The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy fired two Fateh-class ballistic missiles from the Shahid Mahdavi warship in a coordinated trial with the IRGC Aerospace Force. The missiles were launched from containers placed on the deck of the ship.
News Briefs
February 8, 2024
The United States conducted retaliatory air strikes against 85 targets in Iraq and Syria following a drone strike carried out by Iraqi militias that killed three Americans at a U.S. military outpost in Jordan. In a separate drone strike in Baghdad, the United States also killed a commander in the militia group Kataib Hezbollah, whom Iraqi media identified as Abu Baqir al Saadi.
-- Wall Street Journal
February 5, 2024
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said that workers had begun pouring concrete for the foundation of a 10-megawatt research reactor at the Isfahan nuclear technology center. Eslami visited the site to attend the inauguration ceremony of a unit for producing Tellurium hexafluoride (TeF6), a radioisotope with medical uses.
-- Islamic Republic News Agency
February 5, 2024
Iran's state-owned Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC) has used British front companies to open bank accounts and conduct transactions at Lloyds and Santander banks, according to a journalistic investigation. Pisco UK is a company owned by British national Abdollah-Siauash Fahimi, but Fahimi is a former director of PCC's UK subsidiary, PCC UK, who agreed to own the company on PCC's behalf. Similarly, Aria Associates is nominally owned by Mohamed Ali Rejal, who is deputy chief executive of PCC UK. Both companies have received payments from Chinese firms, including Black Tulip Trading China, on PCC's behalf. PCC and PCC UK are both sanctioned by the United States, and PCC has held contracts with companies connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including the Turkey-based company ASB.
-- Financial Times
February 1, 2024
Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, announced the start of construction of a 5,000 megawatt nuclear power station in Sirik, Hormozgan province.
-- Islamic Republic News Agency
January 31, 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of four Chinese nationals involved in smuggling U.S.-made dual use goods to Iran via China-based front companies between 2007 and 2020. The four individuals charged were Baoxia Liu (Emily Liu), Yiu Wa Yung (Stephen Yung), Yongxin Li (Emma Lee), and Yanlai Zhong (Sydney Chung). The goods, which could be used in Iran's missile and UAV programs, were ultimately destined for Iranian entities including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Shiraz Electronics Industries, and Rayan Roshd Afzar Company.
-- U.S. Department of Justice
January 29, 2024
The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, a coalition of Iran-backed militias, carried out a drone attack on a base in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members and wounded at least 34. Iran denied involvement in the attack.
-- Reuters
January 28, 2024
Iran simultaneously launched three satellites, the Mahda, the Kayhan-2, and the Hatef-1, into orbit. It was the first successful launch of the Simorgh rocket after multiple previous failures. Earlier in the month, Iran launched the Soraya satellite atop a rocket built by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
-- Al Jazeera
January 20, 2024
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) placed the Soraya satellite into orbit using a Qaem-100 rocket. Its orbital altitude of 750 kilometers was the highest yet for any satellite that the country has launched.
-- Associated Press
January 18, 2024
Pakistan launched a missile attack against separatist militants inside Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan Province killing at least nine people, two days after Iran carried out a similar operation inside Pakistan. Both countries characterized their strikes as aimed against terrorist groups.
-- Reuters