Iran has slowed the pace at which it is accumulating uranium enriched to 60 percent purity and has diluted some of its existing stockpile. The move may be part of a broader effort between the United States and Iran to reduce tensions. Iran still has enough 60 percent material for at least two nuclear weapons if it were enriched further.
News Briefs
August 10, 2023
Russia has begun producing its own variant of the Shahed-136 one-way attack drone. Specialists at Conflict Armament Research, an independent weapon tracking group, examined the wreckage of two drones in late July that appeared to be Shahed-136 models but contained different materials from those known to have been made in Iran. They also had electronic modules that matched ones previously found in other Russian-made drones.
-- New York Times
August 10, 2023
Iran and the United States reached a deal under which Iran will free five U.S. citizens detained in Iran and the United States will unblock $6 billion in Iranian funds held in South Korean banks. Iran took the first step in implementing the deal by releasing four of the detained individuals from Evin prison. The unfrozen funds will be transferred to an account in Qatar and may only be spent on non-sanctioned humanitarian trade. According to the Iranian mission to the United Nations, the deal also stipulates that United States will release some Iranians currently in U.S. prisons.
-- Reuters
August 9, 2023
Iran claims to have developed a supersonic cruise missile that is in the testing phase. The missile will use a ramjet engine rather than one of the turbojet engines employed by existing Iranian cruise missiles.
-- Tasnim News Agency
July 31, 2023
Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Gennadievich Khrenin signed a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation with his Iranian counterpart during a visit to Tehran. Neither side provided further details on the agreement, but a delegation of Iranians had visited Belarus in May to explore the possibility of producing Shahed drones there. Russia reportedly organized the May visit.
-- Al-Monitor
July 26, 2023
Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, claimed that Iran had given the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) new information about two sites, Turquzabad and Varamin, where inspectors had previously found traces of manmade uranium. Eslami also said that if there were any ambiguities remaining, Iran would clairfy and revise its statements.
-- Associated Press
July 25, 2023
Bolivia's defense minister Edmundo Novillo said his country is interested in obtaining Iranian drones to combat smuggling and drug trafficking along its borders. Novillo denied that his country had concluded a memorandum of understanding with Iran, but he admitted to signing an "act" with his Iranian counterpart to identify common interests during a recent visit to Tehran. Novillo spoke after Argentina's foreign ministry had requested information from Bolivia about the discussion and possible agreements with Iran.
-- Washington Post
July 25, 2023
U.S. resident Behrouz Mokhtari was sentenced to 41 months in prison and ordered to forfeit more than $4.3 million in cash and assets for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. Mokhtari had pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economics Power Act (IEEPA). He used his Panama-based front company, East & West Shipping Inc., as well as his "FSR network" of UAE- and Iran-based companies, including Bitubiz FZE, to help Iran evade sanctions and sell petrochemical products.
-- U.S. Department of Justice
July 18, 2023
The U.S. State Department issued a new 120-day waiver allowing Iraq to pay Iran for electricity imports. The waiver was expanded to allow Iraq to deposit its payments into non-Iraqi banks in third countries, although Iran will still need U.S. permission to access the funds and may only spend them on humanitarian goods.
-- Reuters
July 12, 2023
Indonesia's coast guard seized the MT Arman 114, an Iranian-flagged oil tanker, in the North Natuna Sea on the suspicion that it was illegally transporting crude oil. The tanker was engaged in a ship-to-ship oil transfer at sea with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos and was spoofing its automatic identification system data to indicate that it was in another location, according to Indonesian authorities.
-- Reuters