Our Publications
Policy Briefs
November 3, 2016
The United States and its allies have interdicted five separate weapons shipments from Iran to the Houthis in Yemen since April 2015—shipments that violate U. N. Security Council resolutions. According to U.S. Vice Admiral Kevin Donergan, “We know they came from Iran and we know the destination.” The U.S. State Department has also criticized...
Policy Briefs
October 28, 2016
Another Iranian bank has received sanctions relief earlier than anticipated under the nuclear deal with Iran. The European Union’s sanctions on state-owned Bank Saderat Iran and its London-based subsidiary, BankSaderat PLC, which were originally set to last until 2023, were quietly lifted this week. The decision was made in April, in response to...
Policy Briefs
October 6, 2016
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama administration secretly agreed to lift United Nations sanctions on two of Iran's missile financing institutions as part of a package of controversial accommodations with Iran in January. Critics of the move have focused on an alleged "quid pro quo" in which the delisting of Bank Sepah and...
Policy Briefs
September 22, 2016
According to a July 2016 report by the U.N. Secretary General, Iranian firms participated in a defense trade show in Iraq last March, in potential violation of U. N. Security Council resolution 2231. Under the resolution, prior approval is required by the Security Council for any arms transfer to or from Iran; none was sought. What's more, one...
Policy Briefs
September 7, 2016
The controversy over the Iran nuclear agreement was reignited last week, after a new report revealed secret exemptions Iran received in order to meet the requirements of the agreement. The response to the report has been predictably polarized...
International Enforcement Actions
August 3, 2016
Ali Reza Parsa, a businessman with dual Iranian and Canadian citizenship, pleaded guilty in federal court in January 2016 to conspiring to ship U.S.-origin electronic components from the United States to Iran, via Canada, without a license required by the U.S.
Roundtables
July 26, 2016
This month marks the anniversary of the historic nuclear accord the United States and five other countries concluded with Iran a year ago. As a result of the accord, Iran has restricted the most worrisome parts of its nuclear program for a period of time, in exchange for relief from international economic sanctions. During the past year, the...
Articles and Reports
July 14, 2016
On the first anniversary of the nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran Watch is publishing a compendium of its year-long analysis of the agreement. Below are links to articles and reports written on various aspects of the implementation of the JCPOA, including: monitoring and verification; sanctions...
Policy Briefs
July 12, 2016
The House of Representatives approved two measures last week aimed at blocking Boeing from selling commercial aircraft to Iran. The vote comes a few weeks after Boeing announced a preliminary agreement to sell commercial aircraft to Iran Air, Iran's national carrier, in a deal worth an estimated $25 billion. Iran Air was removed from the U.S.
Policy Briefs
June 10, 2016
The U.S. Treasury Department released new guidance on June 8 that appears intended to reassure European and other non-U.S. banks wary of doing business with Iran. In an updated explanatory document published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Treasury Department stated that the U.S. financial system will remain open to foreign banks...