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February 24, 2021 IAEA Weakens Iran Nuclear Safeguards Before departing Iran on Sunday, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi issued a joint statement with his hosts, announcing they had reached an agreement on Tehran’s... February 19, 2021 DOJ Charges Reveal North Korean Cybercrime and Money Laundering Schemes The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday indicted three North Korean cyber operatives and a Canadian-American money launderer for numerous cyberattacks against banks, virtual currency exchanges,... February 16, 2021 Iran’s Latest Wave of Electricity Outages Iran has experienced extensive electricity outages across the country in recent weeks, with air pollution levels soaring as Iranians employ polluting fuels to generate power. The country’s electricity... February 12, 2021 Burmese Military Blocks Social Media Access With the Assistance of Telecommunications Providers Following the coup in Burma, the military junta has tried to quash public protests by cutting internet access and banning social media sites. The military has cloaked its actions in a veneer of legality,... February 12, 2021 FDA Takes Important Step to Securing Medical Devices The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this month named its first-ever acting director of medical device cybersecurity, Kevin Fu. This is an encouraging, if belated, step towards strengthening the... February 11, 2021 Biden Should Heed Senate’s Call for Tougher Action Against Erdogan Fifty-four U.S. senators signed a bipartisan letter Tuesday urging President Joe Biden to press the Turkish government to improve its troubling human rights record. The letter calls on the Biden administration... February 11, 2021 Washington Cannot Rely on Iran’s Alleged Anti-Nuclear Fatwa The Islamic Republic of Iran’s intelligence minister, Mahmoud Alavi, stated this week that although Iran’s supreme leader forbade the building of nuclear weapons according to an Islamic edict known... February 2, 2021 Treasury Report Highlights Turkey as Islamic State’s Logistical Hub The U.S. Department of the Treasury reported last month that the Islamic State often relied on “logistical hubs in Turkey” to transfer funds internationally, especially between Iraq and Syria. Treasury... January 29, 2021 Nord Stream 2 Sanctions Present an Early Test for the Biden Administration Just before leaving office, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on two Russian targets for their involvement in building the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) natural gas pipeline, which will bring Russian exports... January 29, 2021 With Trump Gone and COVID-19 Vaccines Arriving, Iran-China Trade Will Flourish in 2021 New data from Beijing show that China’s imports last year from the Islamic Republic fell to their lowest level since 2005; meanwhile, China’s exports to Iran reached their lowest level since 2009. However,... January 25, 2021 Iran Commemorates the Death of Qassem Soleimani Pro-Iranian outlets, including affiliates of Iran’s Al-Mustafa International University, earlier this month commemorated the first anniversary of the death of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, whom... January 21, 2021 Pentagon Decision on Israel Recognizes Reality and Presents Opportunity The Department of Defense announced Friday that it has moved Israel from the U.S. European Command (EUCOM) area of responsibility (AOR) to that of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which includes the Middle... January 19, 2021 Treasury Sanctions Egyptian Terrorists Harbored by Turkey The U.S. Department of the Treasury last Thursday designated two Egyptian terrorists based in Turkey for “being leaders of HASM,” the acronym for Harakat Sawa’d Misr (Arms of Egypt Movement), which... December 21, 2020 Canadian Report Underscores Iran’s Culpability in Downing of Ukrainian Airliner Last week, Ralph Goodale, special advisor to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, released a comprehensive report detailing the significant flaws in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s investigation into... December 21, 2020 Oil Prices Reach Highest Level Since Beginning of Pandemic The Brent and West Texas Intermediate oil benchmarks are both now back up to their pre-COVID-19 lockdown levels, reaching their highest point last week since March 2020. While oil prices took a dip today... December 18, 2020 White House Refusing to Hold Russia Accountable for Navalny Poisoning Investigative reports released on Monday eliminated any doubt regarding Moscow’s responsibility for the attempted assassination in August 2020 of leading opposition figure Alexei Navalny using a banned... December 16, 2020 CAATSA Sanctions Should Be Just First Step if Erdogan Does Not Change Course The United States imposed sanctions on Monday on NATO ally Turkey for its purchase of the S-400 air defense system from Russia. These