TOP STORIES
CNN Gets A Rare Look At The Iranian Missiles And Drones That Hit Israel | CNN
“You have to ask the Israelis,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Brigadier General Ali Belali says with a smirk when asked how many ballistic missiles the Islamic Republic fired towards Israel in its April 14 strike. But he’s more than happy to show the missiles and drones Iran used in its first ever attack against Israel launched directly from Iranian soil. “It was a punitive measure,” Belali says, as he uses a laser pointer to indicate the missiles deployed, towering above him in the exhibit. Two weeks after the Middle East came to the brink of an all-out war, with Iran firing hundreds of projectiles toward Israel in retaliation for a suspected Israeli airstrike on an Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, Tehran is keen to show the world that it is capable of fighting a wider conflict should it be faced with one. On April 19, Israel responded with a suspected attack inside Iran’s borders. Both the Iranian and Israeli actions resulted in minimal damage and appeared by both sides to be aimed at restoring deterrence. That situation de-escalated, but the threat of war continues to loom large over the region as Israel’s offensive in Gaza grinds on.
Iran University Offers Scholarships To Expelled US Students | Newsweek
The head of a university in Iran is reportedly offering scholarships to students in the U.S. who have been expelled for taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campuses. Mohammad Moazzeni, head of Shiraz University in the southern region of Fars, extended his proposal to those protesting Israel's actions in its war against Hamas, following clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement across America. "Students and even professors who have been expelled or threatened with expulsion can continue their studies at Shiraz University and I think that other universities in Shiraz as well as Fars Province are also prepared [to provide the conditions]," he said, according to Irainian state-owned outlet Press TV. U.S. students have been facing arrest or expulsion following their actions in support of a ceasefire in Gaza and the divestment of their universities from companies which support Israel.
Iran Denies Banning IAEA Inspectors Ahead Of Grossi Visit | Iran International
Mohammad Eslami, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, again denied that Iran has restricted International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from entering the country. Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Eslami asserted that “over 130 inspectors are currently permitted to conduct their activities in Iran.” The statement comes amid ongoing tensions between Iran and the IAEA, which escalated in September when Tehran opposed the appointment one third of the inspectors. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said at the time that Iran’s “unprecedented” actions had hindered the agency’s inspection capabilities. “Iran has effectively removed about one third of the core group of the Agency’s most experienced inspectors designated for Iran,” Grossi stated, adding that this impacts the IAEA’s ability to perform effectively. However, Eslami claimed the barred inspectors exhibited "extremist political behavior," justifying Iran’s decision to ban them.
UANI IN THE NEWS
For the past few weeks, protests have rocked college campuses across the United States over Israel’s war against Hamas. Last night, police raided Columbia University to remove students occupying one of its buildings, while violence has broken out between protesting groups at UCLA in California. The pro-Palestine demonstrators portray themselves as defenders of human rights and social justice – viewing Israel through the warped lens of anti-colonialism and intersectionality. But in reality they have been amplifying the messaging of US-sanctioned terrorist organisations like Hamas. These entities have the blood of Americans, Israelis, and Palestinians on their hands. But none of this seems to bother the protestors. Nor do they seem concerned about the plight of people living under the most repressive governments in the world. Take Iran. A United Nations fact finding mission this year ‘found cases of women and girls subjected to rape and other forms of sexual gender-based violence, including gang rape, rape with an object, electrocution of genitalia, forced nudity, and groping’ during Woman, Life, Freedom protests against the Islamic Republic.
Iran Sanctions Royal Navy Captain Shooting Down Houthi Drones | The National
… Also on the list are Michael Rubin, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United against Nuclear Iran. Iran unveiled the punitive measures in a statement from its foreign ministry. The ministry said the sanctions include "blocking of accounts and transactions in the Iranian financial and banking systems, blocking of assets within the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic of Iran as well as prohibition of visa issuance and entry to the Iranian territory".
…According to estimates, Iran manages to launder at least 3 billion dollars annually just from the sale of prohibited oil, according to a report by The New York Times. The report stated that sanctions have failed to prevent billions of dollars worth of oil from leaving Iran in the past year. According to the website United Against Nuclear Iran, Iran exported 141.7 million barrels of oil in the first quarter of 2024, marking a 28% increase compared to the same period last year. Increased oil exports boost Tehran's foreign currency reserves and enable it to support its military industry. In addition to oil, which sustains the Iranian missile industry, one can add cryptocurrency theft through cyber attacks. Oil, arms sales, and cyber are revenue channels that Israeli intelligence struggles to confront.
