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☆ Iran Seizes U.S.-Bound Oil Tanker
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Costas Paris | Aresu Eqbali | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The oil tanker Advantage Sweet in Turkey earlier this year. Photo: YORUK ISIK/REUTERSIran’s naval forces on Thursday seized an oil tanker bound for Texas in the Gulf of Oman, a move that drew condemnation from the U.S. military at a time of heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seized the tanker, Advantage Sweet, while it moved through international waters at 1:15 p.m. local time, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, which is tasked with monitoring maritime activity in the area, is monitoring the situation, according to U.S. naval forces.

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Thursday announced a first round of sanctions targeting Russia and Iran for engaging in hostage-taking and the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens abroad. The State Department has formally moved to declare Gershkovich's detention a wrongful one, which opens up additional resources to secure his release. The administration has identified at least two American citizens who are wrongfully detained in Russia and three in Iran, along with one legal permanent U.S. resident. One administration official said relevant families were briefed on the new sanctions ahead of Thursday's announcement. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, Washington and its allies have imposed rounds of coordinated sanctions vaulting Russia past Iran and North Korea as the world's most-sanctioned country.

☆ Iran seizes Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in Gulf, U.S. Navy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 27 (Reuters) - Iran seized a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman in international waters on Thursday, the U.S. Navy said, the latest in a series of several seizures of commercial vessels in Gulf waters in the past couple of years. The navy said the seizure of the Advantage Sweet by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy disrupts regional security and stability and called on Tehran to immediately release the tanker. Iranian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment by ReutersThe ship, a Suezmax oil tanker built in 2012, issued a distress call during the seizure, the navy statement said. The navy said Iran has in the past two years unlawfully seized at least five commercial vessels in the Middle East. Iran in November released two Greek-flagged tankers that it seized in the Gulf in May.

CNN —The US is imposing new sanctions on groups in Russia and Iran accused of taking Americans hostage as it works to prevent more captive-taking and potentially secure the release of citizens currently being detained. The sanctions ordered up Thursday would punish organizations the US accuses of being responsible for holding hostage or wrongfully detaining Americans. Officials said the steps should act as a warning to those thinking of taking Americans hostage. The order also mandated a better flow of information to the families of Americans held hostage or detained overseas. Officials said it was possible the sanctions could be lifted if Americans held in Russia or Iran were released.

☆ The US and its allies are stuck in a violent cycle with Iran-backed militias who want blood but don't want to 'poke the bear'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

But even still, miscalculation is possible, and these deadly exchanges nearly sent the US and Iran to war just a few years ago. In response, two US Air Force F-15E fighter jets carried out airstrikes later that evening against IRGC Quds Force facilities in Syria, killing eight Iran-backed militants. Angel Ruszkiewicz"We do not seek conflict with Iran, we don't seek escalation with Iran," Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. "As soon as the Iranian special forces and their proxies showed up in Syria, the Israelis started hitting them. The next day, Iran-backed militias attacked US forces near Hasakah, killing the American contractor.

☆ Iran Is Recruiting Militant Allies to Launch Attacks Against Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Summer Said | Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The long shadow war between Iran and Israel is moving into an unpredictable new phase after one of the Islamic Republic’s most powerful military commanders began rallying allies across the Middle East to launch a fresh wave of attacks on Israeli targets. People familiar with the discussions said Esmail Qaani , who leads the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ elite Quds Force, has held a series of clandestine meetings with militant leaders across the region in recent weeks, including some operating in Syria and Iraq.

[1/2] Police officers stand amid the rubble of a damaged building at the site of a rocket attack in the Kafr Sousa neighbourhood of central Damascus, Syria, February 19, 2023. Its support for Damascus and the Lebanese group Hezbollah has drawn regular Israeli air strikes meant to curb Tehran's extraterritorial military power. A source close to the Syrian government with knowledge of Sunday's strike and its target said it hit a gathering of Syrian and Iranian technical experts in drone manufacturing, though he said no top-level Iranian was killed. "The strike hit the centre where they were meeting as well as an apartment in a residential building. On Sunday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned what it described as attacks on "residential buildings in Damascus which killed and maimed innocent Syrian citizens".

☆ Syria Says Israeli Missile Strikes Kill at Least Five in Damascus
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The site of a rocket attack in central Damascus, Syria. Syria accused Israel of carrying out a deadly missile strike on Sunday, the first such attack to target the key Iran ally since earthquakes devastated swaths of the country earlier this month. Five people were killed and 15 people were injured in the missile attack on the Kafar Sousah neighborhood of Damascus, said Syria’s state-run news agency, or SANA. The neighborhood is known to house members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

☆ Al Qaeda's new leader Adel has $10 million bounty on his head
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Michael Georgy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Zawahiri's death piled pressure on the group to choose a strategic leader who can carefully plan deadly operations and run a jihadi network, experts on al Qaeda say. The department’s Rewards for Justice programme is offering up to $10 million for information on Adel, whom it says is a member of "al Qaeda’s leadership council” and heads the organisation’s military committee. He and other Al Qaeda leaders were placed under house arrest in April 2003 by Iran, which released him and four others in exchange for an Iranian diplomat who was kidnapped in Yemen. OPERATIVE TO LEADERAdel, one of the few remaining al Qaeda old guard, has been close to the central command for decades, experts say. Adel gained more jihadi credentials after he joined other Arab militants fighting Soviet occupation troops in Afghanistan, where he eventually headed a training camp before becoming a senior figure in al Qaeda.

