TOP STORIES
Two Iranian Supreme Court Judges Shot Dead In Rare Tehran Attack | The Washington Post
In a rare shooting in downtown Tehran, two prominent judges from the country’s Supreme Court have been killed and another wounded, according to Iranian state media reports. Little information was released about the attacker, but at least one of the judges killed was known to handle death penalty cases for activists and opposition members. Violent attacks like this shooting are uncommon in Iran, a country where the arms of state security maintain tight control of society. Footage from outside the Supreme Court building on Saturday showed security forces filling the street and yellow police tape cordoning off the area. “At 10 a.m. this morning an individual entered the room of the judges of judiciary with a pistol and targeted the superior judges,” said Asghar Jahangir, the spokesman for Iran’s judiciary.
Italian Reporter’s Ordeal In Iranian Prison: ‘I Was Trapped In A Game’ | The New York Times
After Iran elected a more moderate president last year, Cecilia Sala, an Italian journalist, thought something may have changed in the country, which she had been covering from afar. For two years, Iran had rejected her application for a journalist visa, but it granted her one after the election. Colleagues and friends told her Iran’s new government seemed more open to foreign reporters as it sought to repair relations with Europe. Ms. Sala, 29, had not traveled to Iran since 2021, before an uprising led by women and girls demanded an end to clerical rule. So she took a plane to Tehran, the capital. “I wanted to see with my eyes what had changed,” she said in an interview recently in Rome. Instead, she got firsthand experience of what had not changed.
Iran Needs to Strike Nuclear Understanding With Trump, IAEA Says | Bloomberg
Iran needs to reach an understanding over its atomic activity with the administration of Donald Trump in order to avoid being dragged into another military conflict in the Middle East, according to the world’s top nuclear regulator. Six-and-a-half years after Trump abrogated an agreement that gave the Islamic Republic sanctions relief in exchange for strict limits on its nuclear activities, Iran’s stockpile of near bomb-grade enriched uranium is surging to new record highs. “There was an agreement that existed before President Trump decided that was not the path he wanted to follow,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Tuesday in Davos.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Trump’s Iran Policy Puts Focus On $30 Billion-A-Year Oil Revenue | Bloomberg
Donald Trump could blow a $30 billion hole in Iran’s economy should he return to a maximum pressure campaign on Tehran. Over the past four years, sanctions evasion and more relaxed US enforcement have allowed the Middle Eastern nation to boost oil exports by about 1 million barrels a day, with most of the supply going to China, according to Bloomberg’s tanker tracking data and estimates by commercial and government organizations. But that could change quickly. The incoming president’s key advisers are looking at a big sanctions package that hits major players in Iran’s oil industry, which could come as early as February, people familiar with the plan said this month… During the Biden administration’s four-year term, Iran sold $140 billion of crude to China, accounting for more than 80% of its total sales, according to the advocacy group United Against a Nuclear Iran. That would put total Iranian oil revenue at roughly $175 billion over the period, or $44 billion a year.
Middle East experts are calling out NBC’s Lester Holt after they claim he failed to challenge Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's "bold-faced lies" during his interview aired Tuesday – including that Iran never attempted to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump. "The American media has been for a very long time way too deferential and accommodating to the Islamic Republic's leadership," Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against a Nuclear Iran, said. The justice department announced in November that Iranian national Farhad Shakeri, 51, had been tasked by the IRGC with "providing a plan to kill President-elect Donald J. Trump." Pezeshkian denied any Iranian involvement in the plot against Trump’s life, alleging that it was an Israeli false-flag operation meant to promote "Iranophobia."
DONALD Trump's most pressing task after being sworn in as president revolves around restoring American prestige on the world stage, according to an expert on the Iranian regime. Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, blasted how weak leadership from the U.S. over several decades had emboldened America’s adversaries. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have never been higher, and the world is waiting to see how Donald Trump will deal with the Islamic regime once he is sworn into office. He will be sworn into office just months after reports claimed there was an Iranian plot to kill him. These are allegations Iran strongly denies. But the Iranian regime has come under strain and is trying to navigate challenges on different fronts.
