The United States sent a $400 million cash shipment to Iran at the same time that four Americans imprisoned in the Islamic Republic were released, The Wall Street Journal reported (Google link) Wednesday, raising concerns that the release of the funds constituted a form of ransom. In parallel with the nuclear...

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Iran will be able to produce enough nuclear material for an atomic weapon in as little as four months by 2029, the Institute for Science and International Security concluded in a report (.pdf) released Tuesday. A secret addendum to last year’s nuclear deal, which was obtained by the Associated Press last...

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A dual British-Iranian citizen who was arrested by Iranian authorities in April had her first appearance in one of Iran’s Islamic revolutionary courts on Monday but remains separated from her toddler, The Guardian reported. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a charity worker who was visiting family in Iran before being arrested at the Tehran airport shortly...

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In an apparent reaction to Iran’s increasing isolation from the Arab world, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called the growing ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia a “stab in the back” of the Muslim world, Iranian media reported on Monday. Revelation of Saudi government’s relations with Zionist regime was stab...

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Iraq’s prime minister officially incorporated the Iran-backed, terrorist-led Popular Mobilization Front (PMF) into his nation’s armed forces, cementing Tehran’s influence in the country, the Long War Journal reported on Thursday. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi decided to incorporate the PMF as an “independent military formation” within the Iraqi army in February, according...

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Iranian crude oil exports to four major Asian buyers increased by nearly 50 percent from this time last year, Reuters reported on Friday. Iranian oil sales reached the highest point in over four years in June, six months after the U.S. and European Union lifted nuclear-related sanctions against Tehran under the framework of...

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An Iranian general threatened to close the strategic Straits of Hormuz if the United States “makes a small mistake,” echoing a threat made two months ago by the deputy commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iranian media reported on Tuesday. “If the enemy makes a small mistake, we...

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The recent arrest of an Iranian cleric by authorities in Kosovo shed light on Tehran’s efforts to gain influence in the central European Muslim-majority nation, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported Thursday. Hasan Azari Bejandi was arrested earlier this week on charges of financing terrorism and money laundering through an organization...

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Iran was ranked as the world’s top global money laundering threat by the Basel Institute on Governance this week, marking the third straight year that the Islamic Republic held the position. The 2016 Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index identified Iran as the highest money laundering risk out of 149 countries surveyed, The...

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Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement and its political allies have announced the creation of a governing council, threatening United Nations-sponsored peace talks to end the country’s devastating civil war, Reuters reported on Thursday. The Houthis, a longtime Zaydi Shiite insurgency in the country’s north, took advantage of political paralysis in Yemen...

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