long-overdue sanctions not only impose necessary costs on the government... December 16, 2020 Russian Hackers Target U.S. Government Agencies Multiple news reports from this past weekend indicate that hackers working for Russian intelligence breached networks and monitored email traffic at a number of U.S. federal agencies – including the Treasury... December 15, 2020 Occupied Territories Bill in Ireland Is Dead on Arrival Amid a COVID-19-induced economic recession, Irish independent Senator Frances Black has revived a draft law targeting Israel after a previous failed attempt. The Occupied Territories Bill, if enacted, could... December 11, 2020 Forty-Plus Nations Call for Suspension of Syria From Chemical Weapons Monitoring Body Forty-six countries have co-sponsored a French call to suspend Syria’s rights and privileges as a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the international chemical... December 10, 2020 Norwegian Government Agency Rejects UN Anti-Israel Blacklist A Norwegian government official clarified last week that Norway’s procurement office will not stop doing business with firms on a United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) blacklist. The rejection,... December 10, 2020 U.S. Sanctions Companies Helping North Korea Export Illegal Coal The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday sanctioned six Chinese and Vietnamese companies and four ships – one flying Vietnam’s flag and three flying unknown flags – for exporting North Korean coal.... December 2, 2020 Key Targets Remain for U.S. Sanctions on Iran The U.S. Department of the Treasury last week sanctioned the Mustazafan Foundation, one of three critical holdings in the business empire of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Trump administration,... November 30, 2020 American Advocates Open Pharmacy for Displaced Syrians Deprived of Aid by Assad Regime The Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), an American non-profit organization, announced the opening last week of a no-cost pharmacy in the al-Rukban camp for displaced Syrians. The camp hosts 10,000 to 12,000... November 24, 2020 Rushed Afghanistan Drawdown Likely to Benefit Al-Qaeda Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller announced last week an order to reduce U.S. troops in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500, to be completed by January 15, 2021. Justified as a move to end “perpetual... November 23, 2020 Treasury Sanctions Companies Exporting North Korean Labor to Russia The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned one Russian and one North Korean company on Thursday for facilitating the exportation of North Korean forced labor to generate revenue for the Kim Jong Un regime.... November 6, 2020 Turkey Fines Global Social Media Platforms in Desperate Bid to Stifle Online Dissent The Turkish government announced on Wednesday its decision to fine Facebook, Instagram, Periscope, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube 10 million liras ($1.175 million) each for failing to comply with a new law... November 5, 2020 Designating Tehran Stock Exchange Would Increase Washington’s Leverage The main index of the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) has plummeted 40 percent from the all-time high it reached in early August, while institutional investors face allegations they exploited government ties... October 30, 2020 U.S. Should Sanction Key Iranian Automobile Companies Iranian Air Force commander Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh announced earlier this month that the Air Force and the Iranian automobile manufacturer SAIPA would co-produce unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)... October 26, 2020 Iran’s Access to Hard Currency Reserves Drops Precipitously In its latest assessment of Iran’s economy, released last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that Iran’s “readily available and controlled” gross official reserves will fall to... October 22, 2020 Amid Political Tensions, NATO Remains a Vital Alliance Turkey’s reported live-fire test of its Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system last week further aggravated political fault lines within NATO. Yet despite this provocation and other wide-ranging... October 21, 2020 The Iran Factor in Talks Between U.S., Azerbaijan, and Armenia Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will host the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia for apparently separate meetings in Washington this Friday to discuss the ongoing fighting between their two countries.... October 20, 2020 UN Secretary-General Condemns Iran for Human Rights Abuses The “overall situation of human rights” in Iran “remains of serious concern, owing to persistent and gross human rights violations,” the UN secretary-general, António Guterres, stated in a report... October 19, 2020 New EU Sanctions on Russia a Good First Step, But Further Action Needed The