Trump Says In Inaugural Address He’ll Avoid Foreign Military Entanglements | Jewish Insider
[…] Jason Brodsky, the policy director for United Against Nuclear Iran, said a strike would be "very much consistent with the president's philosophy of peace through strength." "The best way to avoid wars is to deter U.S. adversaries. Israel has demonstrated in its two strikes on Iranian soil over the last year that it is possible to launch targeted airstrikes against the Iranian system without triggering a large-scale war," Brodsky said. "This has overturned flawed assumptions that have guided American thinking on Iran for decades - that if you hit Iranian soil, it automatically results in a war akin to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. But that's incorrect." "In fact, Israel's operation against Iran in October later pushed Hezbollah into a ceasefire.
Former U.S. diplomat Barry Rosen was among the 52 Americans held hostage by a group of hard-line students who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran following the Islamic Revolution in 1979. On the 41st anniversary of his release and the end of the 444-day hostage crisis, Rosen has gone on hunger strike to push for the release of what he calls other “hostages”: dual nationals and foreign citizens jailed in the Islamic republic. Rights groups have accused Iran of holding them as bargaining chips for money or influence in Tehran’s dealings with the West… Rosen, a senior advisor to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a U.S.-based lobbying group that opposes the nuclear agreement and has pushed for tougher sanctions against Tehran, says Washington should not strike a deal with Iran if the country holds foreign nationals in prison.
NUCLEAR DEAL & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Attack On Iran’s Nuclear Program More Likely With Trump Presidency | Al Arabiya News
European diplomats are scrambling to see if there is a way to minimize the risk of a military attack on Iran’s nuclear program ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. “We believe Israel has taken the decision to attack following the developments in the Middle East over the last several months,” one senior European diplomat, who, like others Al Arabiya English spoke to, said on condition of anonymity. The diplomat did not say the attack was believed to be imminent but said several European countries have opened talks with the incoming Trump team to see if there is a chance for diplomacy or another way of preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Britain, France and Germany held talks with Iran on Monday over Tehran’s nuclear program after secret meetings took place in November without any publicity.
Iran Extolls Deterrence Of Nuclear Program On Trump's First Day Back | Iran International
Iran's nuclear program is central to strengthening national security and deterring international threats, a top official said on Monday as hawkish President Donald Trump returned to the White House after repeatedly vowing to deny Tehran a bomb. “Over the years, adversaries have tried to weaken Iran in this field and entangle the country in international issues," Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said during a military conference in Tehran. "That is precisely why they do not want Iran to have full, indigenous control over it.” Kamalvandi emphasized that the nuclear program not only strengthens Iran's international position but also drives domestic progress. “This industry has significant impacts on people’s lives,” he added, highlighting applications for energy, medicine, agriculture, and environmental protection.
SANCTIONS, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Iran Blackouts Leave Industry In Tatters Ahead Of Trump’s Return | Bloomberg
Iranian businessman Amin Samieepour is no stranger to power outages during his three-decade career, yet he can’t recall a worse time than the current run of blackouts immobilizing his kitchenware factory. “It’s terrifying to have electricity cut off during working hours, leaving your staff idle,” Samieepour, 42, said. “The current situation is at its most disastrous state, and it’s only going to get worse in the near future.” Since November, producers have been denied electricity for as many as two days a week as the aging grid staggers under international sanctions and lack of foreign investment. The regime is bracing for a harder road ahead, with incoming US President Donald Trump pledging maximum pressure and preparing a new sanctions package targeting the oil industry.
MISSILE PROGRAM
Iran Using AI For Precise Missile Strikes, Says IRGC Chief | Iran International
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has integrated artificial intelligence (AI) into its missile systems to improve precision, it's commander-in-chief said Sunday. “With artificial intelligence, we have developed technology to strike targets without harming innocents,” Hossein Salami said Sunday at an event honoring Iranian medical staff who treated Hezbollah members injured in the September 2024 pager attacks. The Israeli operation targeted thousands of pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 32 people and injuring over 3,250. Salami described the pager attacks as “akin to weapons of mass destruction,” aimed at dismantling morale and creating chaos.
