden’s Failed Iran Policy Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Tuesday informed the IAEA Board of Governors that Iran will use indigenously enriched uranium to produce uranium... July 8, 2021 Russian Criminals Cross Biden’s Cyber Red Line Over the weekend, Russian cybercriminals launched a supply chain-based ransomware attack of unprecedented scale that began with the breach of an American information technology (IT) firm. Coming three weeks... July 7, 2021 The WHO’s Fraudulent Procurement of Chinese PPE Holds Important Lessons for U.S. The World Health Organization (WHO) violated its own procurement guidelines by improperly awarding contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a Chinese state holding company, according to an external... July 2, 2021 The Turkish Laundromat — Erdogan Offers Illicit-Finance Loophole for the Seventh Time Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a decree on Wednesday extending the country’s wealth amnesty law, which allows individuals and entities to repatriate previously undisclosed offshore assets... July 2, 2021 Australia, Canada Take Steps on Hezbollah and Hamas Terrorism Designations An Australian parliamentary committee recommended on June 22 that the government list the entirety of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, an expansion beyond Australia’s current listing of only Hezbollah’s... June 25, 2021 Canadian Forensic Report Confirms Iran Bears Full Responsibility for Airliner Downing Canada published on Thursday a long-awaited report confirming that Tehran’s “decisions, actions and omissions, by civil and military officials at the highest levels,” directly led to the downing of... June 25, 2021 U.S. Targets Turkey-Based Money Laundering Schemes With Links to Senior Turkish Officials The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Monday that it will seek to extradite Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, a Turkish businessman Austrian authorities arrested on June 19 for his alleged role in money laundering... June 24, 2021 New Research Shows Extent of China’s Cover-Up of COVID-19’s Origins An American research scientist reported on Tuesday that Chinese researchers deleted genetic sequencing data for COVID-19 samples from a U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) database. The deletions highlight... June 22, 2021 North Korea Likely Behind Hack Targeting South Korean Nuclear Submarine The South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) stated on Sunday that hackers infiltrated Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, seeking to steal documents regarding naval vessels... June 22, 2021 Fixing Shortcomings in the Senate’s Endless Frontier Legislation The Senate passed legislation earlier this month aimed at boosting U.S. technological competitiveness with China; however, last-minute changes resulted in significant funding reductions for several of the... June 17, 2021 New ICC Prosecutor Provides Opportunity for Closing Investigations of U.S. and Israel British lawyer Karim Khan was sworn in on Wednesday to replace Fatou Bensouda as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he will serve a nine-year term. One of Khan’s top challenges... June 16, 2021 Biden Should Not Lift Sanctions Against Iranian Presidential Candidate Ebrahim Raisi Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in congressional testimony last week that if Iran and the United States re-enter the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),... June 11, 2021 Biden Lifts Sanctions on Firms Linked to Key Assad Backer The Treasury Department announced on Thursday it had lifted sanctions on two Dubai-based corporations under the control of Samer Foz, whom it designated in 2019 for “directly supporting the murderous... June 9, 2021 Turkey’s Pro-Kurdish Opposition Party in Ankara’s Crosshairs – Again Turkey’s chief prosecutor submitted an expanded indictment on Monday in Ankara’s second attempt within three months to ban Turkey’s third-largest party, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party... June 9, 2021 UNHRC Creates Flawed Commission of Inquiry to Investigate Israel The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a resolution on May 27 creating a Commission of Inquiry (COI) to investigate alleged violations of international law during the recent fighting in Gaza, as well... May 28, 2021 Erdogan Saves Putin’s Belarusian Ally by Playing Spoiler Role Within NATO Turkey reportedly used its veto power within NATO on Wednesday to water down an official condemnation of Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko for forcing down a passenger plane to arrest Roman Protasevich,... May 27, 2021 Israel Eliminates Key Members of Hamas and PIJ Commands As part of its military operations against terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip during the recent war, Israel targeted key leaders and commanders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The elimination... May 27, 2021 U.S.-ROK Alliance Creates a New Cyber Working Group at Summit President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed at their first summit on May 21 to deepen cyber cooperation by creating a new bilateral cyber working group to confront ransomware and other...

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