…According to Kasra Aarabi, an expert on Iran, ”putting IRGC on the EU terror list is an important step to protect the national security, to protect our communities, particularly the Iranian diaspora and the Jewish community because there is a genuine terror threat and because they are not only targeting and conducting terror plots but theyr are also nurturing homegrown Shia islamist radicalization, using the Isis and Al Qaeda methods.” ”However, because IRGC is not proscribed (as a terror group), these activities are not outlawed. The current sanctions regime doesn’t prohibit ther IRGC’s ability to disseminate jihadist propaganda. Proscribing IRGC would help on that front but it is not going to change IRGC’s calculus. The only thing that will change the IRGC’s calculus at this point is targeted strikes against IRGC’s mlitary intelligence assets in the region and inside of Iran,” added Aarabi, a director of IRGC research at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) in London.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iranian prosecutors filed criminal charges on Wednesday targeting activists and journalists following a BBC report that alleged security forces had “sexually assaulted and killed” a 16-year-old girl during protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022. Nika Shakarami's death also sparked widespread outrage at the time. Amini died after being detained by police over allegedly not wearing her mandatory hijab, or headscarf, to their liking. U.N. investigators have said Iran is responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini's death. In Shakarami's case, authorities said she died after falling from a tall building, something immediately disputed by her mother, who said her daughter had been beaten.The BBC report published on Monday — relying on what it described as a report written for Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard — said Shakarami was detained by undercover security forces who molested her, then killed her with batons and electronic stun guns after she struggled against the assault.
European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell urged the need to keep working on nuclear non-proliferation in a phone call with Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Iran’s ongoing nuclear program continues to pose one of the world's biggest threats to peace. In April, Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, announced that Iran has significantly moved towards the threshold of being able to produce a nuclear bomb in days rather than weeks. According to his account on X, Borrell also stressed “the importance of restraint and de-escalation in the region,” which has witnessed intense tensions in recent weeks following tit-for-tat military attacks between Israel and Iran. “I explained EU’s sanctions on Iran’s UAVs and missiles,” Borrell wrote on X in reference to the recent bans against Tehran following the regime’s April 13 missile and drone offensive on Israeli territory. Further in his conversation with Iran’s top diplomat, Borrell discussed the case of EU citizens who have been detained in Iran, including a Swedish EU representative, one of multiple diplomatic hostages held in Iran.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
A University of Tehran professor said in an interview that Iran likes seeing protests on U.S. college campuses, adding those are their supporters if there is ever a conflict between the two countries. Professor Foad Izadi, who, according to the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy, earned his master’s degree from the University of Houston, was seen in a video published to social media and translated by MEMRI.org, being interviewed about the protests in the U.S. "Sooner or later, this kind of support for the Zionist regime by the American regime will diminish. It might not stop completely, but its diminishing is important," he said in the MEMRI video. "This is why the demonstrations [on U.S. campuses] are important." Izadi spoke as a member of the Islamic Republic, and oftentimes said, "we," referring to him and the republic. "We are watching the demonstrations and like what we see, but it should not end with this," Izadi said. "If not for the Islamic Republic, the case of the Palestinian idea would have been closed years ago. The idea of resistance belongs to Iran, but on the operational level, when it comes to recruiting connections and building networks, the [Iranian] state has not been involved in a sufficient level.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Women Join Iran's 'Ambassadors Of Kindness' Who Snatch Other Women From The Streets | Sky News
In Tehran's Revolution Square, two women clad in long black full hijab approach another woman, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and a hijab, or head scarf. She tries to walk away, but one of the women in full hijab grabs her by her sleeve and pulls her back, yanking her onto the ground. She is surrounded, wrapped in a blanket and bundled into a white van. The scene is from one of many videos that have been circulating widely on social media in recent weeks, showing incidents of the latest crackdown by Iran's so-called morality police. But this time, another enforcement group is more visibly working alongside the regime - and they are also women. Sky News has analysed dozens of videos showing incidents of authorities' renewed campaign targeting women for not properly wearing their hijab in accordance with the regime's strict sharia law. "Before this new wave of attacks started, I was planning to get rid of some of my longer clothes, because I don't feel comfortable in them," said Leila, an Iranian woman in her 20s living in Tehran. She spoke to Sky News on condition of anonymity.