TERRORISM & EXTREMISM
Iranian Court Sentences Pop Star Tataloo To Death For Blasphemy | The Guardian
An Iranian court has sentenced the popular singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death on appeal after he was convicted of blasphemy, according to local media reports. “The supreme court accepted the prosecutor’s objection” to a previous five-year jail term on offences including blasphemy, the reformist newspaper Etemad reported on Sunday. It said “the case was reopened, and this time the defendant was sentenced to death for insulting the prophet”, referring to Islam’s prophet Muhammad. The report added that the verdict was not final and could still be appealed against. The 37-year-old underground musician had been living in Istanbul since 2018 before Turkish police handed him over to Iran in December 2023.
Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Reveals Horror Of Captivity In Iranian Jail | POLITICO
Cecilia Sala on Sunday detailed the horror of being locked up in one of Iran’s most notorious prisons. “I was being interrogated for 10 hours straight, hooded and with my face to the wall,” Sala said during an interview at “Che Tempo Che Fa,” a popular Italian TV program, after her release earlier this month. “During one interrogation, I collapsed so they gave me a pill to calm me down,” she said, adding that the interrogator would use psychological techniques to “break her.” “In some moments they try to make you relax by giving you a prize, such as a date or a cigarette, and other times they try to break you by giving you bad news,” she said. Sala was arrested by Iranian authorities on Dec. 19 and accused of “violating the law of the Islamic Republic” while on a reporting trip in Tehran.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Gaza Ceasefire Puts Iranian Hostage Diplomacy In The Spotlight | Iran International
Aceasefire deal announced this week between Israel and Hamas signals a defeat for the Palestinian militant group's main backer Iran, a former hostage in Tehran who also influenced the ceasefire negotiations told Iran International. Nizar Zakka, head of Hostage Aid Worldwide, was abducted in 2015 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after attending a conference in Tehran. The US-Lebanese dual national was locked up four years in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, spending 18 months in solitary confinement, despite being officially invited to the country by a Vice President at the time. Zakka was released June 2019 in exchange for Negar Qods Kani, an Iranian prisoner in the United States. “The whole concept of hostage taking has been created and developed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. They (Iran) have built their foreign policy based on hostage taking,” said Zakka on this week’s episode of Eye for Iran podcast.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS & NEGOTIATIONS
Biden Team Stressed Iran Threats In Departing Briefing For Trump Team | Semafor
Outgoing US President Joe Biden’s White House homeland security team urged President-elect Donald Trump’s team to focus on a number of major threats that include Iran’s plots against dissidents and current and former US officials, according to details of the private briefing shared with Semafor. Liz Sherwood-Randall, Biden’s top homeland security adviser, briefed the incoming Trump team headed by Stephen Miller on seven top priorities. Beyond “Iranian lethal plotting” against its own domestic dissidents and current and US former officials, the outgoing officials also stressed the need to counter global and domestic terrorism, including racially and ethnically motivated threats; and biological threats like the avian flu outbreak and those arising from coinciding advancements in artificial intelligence and biotechnology.
Incoming Trump Administration May Go 'As Far As War' With Iran, Expert Says | France 24
The incoming US administration under Donald Trump may go "as far as war" with Iran, said Eberhard Kienle, research professor at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). While Trump appears to prefer pressure through economic sanctions, “with Iran, there may be an exception ... maximum pressure may go as far as war,” Kienle said.
