News Briefs

August 7, 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice charged Pakistan national Asif Merchant with plotting the assassinations of high-level U.S. officials, including potentially Donald Trump. Merchant, who has traveled frequently to Iran and has a wife and children there, recruited two U.S. law enforcement agents posing as hitmen to participate in his scheme. Federal officials arrested him on July 12.
-- Associated Press
August 5, 2024
Former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu travelled to Iran to meet with president Masoud Pezeshkian and military commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri. Two anonymous Iranian officials said that Russia had recently begun delivering advanced radars and air-defense equipment to Iran as part of a deepening military partnership between the two countries.
-- New York Times
August 3, 2024
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a statement blaming Israel for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, who died in an explosion while he was visiting Tehran on July 31. The statement said the operation involved a small, short-range projectile launched from outside the premises of Haniyeh's guesthouse.
-- Tasnim News Agency
July 28, 2024
Iran's supreme leader formally inaugurated Masoud Pezeshkian as president of Iran. During the ceremony, Pezeshkian promised constructive engagement with the West. He appointed Mohammad Reza Aref as his first vice president and is expected to name Abbas Araghchi as his foreign minister.
-- The Guardian
July 20, 2024
Israel carried out an airstrike targeting sites around Yemen’s port of Hodeidah in retaliation for a Houthi attack on Tel Aviv using an Iranian-made drone the day before. An Israeli military spokesperson claimed the Houthis used the port to receive Iranian weapons shipments. The Houthis, who have already conducted 200 attacks on Israel since October, said they would respond.
-- Reuters
July 18, 2024
Alabama resident Ray Hunt, also known as Abdolrahman Hantoosh, pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally export U.S.-origin goods to Iran. Beginning in 2015, Hunt used his company, Vega Tools, to send industrial equipment for Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemical industries without proper authorization. Hunt lied to shipping companies about the value of the goods and transshipped them through Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to evade U.S. sanctions.
-- U.S. Department of Justice
July 8, 2024
Satellite images showed ongoing construction at Iran’s Modarres military base and Khojir missile production complex, with more than 30 new buildings across the two sites. Many of the buildings are surrounded by large dirt berms, the presence of which typically indicates missile production because the berms are designed to limit damage caused by accidental explosions. Unnamed Iranian officials confirmed that the construction was intended to increase the country's ballistic missile and drone production.
-- Reuters
July 6, 2024
Iran elected reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, a 71-year-old heart surgeon and member of Iran’s parliament, as the new president. Pezeshkian defeated the hardliner Saeed Jalili in a run-off after no candidate secured a majority of votes in the first round.
-- BBC News
June 20, 2024
Iran’s Mahan Air smuggled two Airbus A340 planes, owned by Gambian leasing company Macka Invest, into Iran as they flew from Lithuania to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. The aircraft operators switched off the planes' automatic transponders after entering Iranian airspace, but aviation data shows they landed in Tehran and Chabahar. Authorities at the Lithuanian airport prevented a third Macka Invest airplane, which carried spare parts, from taking off after learning that the first had diverted to Iran.
-- Lithuanian Radio and Television
June 19, 2024
Canada listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, prohibiting financial or material support to the group and allowing asset freezes on the entity.
-- Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

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