Central bank

Hezbollah’s Shadow Economy in Post-Assad Syria

Lebanon’s Hezbollah Finance Crackdown May Be Designed to Fail

Lebanon’s campaign against Hezbollah’s finances may be designed to look tougher than it is. Under pressure from Washington and international regulators, Beirut has done enough to claim progress by...

Donald Trump’s Lebanon Race

US rewards for Lebanon should follow, rather than precede, Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Treasury License for Iranian Petroleum Is Unwise and May Be Inconsistent With Statutory Requirements

The Treasury Department’s issuance on June 22 of a license pausing Iranian petroleum sanctions appears to be inconsistent with the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), which prohibits such relief...

Iran’s economic catastrophe

Decay, damage and the long road back

U.S. Redirects Tehran Regime’s Illicit Wealth to Its Victims

Tehran is getting evicted. For about three decades, the clerical regime has owned prime real estate in Midtown Manhattan. On March 23, the Southern District of New York announced its entry into a settlement...

5 Ways To Crack Down on Myanmar’s Military Junta

The war with Iran is reshaping more than the Middle East; it is disrupting the commodity flows, diplomatic relationships, and financial networks that authoritarian regimes use to sustain one another. Myanmar...

Ukraine Strikes Russia’s ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tanker in Mediterranean

Latest Developments First Claimed Strike in International Waters: Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service claimed that Ukrainian drones struck and critically damaged a Russian “shadow fleet” oil tanker...

How Turkey Props up Venezuela

The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has provided an unexpected sanctions evasion lifeline for Nicolas Maduro’s Venezuela.

Lebanese Central Bank Lands a Blow on Hezbollah’s Finances, but It’s Not Enough

Lebanon’s Central Bank (Banque Du Liban or BDL) issued a circular on July 15 that effectively banned Lebanese financial institutions from dealing with Al Qard Al Hassan (AQAH), Hezbollah’s de facto...

Who Destroyed Lebanon: Hezbollah or the Banks?

A “bloc” of lawmakers, political parties, media outlets, and non-governmental organizations are peddling a platform that distracts attention from the paramount importance of disarming Hezbollah and...

Detecting and Halting an Iranian Weaponization Effort

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Energy crisis has Iran on the brink — and hands Trump a historic opportunity

“Fools” flocking to the “scent of kebab”: That’s how Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently described audiences abroad who sense an opportunity to support Iran’s people against their...

Hezbollah’s Unit 4400

On October 1, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the killing of Mohammad Jaafar Qasir, a high-value Hezbollah operative who commanded the group’s Unit 4400—the body responsible for transporting...

Iran’s Economy Braces for Impact of Clash With Israel

Iranians remain on edge as they wait for Israel’s response to Iran’s latest ballistic missile barrage. The Iranian currency reflects local anxiety as the street value of the Iranian rial to the dollar...

American October 7 Victims File U.S. Lawsuit Against Iran, Syria and North Korea

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a U.S.-based Jewish civil rights organization, submitted a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, on July 1 targeting the regimes in Iran, Syria, and North Korea for enabling Hamas’s terrorist atrocities in Israel on October 7...

Former Iranian President Ahmadinejad Vying to Succeed Raisi

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered as a presidential candidate on June 2. Elections to select a successor to the late Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter...

Iranian Rial’s Depreciation Persists Into Persian New Year

The Iranian rial struck a record low on March 24, trading at about 613,000 to the U.S. dollar in the unregulated market. Since January, the dollar has appreciated about 21 percent...

Iranian Rial Plunges to Historic Low

The Iranian rial plummeted to a historic all-time low on March 4, trading at about 600,000 to the U.S. dollar in the unregulated market. Amid escalating tensions in the region,...

New Canadian sanctions fall short in Lebanon

If Minister Joly is serious about opposing corruption in Lebanon, there's more Ottawa can do