Iran Says Hopes Trump Will Take ‘Realistic’ Approach To Region | Al Arabiya News
Iran said Monday it hoped the incoming US administration under Donald Trump would adopt a “realistic” approach and show “respect” for the interests of countries in the region. Trump will be sworn in for a second term as US president on Monday. “We hope that the approaches and policies of the [new] US government will be realistic and based on international law and respect for the interests and desires of the nations of the region, including the Iranian nation,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press briefing. Baqaei lambasted the outgoing administration of Joe Biden over its support for Israel in its war with Hamas. He also said Biden’s administration had failed to “show any seriousness” in reviving the nuclear deal with Iran.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Gaza Cease-Fire Begins After Last-Minute Delay | The Wall Street Journal
A cease-fire in Israel’s war with Hamas went into force in the Gaza Strip on Sunday after a last-minute delay, halting 15 months of conflict and paving the way for the militant group to release Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The fragile truce pauses a war that is among the deadliest in modern Middle East history, killing 46,000 Palestinians and reducing much of the strip to ruins following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people and seized about 250 hostages. If it holds, the cease-fire could also ease tensions in the region after more than a year of a conflict that drew in the U.S., Iran and Tehran’s allied militias across the Middle East, including the first direct exchanges of fire between Israel and Iran and an Israeli offensive against Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement last year.
Houthis Planned To Send 'Hundreds Of Thousands' Of Fighters To Israel | I24 News
[…] According to al-Houthi, the pro-Iranian factions are now closely following the stages of the agreement's implementation. "We are ready for any stage in which the Israeli enemy will return to escalation and will violate the agreement," the Houthi leader threatened. "We are constantly on alert and our hands are on the pulse. The renewal of our activity is linked to the level of commitment of the enemy." He hailed the unity between the Iran-backed groups in opposing Israel and its international allies. He added that the Houthis received threats from the US following the attacks launched on Israel's southern city of Eilat. According to him, however, "we continued our operation and emphasized the stability of our position." According to the IDF, the Houthis have so far fired about 40 ballistic missiles at the country's territory, most of which the IDF intercepted. More than 300 unmanned aircraft have been launched at Israel as well, of which more than 100 were intercepted by various defense systems.
ECONOMIC WARFARE
Syria Bans Goods From Russia, Iran, Israel | The Kyiv Independent
Syria's new administration has banned all Russian, Iranian, and Israeli goods from entering the country in a new decree issued by the country's finance minister on Jan. 17. Any relevant goods discovered at land and sea border crossings will be confiscated, according to the ban, reported regional media outlets. The decision came shortly after the country had restricted entry of Iranian and Israeli passport holders. Ukraine has moved quickly to restore ties with Syria after rebels overthrew the Russia-backed regime of former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8. Under the previous regime, Russia had military bases in Syria that it used for operations in Africa and the Middle East.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Gunman Shoots Dead 2 Judges In Iran’s Capital Tied To 1988 Mass Executions | Associated Press
A man fatally shot two prominent hard-line judges in Iran’s capital Saturday, officials said, both of whom allegedly took part in the mass execution of dissidents in 1988. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the shootings of the judges, clerics Mohammad Mogheiseh and Ali Razini. However, Razini’s involvement in the 1988 executions had likely made him a target in the past, including an assassination attempt in 1999. Their killings, a rare attack targeting the judiciary, also come as Iran faces economic turmoil, the mauling of its Mideast allies by Israel and the return of Donald Trump to the White House on Monday. Both clerics served on Iran’s Supreme Court, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. A bodyguard for one of the judges also was wounded in the attack at the Palace of Justice in Tehran, which also serves as the headquarters of the country’s judiciary and typically has tight security.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei attended the Sunday funeral of two senior Iranian Supreme Court judges involved in handling espionage and terrorism cases who were shot dead in the capital, Tehran, on Saturday. Khamenei looked a bit chunkier than usual today when he was praying over the bodies of the two judges in #Iran who were killed yesterday. Bulletproof vest? If so, that's pretty revealing as to the paranoia in the regime as this was a ceremony held with judiciary officials present. Notably, photos from the event show the supreme leader appearing a bit bulkier than usual, hinting that he may have even attended the funeral wearing a protective vest. This theory is further backed by the fact that even two days later, Iran still doesn't understand a clear motive for the killer, causing mass speculation and rumors of civil unrest.
