Diplomats from Iran, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom met for talks in Istanbul. It was the first negotiation between Iran and the three European countries since U.S.-Iran talks on Iran's nuclear program began in April. Iran and the European parties agreed to meet again if needed, according to Iran's deputy foreign minister.
News Briefs
May 6, 2025
U.S. President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire agreement between the United States and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The United States had been carrying out an air campaign against the Houthis since mid-March, in response to Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. According to the foreign minister of Oman, which helped broker the agreement, the United States agreed to stop striking Houthi targets in exchange for the Houthis stopping attacks against U.S. vessels. It was not clear whether the Houthis agreed to halt attacks on other vessels.
-- New York Times
May 5, 2025
Iran claimed to have successfully tested a new ballistic missile named Qassem Bassir. Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said the missile had a 1,200 kilometer range and claimed that it could evade the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system. Western and Russian experts said that the missile was the first Iranian medium-range ballistic missile to use electro optical (EO) seekers, which make it resistant to electronic jamming. According to Iranian media, the Qassem Bassir is an upgraded version of the Martyr Hajj Qassem missile unveiled in 2020.
-- RFE/RL
May 4, 2025
A missile fired from Yemen evaded Israel's Arrow air defense system to strike Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, forcing the airport to briefly stop operations. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack and said that they had used a hypersonic ballistic missile. They also declared their intention to repeatedly target Israeli airports in order to disrupt flights entering and leaving the country.
-- CNN
April 27, 2025
A large explosion at Shahid Rajaei port in southern Iran killed 25 people and injured 800, according to Iranian state media. Private security firm Ambrey said that the port had received a shipment of ammonium perchlorate, a missile propellant ingredient, from China in March and that initial reporting indicated the explosion was linked to improper handling of the chemical. The Iranian defense ministry denied that consignments with military applications were present at the port.
-- Associated Press
April 19, 2025
Iran and the United States said they made progress in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program in Rome and that their senior negotiators would meet again in Oman following technical-level discussions. The talks in Rome were the second round of negotiations mediated by Oman that began earlier in April. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi met with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow before the Rome talks, while U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Israeli officials and the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Two days prior to the talks, two Airbus A330-200 aircraft sought by Iranian national airline Iran Air arrived in Tehran. Delivery of the aircraft would have required approval from the U.S. Treasury Department due to U.S. sanctions on Iran.
-- Associated Press
April 17, 2025
Saudi Arabia's defense minister visited Tehran to discuss defense relations and regional cooperation. Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud was the first member of the Saudi royal family to visit Iran since 1997. He met with Major General Mohammad Bagheri, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officer who is the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces. Bagheri's Saudi Arabian military counterpart visited Iran in November 2024, and Iran and Saudi Arabia held their first joint naval exercise a month earlier. The two countries signed an agreement in 2023 normalizing their diplomatic relations, which they had cut off in 2016 following the execution of a Shi'ite cleric in Saudi Arabia.
-- CNN
April 16, 2025
U.S. citizen and former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contractor Abouzar Rahmati pleaded guilty to conspiring and acting as an Iranian government agent in the United States. From 2017 to 2024, Rahmati allegedly worked with Iranian intelligence officers to provide information about the U.S. aviation and solar energy industries to Iran. He allegedly sought employment with an FAA contractor in order to further the scheme and succeeded in transferring sensitive, non-public FAA documents to Iran in 2022. Rahmati could receive a maximum sentence of fifteen years in prison.
-- U.S. Department of Justice
April 11, 2025
China imported more than 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil from Iran in March, according to the ship tracking firm Vortexa. The quantity represents an all-time high. Other sources estimated volumes between 1.67 million and 1.8 million bpd, which would reflect a peak for the past several months. China purchases approximately 90% of Iran's oil exports, much of which are falsely labeled as Malaysian after being transferred at sea near Malaysia and Singapore. Iranian oil accounts for 16% of China's seaborne crude oil imports.
-- Reuters
April 1, 2025
The U.S. Department of Justice charged Iranian nationals Hossein Akbari and Reza Amidi and Iranian firm Rah Roshd Company with conspiring to provide U.S.-origin parts for Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), provide material support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and commit money laundering. Akbari is Rah Roshd Company's CEO and Amidi is its commercial manager. The defendants allegedly impersonated representatives of companies based in Belgium and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to purchase U.S.-origin parts for Iranian drones including the Mohajer-6. They also allegedly procured servomotors and a pneumatic mast from China-based companies on behalf of the IRGC Aerospace Force and used shell companies located in the UAE to pay for the parts. Both individuals remain at large. Amidi previously served as the commercial manager of Quds Aviation Industries (QAI), an Iranian state-owned aerospace company.
-- U.S. Department of Justice