Our Publications
This page contains summaries of the world's effort to enforce international sanctions against Iran by preventing it from buying weapons and the means to make them. The summaries cover prosecutions, interdictions of illicit cargo, and other enforcement actions.
International Enforcement Actions
July 29, 2024
An Iranian procurement agent and his Chinese accomplice worked together to funnel electronic components to the IRGC's drone program. Then, they each went on to build supply rings of their own. A Wisconsin Project investigation sheds light on the tactics they used and how their respective networks evolved over time.
International Enforcement Actions
February 22, 2024
In January, U.S. forces conducted two operations to stop vessels smuggling lethal aid from Iran to Yemen. The interdictions took place against a backdrop of ongoing Houthi missile and drone attacks against ships in the Red Sea, highlighting the role Iran has played in enabling the Houthis' assault on global commerce.
International Enforcement Actions
July 25, 2023
Rumor has it that the notorious proliferator Karl Lee may be in prison, but open-source evidence suggests that his network is still active.
International Enforcement Actions
August 26, 2022
In early 2022, a British Royal Navy ship intercepted small boats carrying weaponry in international waters south of Iran. The evidence strongly suggests that the weapons came from Iran, but a deeper investigation also points to companies based in several other countries that enabled Iran to acquire the components in the first place.
International Enforcement Actions
April 28, 2022
From 2017 to 2018, an Iranian procurement network attempted to export sensitive counter-drone technology from the United States to Iran. Iranian national Jalal Rohollahnejad directed the scheme from Iran while working for Rayan Roshd Afzar (Rayan Roshd), an aerospace firm linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He recruited Saber...
International Enforcement Actions
December 7, 2021
For years, Iran has violated the United Nations’ arms embargo on Yemen by smuggling weapons to the Houthis, an Iranian-aligned movement of Yemeni rebels. In November 2019 and February 2020, the U.S. Navy intercepted two of those shipments.
International Enforcement Actions
October 28, 2021
As Iran ramps up uranium enrichment, authorities in multiple countries have uncovered efforts by Iranian agents to procure mass spectrometers from abroad. These dual-use machines, which can precisely measure the purity and molecular structure of radioactive material, are essential for uranium enrichment. They also have a range of non-nuclear uses.
International Enforcement Actions
May 27, 2021
On May 8, the U.S. Navy released a statement describing the seizure of “an illicit shipment of weapons” in the northern Arabian Sea that had taken place over the previous two days.
International Enforcement Actions
May 7, 2021
A U.S. district court in Texas sentenced Taiwanese citizen Susan Yip to two years in federal prison on October 24, 2012, for her role in shipping thousands of U.S.-origin military and dual-use parts from the United States to Iran. Yip worked with Iranian citizens Mehrdad Foomani and Mehrdad Ansari.
International Enforcement Actions
October 29, 2020
U.S. authorities allege that Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industries Company, a firm affiliated with Iran's military, sought U.S.-made products to advance its “military and civilian capabilities” and looked to a series of middlemen in Iran and Indonesia to obtain the goods in violation of U.S. sanctions.