European Union unveiled targeted sanctions on Thursday in response to the August 20 use of a chemical weapon to poison leading Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. The sanctions represent a positive first... October 16, 2020 With S-400 Escalation, Turkey Tests NATO Turkey reportedly conducted an expected live-fire test on Friday of its Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system. The test represents a troubling milestone in the steady deterioration of Ankara’s relationship... October 15, 2020 UN Elects Worst Violators to Human Rights Council The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday overwhelmingly elected China, Cuba, Gabon, Pakistan, Russia, and Uzbekistan as members of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The election underscores... October 14, 2020 Erdogan Meddles in Northern Cyprus Elections Northern Cyprus will head to a runoff presidential vote next Sunday in a race that pits the proreunification incumbent of the breakaway region against a nationalist hawk backed by Turkey’s Islamist President... October 7, 2020 Turkish Public Lender Fails Again to Scuttle Iran Sanctions Evasion Case A Manhattan federal judge on October 1 refused to dismiss an indictment accusing Halkbank, a public lender majority-owned by the Turkish government, of helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions. In the event of... October 5, 2020 Iran at Risk From Spillover of Armenia-Azerbaijan Clashes Intense fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan is taking place in proximity to Iran’s northwestern border, which it shares with both countries. While Turkey has sided firmly with Azerbaijan and Russia... October 5, 2020 Plan to Reposition U.S. Forces in Europe Needs More Work The House Armed Service Committee (HASC) expressed concern last week about the Department of Defense (DoD) plan to reposition U.S. forces based in Europe. In its present form, the plan lacks sufficient... October 1, 2020 UN Report Highlights How North Korea’s Embassies Help Pyongyang Flout Sanctions A UN Panel of Experts evaluating international enforcement of North Korea sanctions publicly released its August 2020 report on Monday. Among other findings, the report appropriately emphasized the critical... September 30, 2020 Sanctions Target War Profiteer Working for Assad’s Brother The Treasury Department imposed sanctions today on Syrian war profiteer Khodr Ali Taher and 11 of his companies – part of the fourth set of designations since the Caesar Act went into effect this past... September 30, 2020 Beijing Seeks to Evade U.S. Restrictions on Technology Imports Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a major speech earlier this month acknowledging how U.S. efforts to restrict Chinese access to critical technology have laid bare systemic weaknesses in Chinese supply... September 30, 2020 U.S. Steps Up Pressure Against Russian Crypto Abuse The Trump administration this month issued two sets of penalties against Russian actors engaged in illicit cryptocurrency transactions. These episodes highlight how U.S. adversaries ranging from cybercriminals... September 30, 2020 Designating Iran’s Financial Sector Would Not Impact Humanitarian Trade According to an exclusive Bloomberg report this week, the Trump administration may be considering a sanctions designation of Iran’s financial sector in its entirety pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.)... September 29, 2020 Netanyahu Highlights Hezbollah Use of Human Shields In his speech to the UN General Assembly today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu provided three detailed examples of Hezbollah’s use of Lebanese civilians as human shields, which is a war crime.... September 25, 2020 Hezbollah’s History with Ammonium Nitrate: The Danger to Europe Ambassador Nathan Sales, U.S. coordinator for counterterrorism at the Department of State, announced last week that Hezbollah has transported and stored ammonium nitrate throughout Europe. While the disclosure... September 23, 2020 New Explosion in Lebanon at Site That Belongs To Affiliate of Hezbollah There was a large explosion in southern Lebanon yesterday in a built-up residential area controlled by Hezbollah. The explosion underscores the risks associated with Hezbollah’s de facto control of Lebanon... September 23, 2020 Iran’s Turkey-Based Sanctions-Evasion Scheme More Extensive Than Previously Reported Iran’s sanctions-evasion schemes involving Turkey “started earlier, lasted longer, extended further, and involved more people and countries” than previously known, according to a series of deeply... September 16, 2020 Pioneer Kitten: A New Iranian Cyber Threat Group Emerges U.S. Cyber Command is warning the private sector about the “reckless” activities of a new Iranian hacker group. According to both the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike and the FBI, Pioneer Kitten, as the...

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