This month’s newsletter features a report about the drone plant in Russia’s Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which manufactures Iranian-designed Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for use in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The report examines the web of relationships enabling the operation of the plant despite heavy sanctions. Key to the plant’s success are the government-to-government relationship between Moscow and Tehran, the connections between the Alabuga SEZ and other Russian companies, and those companies’ relationships with suppliers abroad.

This month’s newsletter features an analysis of Iran’s second missile attack on Israel, which was carried out at the beginning of the month. The strike largely failed to cause substantial damage and prompted an Israeli retaliatory attack on October 25. Its result casts doubt on Iran’s conventionally-armed missile deterrent and raises the question of whether Iran might become more interested in nuclear weapons to fill the gap.

This month’s newsletter features a new episode of Iran Watch Listen, a podcast by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. We sat down with Hanna Notte and Jim Lamson of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies to discuss the history of Iran and Russia’s military relationship, how it has changed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and areas where both countries might benefit from deeper cooperation in the future.

This month’s newsletter features an article on Iran’s new space center at Chabahar, which is expected to become operational later this year. The spaceport’s capacity to launch larger rockets than Iran’s two existing facilities will enable the country to take the next steps toward its space ambitions. Better space capabilities have implications for Iran’s military programs, but formidable technical challenges remain.

This month’s newsletter features an investigation of two illicit procurement agents supplying microelectronics to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) drone program. The report draws on U.S. government and court documents, corporate records, social media, and other information to explain the two agents’ history of collaboration, the tactics they used, and how their respective networks evolved over time.

This month’s newsletter features an article analyzing recent trends in U.S. sanctions on Iran. The United States has sought to give its sanctions more bite by coordinating designations with allied countries and sanctioning companies’ broader business networks. Additionally, the U.S. Treasury Department may have a newfound appetite for targeting Iran’s industrial capacity, although it has so far shied away from systematically clamping down on Iranian oil exports.

This month’s newsletter features an update to a running timeline of Iran’s nuclear milestones. Since the last update, some U.N. sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program expired, but European countries decided not to lift their own proliferation-related sanctions as stipulated in the 2015 nuclear agreement. The newsletter also features a table containing information on Iran’s known nuclear sites and facilities. The table has been updated to reflect the status of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verification and monitoring activities at each location.

This month’s newsletter features analyses of Iran’s January missile attacks on Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan and its larger attack on Israel this month. The January strikes contain important hints about the strengths and limitations of Iran’s missile capabilities, which played out during the April 13 attack and the successful air defense operation to blunt it.

This month’s newsletter features a new episode of Iran Watch Listen, a podcast by the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. We sat down with Wolf-Christian Paes, an expert on arms and maritime security, to discuss Iran’s support for the Houthi rebel group, the ways in which arms are smuggled into Yemen, and what can be done to stop the smuggling.

This month’s newsletter features an analysis of two recent U.S. interdiction operations off the coast of Yemen. The operations, which turned up components of ballistic and anti-ship missiles and waterborne drones, present compelling evidence that Iran continues to violate the United Nations arms embargo on the Houthis. The newsletter also features new and updated background resources on Iran’s missile program, including an extensive image library.