TOP STORIES
The White House on Monday said Russia is looking to buy additional advanced attack drones from Iran for use in its war against Ukraine after using up most of the 400 drones it had previously purchased from Tehran. The Biden administration last year publicized satellite imagery and intelligence findings that it said indicated Iran sold hundreds of attack drones to Russia. And for months, officials have said the United States believed Iran was considering selling hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia, but Washington did not have evidence a deal was consummated.
Iran Executes Five People Over Drug Trafficking | AFP
Iranian authorities on Monday executed five people over "armed drug smuggling" in the south of the country, the judiciary reported. The convicts, "all criminals and armed drug smugglers," had been sentenced to death by hanging in a verdict upheld by Iran's top court, the judiciary's website Mizan Online quoted Mojtaba Ghahramani, Chief Justice of the southern province of Hormozgan, as saying. "The sentences of the aforementioned were carried out this morning in Bandar Abbas and Minab prisons" in Hormozgan, he added.
New US Report Alleges Religious Freedom Violations In China, Iran, India | ABC News
The State Department's latest survey of religious freedom around the world shows that conditions in some of the most oppressive nations around the world are growing even more dire as well as new, troubling trends, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. "Governments in many parts of the world continue to target religious minorities using a host of methods, including torture, beatings, unlawful surveillance, and so-called re-education camps," he said.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Iran’s Aggressive Actions Draw Mixed Messages From Washington | New York Sun
…Washington, though, is yet to hold Tehran accountable. “We’re not doing it now,” the policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, Jason Brodsky, tells the Sun. “We’re not holding the Islamic Republic responsible. Killing an American citizen has to carry a stronger response than hitting at proxies in Syria.”
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Israeli FM In Sweden, Applauds Move To Blacklist Iran's IRGC | Al-Monitor
On a visit to Stockholm on Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen discussed with his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom Iranian militant activity in the Middle East and in Europe. Their meeting came just five days after the Swedish Parliament called on the European Union to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. A statement issued by the Israeli Foreign Ministry noted this was a first visit of an Israeli foreign minister to Stockholm in 22 years, marking a new page in bilateral relations.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Iran Cyber-Police Threatens Beauty Salons, Gyms Over Hijab | Iran International
Iran's Cyber-Police (FATA) has threatened women fashion businesses, surgery clinics and gyms with closure over unveiled photos in their social media content. Ramin Pashaei, deputy chief of FATA, said Monday Cyber Police aims at “clearing the [Persian language] cyberspace of immoral content” and warned that any social media content considered “outside norms and against moral standards” would bring about prosecution. Authorities accuse boutiques, beauty salons, modelling agencies, gyms and plastic surgery establishments of encouraging women not to wear the hijab by their “immoral” content.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
The Growing Threat Of Cyber Cooperation Between Russia And Iran | The Dispatch
Since 2021, Russia and Iran have undertaken extensive cybersecurity cooperation, most of which has focused on common defensive measures. However, in late March, Moscow delivered a substantial upgrade to the Islamic regime’s digital arsenal. As the Wall Street Journal has reported, the Kremlin is now delivering powerful surveillance software to Tehran. The prospect of enhanced Iranian cyber capabilities should obviously concern U.S. officials. Tehran has undertaken increasingly aggressive and disruptive cyberattacks against America and its partners over the last decade.
Ukraine Downs Four Iranian Drones | Iran International
Four Iranian-made kamikaze drones launched by Russia have been shot down by Ukraine’s air defense, according to Kiev officials. Ukraine's Air Force Command says it brought down the Shahed pilotless vehicles overnight, along with a Russian-made Orlan-10 drone. The clash took place in the air over the northeast of Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly used Iran-made drones as well as guided bombs in its invasion of Ukraine.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Urban Slums And A Construction Recession In Iran’s Cities | Iran Focus
Iranian regime outlets have reported a decrease in housing construction in the capital of Iran to “the lowest level in the past 23 years.” A housing expert has also warned about the growth of “shantytown” around Tehran. In an interview with the state-run Entekhab website published on May 13, Ahmadreza Sarhadi, a housing expert, warned about the phenomenon of “shared houses” and “rooftop sleeping” in Tehran, explaining how people’s incomes cannot provide for their basic necessities, including mortgages. “Some people cannot even afford to rent a house in the southern neighborhoods of Tehran.
CONGRESS & IRAN
Senators To Get Secret Iran Briefing | POLITICO
Outgoing Deputy Secretary of State WENDY SHERMAN, Undersecretary of Defense COLIN KAHL, Deputy Director of National Intelligence MORGAN MUIR, Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence BRIAN NELSON and Vice Adm. STEPHEN KOEHLER, the Joint Staff’s chief of strategy, policy and plans, will be on Capitol Hill at 4 p.m. for the classified briefing. One person who won’t be there is ROB MALLEY, the special envoy for Iran deal talks, who we’re told is on leave by two people (they, like others, were granted anonymity to freely discuss details of a classified session). His deputy, ABRAM PALEY, will accompany Sherman in his stead.
Republican Study Committee Pushes To Strengthen Iran Sanctions | Jewish Insider
The Republican Study Committee is pushing ahead with new legislation that aims to expand current U.S. sanctions on Iran and make it harder for the administration to lift them as part of any potential agreement with Iran. The RSC, whose membership includes around 70% of the Republican conference, introduced a package of six bills in recent weeks that seeks to expand sanctions on the Iranian regime and its affiliates, and otherwise crack down on the Islamic republic. Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK), who chairs the RSC, told Jewish Insider the bills are aimed at “reinforcing” and strengthening the Trump-era sanctions regime targeting Iran, and accused the Biden administration of “appeasement.”
GULF STATES, YEMEN, & IRAN
UAE Official Discusses Cooperation With Iran’s Roads Minister | Al-Monitor
A top Iranian transportation official visited the United Arab Emirates on Monday. The visit comes amid the rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia and signaled continued strong UAE-Iran ties. Iran’s Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash visited Abu Dhabi where he met the UAE’s Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan as well as UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al Mazroui. Bazrpash was in the city for the Middle East Rain conference and discussed bilateral cooperation with the Emirati officials, according to the Emirates News Agency.