The U.S. is considering new sanctions on Chinese surveillance companies over sales to Iran’s security forces, officials familiar with the deliberations said, as Iranian authorities increasingly rely on the technology to crack down on protests. U.S. authorities are in advanced discussions on the sanctions, according to the officials, and have zeroed in on Tiandy Technologies Co., a surveillance-equipment maker based in the eastern Chinese city of Tianjin whose products have been sold to units of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a hard-line paramilitary group.

☆ U.S. weighs sanctions for Chinese companies over Iran surveillance buildup - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. is considering new sanctions on Chinese surveillance companies over sales to Iran's security forces, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday citing people familiar with the matter. U.S. authorities are in advanced discussions on the sanctions and have zeroed in on Tiandy Technologies Co, an electrical equipment manufacturer based out of the Chinese city of Tianjin whose products have been sold to units of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the report added. Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday put new trade restrictions on seven Iranian entities for producing drones that Russia has used to attack Ukraine, the U.S. Department of Commerce said. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York said: "Sanctions have no effect on Iran's drone production capacity because its drones are all produced domestically. This is a strong indication that the drones shot down in Ukraine and using parts made by Western countries don't belong to Iran." In January, Canada announced it would buy a U.S.-made National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine. The United States has provided two NASAMS to Ukraine and more are on the way.

REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File PhotoWASHINGTON/BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The West on Monday stepped up pressure on Iran over its crackdown on protests as the United States, European Union and United Kingdom imposed fresh sanctions on Tehran. 'BRUTAL REPRESSION'The European Union imposed sanctions on more than 30 Iranian officials and organizations, including units of the Revolutionary Guards, blaming them for a "brutal" crackdown on protesters and other human rights abuses. Those sanctions targeted units and senior officials of the IRGC across Iran, including in Sunni-populated areas where the state crackdown has been intense, a list published in the EU's Official Journal showed. Britain also imposed sanctions on more Iranian individuals and entities on Monday over the country's "brutal repression" of its people. Britain has now imposed 50 new sanctions against Iran since Amini's death, the foreign office said.

☆ European Support Grows for Sanctioning Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Laurence Norman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The European Parliament on Thursday urged member states to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, in a sign of growing support for new measures against Tehran as it arms Russia in Ukraine and suppresses protests at home. The parliament’s resolution, which condemned Iran for its crackdown on protests, followed remarks from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday saying she favored the move. Germany, the bloc’s most powerful country, has been pushing for the IRGC to be placed on the EU terrorism list for months.

☆ EU lawmakers want Iran's Guards branded terrorist group
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The European Parliament called on Wednesday for the EU to list Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, blaming the powerful force for the repression of protesters and the supply of drones to Russia. Ties between the European Union (EU) member states and Tehran have deteriorated in recent months as efforts to revive nuclear talks have stalled. Tehran has detained several European nationals and the bloc has become increasingly critical of a continuing violent crackdown on protesters, including executions. The text called for the EU and its member states to include the IRGC on the bloc's terrorist list "in the light of its terrorist activity, the repression of protesters andits supplying of drones to Russia". The European Parliament has no power to compel the EU to add the IRGC to its list.

☆ DAVOS 2023: EU's Von der Leyen backs listing Iran's Guards as terrorist group
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 17 (Reuters) - European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday she backed listing Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation to respond to the "trampling" of "fundamental human rights" in the country. Ties between the EU member states and Tehran have deteriorated in recent months as efforts to revive nuclear talks have stalled. The European Union is discussing a fourth round of sanctions against Tehran over the crackdown and Iran's supply of weapons to Russia. "We are looking indeed at a new round of sanctions and I would support also listing the Revolutionary Guards. I have heard several ministers asking for that and I think they are right," Von der Leyen said.

☆ U.S. slaps sanctions on Iran officials over protest crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( Daphne Psaledakis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A woman chats during a protest against gender-based violence in Iran, in front of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) office in San Francisco, California, U.S., November 30, 2022. REUTERS/Amy OsborneWASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The United States imposed sanctions on Iranian officials on Wednesday, including the prosecutor general and key military officials, stepping up pressure on Tehran over its crackdown on protests. The move is the latest Washington response to the Iranian crackdown on unrest after the death of young Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in September. The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it imposed sanctions on Mohammad Montazeri, Iran’s prosecutor general, accusing him of directing courts in September to issue harsh sentences to many arrested during protests. Washington also imposed sanctions on two senior officials of Iran’s Basij Resistance Forces, a militia affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards that has been widely deployed during the crackdown, and two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials.

