Albania cut diplomatic ties with Iran and expelled Iran's embassy staff in response to a cyberattack in July that used ransomware to temporarily shut down Albanian government services and websites. The Albanian investigation into the attack, aided by U.S. government experts, concluded that it had been "orchestrated and sponsored" by Iran. The hackers had also publicly posted purported copies of Albanian residence permits for members of the exiled Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) Iranian opposition group.
News Briefs
September 2, 2022
The Iranian Navy briefly seized two U.S. sea drones in the Red Sea, according to Iranian state television. The U.S. Navy reported that it had foiled a similar attempt by Iran's Revolutionary Guard to capture an unmanned vessel in the Persian Gulf two days earlier.
-- Reuters
August 29, 2022
Russian transport aircraft delivered the first installment of Iranian-made combat drones to Russia in August. The shipment, part of a larger order totalling hundreds of drones, included Mohajer-6 as well as Shahed-series models. Although they are considered among Iran's most capable models, the drones have already faced technical and mechanical problems, according to U.S. officials. The terms of the deal were unclear, but an adviser to Iran's government said no money had yet been exchanged for the equipment.
-- New York Times
August 29, 2022
In a speech, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that any path to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement must see the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) close its probe into uranium traces found at undeclared sites in the country. In recent weeks, Iran and the United States have been trading written responses on the details of the roadmap, with the safeguards issue being one of the key sticking points.
-- Associated Press
August 29, 2022
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported to member states that Iran has begun operating one of three cascades of IR-6 centrifuges that it had recently installed at its underground Natanz site. Iran is feeding the cascade with uranium enriched to two percent purity and enriching it up to five percent. One of the two other cascades of IR-6 centrifuges at the site was undergoing passivation, a process that precedes enrichment. The other had yet to be fed with any nuclear material.
-- Reuters
August 25, 2022
Russia has obtained hundreds of Iranian drones to use in Ukraine, according to Western intelligence officials. The sources said the drones appeared to be operational and ready to use.
-- Associated Press
August 24, 2022
Iran began a two-day exercise to test its combat and reconnaissance drones. The war games involve 150 aircraft and are taking place at multiple locations across Iran. The country is also testing its air defense and electronic warfare capabilities during the exercise.
-- Reuters
August 15, 2022
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) began a two-week drone tournament in Kashan with participants from Armenia, Belarus, and Russia. The competition is part of a series of annual military games first launched by Russia in 2015 and will showcase drones' reconaissance and targeting capabilities.
-- Al Jazeera
August 11, 2022
An Argentine federal judge ordered the seizure of a Venezuelan-owned Boeing 747 at the request of the United States due to the aircraft's suspected links to terrorism. The plane, which the Iranian company Mahan Air had sold to Venezuelan airline Emtrasur, has been grounded in Buenos Aires since June. Both airlines are sanctioned by the United States. Agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations reportedly inspected the plane the same day that the order was issued.
-- Reuters
August 9, 2022
A Russian rocket placed a Russian-built but Iranian-owned remote-sensing satellite called Khayyam into low-earth orbit. The Iranian Space Agency said the satellite, which has a higher resolution than Iranian-made satellites, will be used for civilian purposes such as environmental monitoring. It also said the satellite will be fully under Iranian control "from day one" and that no other country will have access to the information it gathers, rebutting earlier reporting that Russia may first use it for surveillance in Ukraine.
-- Al Jazeera