Iran Commutes Billionaire Babak Zanjani's Death Sentence | BBC
An Iranian billionaire convicted of stealing nearly three billion dollars has had his death sentence commuted to a 20-year jail term. Babak Zanjani was convicted in 2016 of pocketing money from the oil ministry to circumvent US sanctions on Iran. He said he had been unable to hand over the cash because of sanctions on him. The news comes after Iran's judiciary said Mr Zanjani had agreed to work with authorities and his overseas assets had been transferred to Iran. The announcement was made by a spokesperson for Iran's judiciary, Asghar Jahangir, on Tuesday, according to the judiciary-run Mizan News Agency. Mr Jahangir said the decision was taken after a request by the head of Tehran's justice department, and approved by Iran's judiciary chief and the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian media have been speculating over Mr Zanjani's possible release after the judiciary announced in February that Mr Zanjani had agreed to work with the authorities, and that his assets abroad had been identified and transferred to Iran.
Nobel Laureate Pays Tribute To Murdered Iranian Teen | Iran International
The Instagram page managed on behalf of imprisoned human rights activist Narges Mohammadi released a video memorializing Nika Shakarami, a 16-year-old murdered by the Iranian security forces. Shakarami became an icon of the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising after her death in 2022 amid the nationwide protests after she was filmed burning her hijab. The post by the Iranian Nobel laureate condemned the actions of the Iranian regime, stating, "Brave Nika, your stature embodies the power of the protesters and the brutality of the aggressors. “What a scandalous regime the Islamic Republic is, arresting and imprisoning women under the pretext of their hair, and sexually assaulting the same women.” A recent BBC investigation unveiled a "highly confidential" document implicating three security personnel in the direct assault and murder of Shakarami. The report detailed a disturbing account of the events leading to her death, including an officer forcefully restraining her while others sexually assaulting her and beating her with batons. Despite her resistance, the sexual assault ended fatally, with the regime later falsely claiming she had committed suicide.
Four Baluch Prisoners Executed In Iran On Drug Charges | Iran Wire
Four Baluch prisoners were executed on April 30 at Birjand Central Prison in South Khorasan Province of Iran. The prisoners have been identified as Mehdi Eshterak, Mohammad Shah Bakhsh, and Mahmoud Gorgij, all from Zahedan. A fourth individual, a woman, remains unidentified. Human rights group Hengaw reported that all four had earlier been sentenced to death for drug-related offenses. The Baluch Activists Campaign confirmed that the Iranian judicial system handed down these sentences. According to a report by Amnesty International, Iran has reached its highest level of death sentence execution in the last eight years, with the judiciary of the Islamic Republic executing 853 people in 2023 alone. The report indicates that 481 executions, more than half of the total, were related to drug crimes. This marks an 89 percent rise in death penalties compared to 2022 when 255 people were executed for drug-related offenses.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Iranian Hackers Impersonate Journalists In Social Engineering Campaign | Cybersoop
Hacking group linked to the intelligence wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps impersonated journalists and human rights activists as part of a social engineering campaign, according to research released Wednesday by Mandiant and Google Cloud. The news organizations impersonated in the operation include The Washington Post, The Economist and The Jerusalem Post, and Mandiant’s researchers assess that the campaign was carried out by the hacking crew known as APT42. The group also spoofed prominent Washington think tanks, including the Aspen Institute, the McCain Institute and the Washington Institute. According to Mandiant, the Iranian hackers spoofed these organizations in order to send phishing lures to targets meant to harvest their credentials. In other cases, the attackers masqueraded behind generic login pages, file hosting services, and legitimate services like YouTube, Gmail, Google Meet and Google Drive.
Israel’s Iran Strike Bore Some Similarities To Tehran’s 2019 Saudi Arabia Attack | Forbes
Israel’s April 19 strike on Iran’s central Isfahan region was clearly aimed at demonstrating its capability to knock out some of Iran’s most advanced air defense missile systems. Ironically, the way Israel sent this message wasn’t wholly unlike how Iran executed a previous unclaimed attack against Saudi Arabia in 2019. Iran brushed off Israel’s attack on Isfahan, deriding the appearance of quadcopter drones swiftly downed by Tehran’s air defenses. Iran’s foreign minister even dismissed the drones as mere “toys,” stressing they caused no damage whatsoever and the attack was unworthy of any response. However, post-strike analysis confirmed much more than Tehran was letting on. Satellite imagery reviewed by The Economist revealed that an air-launched Israeli ballistic missile had directly hit a 30N6E2 Tombstone radar of a long-range Iranian S-300PMU-2, the most advanced Russian air defense system in Iran’s arsenal, at an Isfahan base. Iran swiftly swapped out the radar for another, which the Economist report notes isn’t interchangeable with the 30N6E2.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Khamenei Likely To Lose Grip On Parliament In Battle Over Speakership | Iran International
With an approaching run-off election to fill the final 32 parliamentary seats, and three weeks until the new Iranian parliament convenes, a fierce contest ensues among conservatives for the coveted Speaker's position. Like most other developments in Tehran, the battle over the Speaker's seat is seen as a crucial aspect of the broader preparation for the post-Khamenei era. Yet, no one knows for sure why Iranian conservatives are so confident that Khamenei's days are numbered. On one hand, conservative politicians vie fiercely for leadership, yet individual Iranians show apathy towards Majles leadership, evident in their lack of participation in the March 1 election, indicating their distrust in the system. However, the outcome is crucial for Ali Khamenei, who risks losing control if a dissenting figure like ultra hardliner Hamid Rasaei replaces incumbent Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is a relative of the Supreme Leader. Among the candidates for the seat, Ghalibaf, Paydari Party leaders Morteza Agha-Tehrani and Sadeq Mahsouli, as well as outspoken Hamid Rasaei have been pushing their own campaign for the election of the Speaker in the Majles (parliament).