☆ U.S. blacklists Chinese firm selling video surveillance tech to Iran
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Dan De Luce | Dan De Luce Is A Reporter For The Nbc News Investigative Unit. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

“The Chinese Communist Party is weaponizing technology companies to further its geopolitical goals,” Rubio said in an email. Human rights advocates and lawmakers are concerned Iranian authorities could use Tiandy’s video surveillance technology to help squelch a wave of anti-regime protests in the country. The Biden administration last month effectively banned the sale or import of new equipment from a number of Chinese surveillance firms. China has strongly rejected U.S. criticism of Chinese tech companies and of its treatment of Uyghurs or other Muslim minorities in the country. But he said it was “absurd” to portray Chinese technology as a security threat.

☆ U.S. slaps restrictions on Chinese chipmaker and other companies over national security worries
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Biden administration said Thursday it was "severely" restricting dozens of mostly Chinese organizations, including at least one chipmaker, over their efforts to use advanced technologies to help modernize China's military. The Bureau's latest action comes more than two months after the Biden administration imposed new curbs on China's access to advanced semiconductors. "I've long sounded the alarm on the grave national security and economic threats behind YMTC and other CCP-backed technology companies, like CXMT and SMIC," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement Thursday morning. "YMTC poses an immediate threat to our national security, so the Biden Administration needed to act swiftly to prevent YMTC from gaining even an inch of a military or economic advantage," Schumer said. Four more were added due to "their significant risk of becoming involved in activities that could have a negative impact" on U.S. national security of foreign policy, according to the release.

☆ U.S. Sanctions Turkish Businessman It Says Brokered Oil Sales for Iran’s Military
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

The Biden administration on Thursday levied sanctions against several Turkish businessmen and more than two dozen Turkish companies that officials said were selling oil worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s terror-listed military unit. Newsletter Sign-up WSJ | Risk and Compliance Journal Our Morning Risk Report features insights and news on governance, risk and compliance. PREVIEW Mr. Ayan owns or controls the sanctioned companies, including the Turkish energy conglomerate ASB Group, which launders proceeds from the oil sales into Europe and Asia under an agreement he allegedly reached in 2017 with Iranian officials, the Treasury said. Neither Mr. Ayan, contacted through ASB Group, nor the firm immediately responded to a request for comment. Daniel Roth, a research director for the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, said the Treasury’s action represented a “giant stride” toward thwarting the IRGC’s illicit oil exports.

☆ An Iranian patrol vessel tried to blind the bridges of US Navy ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, US military says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An Iranian vessel tried to blind the bridges of US Navy ships on Monday, CENTCOM said. Two US Navy ships were conducting a routine crossing through the Strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy patrol boat crossed within 150 yards of the ships at night. "The Iranian vessel attempted to blind the bridge by shining a spotlight and crossed within 150 yards of the US ships — dangerously close, particularly at night," CENTCOM said, adding that the US Navy ships were conducting a routine crossing in international waters. In late November, the US Navy said an Iranian-made suicide drone was used in an attack on a commercial tanker while it was sailing in the Northern Arabian Sea.

☆ Iran’s Top Paramilitary Commander Warns Protesters in Eastern Province Against Unrest
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iran’s top paramilitary commander on Sunday visited a restive province in eastern Iran, where the military has attempted to violently suppress a two-month-old protest movement, to warn locals against further unrest. Major General Hossein Salami , the commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, traveled to Sistan-Baluchistan’s capital of Zahedan, where he praised the Baloch minority who live there for their “chivalry, zeal, love, loyalty and sacrifice,” according to the Fars news agency. At the same time, he threatened more crackdowns on protesters he alleged were being manipulated by foreign powers.

☆ Iran's violent crackdown against protesters escalates in parts of the country
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Alexander Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The group, which focuses on human rights in Iranian Kurdistan, said that at least 1,500 people have been injured. Scenes from reported clashes in the northeastern Iranian city of Javanrud, shared by a Kurdish human rights group on Tuesday. The regime-aligned agency blamed the violence on “rioters” and “Kurdish separatists” who infiltrated crowds of protesters and attacked an IRGC base. Some protesters have called for an overthrow of the regime and “death to the dictator” — meaning Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. These have been condemned by Kurdish officials and the Iraqi government, despite the latter being dominated by parties close to Iran.

☆ U.S. sanctions Iranian officials amid Tehran's ongoing crackdown on protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday targeted three Iranian security officials under human rights-related sanctions, the U.S. Treasury Department said, citing Tehran's ongoing crackdown on protesters in Kurdish-majority areas. The sanctions hit two officials in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj, Governor Hassan Asgari and Alireza Moradi, the commander of the city's law enforcement forces. The Treasury said Asgari and other officials provided a false cause of death for a 16-year-old protester reportedly killed by security forces. Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets of those designated and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.

☆ Iran Attacks Kurdish Groups in Iraq That It Blames for Unrest
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Benoit Faucon | Ghassan Adnan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The missile strikes are part of Iran’s campaign to retaliate against outside groups and foreign governments that it has blamed for supporting unrest at home. Iran launched drones and missiles against Kurdish groups in northern Iraq on Monday, the second time in a week, as the Islamic Republic intensifies efforts to suppress a two-month-old protest movement inside its bordersIran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, said Monday it targeted Kurdish military bases in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, alleging factions there are fomenting unrest in Iran.

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