IRANIAN REGIONAL AGGRESSION
Tehran Rules Out Negotiations With The West Over Its Military Capabilities | Iran International
Iran will never negotiate over its military capabilities, the foreign ministry spokesman told reporters on Monday, in response to questions about potential Western demands to limit Tehran’s ballistic missile program. "Iran has never discussed its military capabilities with anyone and never will," spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, when asked if Iranian diplomats had addressed potential missile limitations during their meeting with European representatives last week. The issue of limiting the country's long-range missiles has been a topic of discussion for years. When the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement was signed, Tehran committed not to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. The United Nations recognizes the agreement as part of Resolution 2231, which formalized the terms of the JCPOA.
RUSSIA, SYRIA, ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH, LEBANON & IRAN
What We Know About Russia's Planned Gas Pipeline To Iran | Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans on Friday to build a gas pipeline to Iran aimed at eventually transporting up to 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year to the West Asian country Following are some details and background about cooperation between Iran and Russia in the gas sector: Iran has the world's second-largest gas reserves after Russia, but U.S. sanctions have hindered access to technology and slowed development of gas exports. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Russian energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) signed a memorandum of understanding worth around $40 billion in July 2022. Gazprom pledged to help NIOC in the development of the Kish and North Pars gas fields and also six oil fields. Gazprom also planned to be involved in the completion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects and construction of gas export pipelines.
Russia, Iran To Seal Partnership Treaty Days Before Trump Takes Office | Fox News
Two of America’s adversaries are solidifying their ties just days before President-elect Trump makes his historic return to the Oval Office. On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are meeting in Moscow to sign a partnership treaty. Pezeshkian, who won the presidency in Iran’s July runoff election, is set to engage in talks with Putin and participate in the partnership pact-signing during his first trip to Moscow as president. "Iran is an important partner for us with which we are developing multifaceted co-operation," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told press, according to a Reuters report. Russia and Iran’s leaders are expected to discuss the development of transit corridors for trade and energy negotiations, Bloomberg reported.
Iran Signals To Russia It Is Time To End Ukraine War As It Signs Strategic Deal | The National
Iran told its ally Russia on Friday that it supports a “political settlement” to the war in Ukraine after almost three years of fighting. Speaking at the Kremlin next to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said “engaging in combat and war” was “not a solution to the problem”. He said Tehran would “welcome a political settlement between Russia and Ukraine”. The two leaders signed a broad co-operation treaty in Moscow as they announced plans to boost trade and energy ties in the face of western sanctions, which are partly linked to the war in Ukraine. Mr Putin said the pact will give “additional momentum to almost all areas of co-operation”. The Kremlin said the treaty will cover “military-political ties”, as Ukraine's allies accuse Iran of supplying Russia with drones and missiles for the war effort.
OTHER FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Saudi Crown Prince Moves To Exploit Void Left By Iran | Bloomberg
Shortly after Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun was chosen this month as its next president, giant banners of him and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman were unfurled on a building’s façade in the northern province of Akkar, hailing Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler as the “leader of the Arabs.” The oil-rich kingdom and its 39-year-old leader — who backed Aoun to get the presidency — are emerging as one of the biggest winners in the fallout of the 15-month conflict in Gaza, which has tilted the balance of power in the Middle East against its longtime rival Iran. As a fragile ceasefire deal came into effect on Sunday, Tehran’s influence has been crippled, for now: its proxies in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories decimated, its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad deposed and its enemy Israel emboldened. Saudi Arabia is wasting no time filling the void.
MISCELLANEOUS
A former CIA analyst pleaded guilty Friday to leaking information on a planned Israeli attack on Iran. Asif Rahman, 34, was arrested by the FBI in November weeks after classified documents appeared on the Telegram messaging app. He entered guilty pleas in federal court in Virginia to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defense, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Prosecutors say Rahman, a CIA employee since 2016, abused his access to top-secret information by accessing, removing and printing out two documents related to Israel and a planned attack on Iran. He then shared them with people not authorized to receive them.