CONGRESS & IRAN
Senators Press Biden Administration On Iran Crypto Mining | The Hill
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Angus King (I-Maine) pressed the Biden administration on Wednesday for information on how it is addressing Iran’s use of cryptocurrency mining to evade sanctions. “Iran has raised millions of dollars through mining crypto—a steady revenue source that allows it to purchase imports, move funds domestically and internationally, and fund Hamas and other terrorist organizations,” the senators said in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and National security advisor Jake Sullivan. “This ongoing activity by the Iranian government threatens our national security,” they added. Crypto mining, the process of verifying crypto transactions and minting new tokens, has become “increasingly lucrative” for Iran, which is subject to numerous U.S. and international sanctions over its nuclear program, Warren and King said. Bitcoin mining, in particular, funneled more than $186 million onto Iranian crypto platforms between 2015 and 2021, and Tehran was one of the top eight Bitcoin producing countries as of 2021, the pair noted in their letter.
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
Sheikh Mansour Discusses Trade With Iranian Minister | The National
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, received Mehrdad Bazrpash, Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development, in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. The two men discussed UAE-Iran co-operation, particularly in terms of expanding bilateral trade, state news agency Wam reported. The meeting, held at Qasr Al Watan, came as the UAE-Iran joint economic commission convened from Tuesday to Wednesday. It comes as the two countries continue to re-engage diplomatically, following the return of the UAE ambassador to Tehran in 2022 after the downgrading of ties in 2016. Iran imported $20.8 billion of goods from the UAE in its last fiscal year, ending in March 2024, according to the country's customs body. Re-engagement with Iran has also been positive across the Gulf, with analysts saying that Saudi Arabia has reaped the benefits of rapprochement.
Iran’s Khamenei Pooh-Poohs Arabs Normalizing With Israel | Times Of Israel
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that efforts underway to forge a normalization of ties between Israel and Arab countries will not resolve the crisis in the Middle East. “Some people think that by forcing neighboring countries to normalize their ties [with Israel] the problem will be solved,” said Khamenei. “They are wrong.” “Palestine should be returned to [Palestinians],” Khamenei said. “They should form their own regime, their own system, then that system should decide how to deal with the Zionists.” Khamenei’s remarks came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said Washington is nearly ready with a security package to offer Saudi Arabia if it normalizes relations with Israel. In Riyadh on a diplomacy trip to the region that also took in Jordan and Israel, Blinken said that the US and Saudi Arabia had done “intense work together” over the past few months towards a normalization accord between the kingdom and Israel, a deal that includes Washington giving Riyadh agreements on bilateral defense and security commitments, as well as nuclear cooperation.
Iran Worried About US Tying Up Saudi Arabia And Israel | Iran International
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned about ‘normalization with Israel’ Wednesday, as US and Saudi Arabia got closer to a bilateral deal that might help Washington's parallel efforts to normalize ties between Riyadh and Tel Aviv. The Biden administration has been trying to push Saudi Arabia and Israel to sign a peace agreement for months. A deal was said to be close last summer but it fell apart and effectively died on 7 October 2023, when Iran-backed Hamas rampaged Israeli border areas, killing several hundred civilians, and Israel began its onslaught on Gaza, which has killed at least 30,000 people. Now in his last six months in office, Joe Biden seems eager to somehow revive the pact with Saudi Arabia, even though Israel has rejected any notion of a Palestinian state, which is central to Saudi Arabia’s offer of ‘normalization.’ A trilateral deal, therefore, seems unlikely. But President Joe Biden is hoping that a second-choice bilateral deal with Saudi Arabia would help restrain the Israeli government, further isolate Iran, and keep the door open to a potential deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia at a later date.