Our Publications
Articles and Reports
February 21, 2013
Talks with Iran over its nuclear program resume next week in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The stakes are high. Pressure from sanctions has increased, but Iran’s nuclear progress continues as well. Last year, the P5+1 negotiating partners – the five members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany – offered Iran an interim deal that addressed some...
International Enforcement Actions
February 7, 2013
A U.S. district court in New York charged Hamid Reza Hashemi, Murat Taskiran, and Amir Abbas Tamimi on December 5, 2012 with illegally exporting and attempting to export goods such as carbon fiber and helicopter parts from the United States to Iran.
Roundtables
February 6, 2013
During the past year, the United States, the European Union, and others have put into place the strongest sanctions yet against Iran. These measures restrict business with Iran’s energy, financial, and transport sectors and, in the case of the United States, penalize foreign companies and governments that support these sectors. Nevertheless,...
Articles and Reports
February 6, 2013
A tough new U.S. sanctions measure against Iran goes into effect today, restricting foreign governments from remitting payments for Iranian oil back to Tehran. The payments now must be kept within the banking system of the oil-importing country and can be used by Iran only to purchase local goods. If the local bank transfers the Iranian funds...
International Enforcement Actions
January 30, 2013
Spanish police have broken up a smuggling ring that was planning to ship nuclear components to Iran. The police operation, dubbed "Operation Alfa," began in March 2012. It resulted in two arrests and the interception of a truck owned by the Spanish company Fluval Spain S.L. and carrying dozens of highly corrosion-resistant Inconel 625 valves. The...
International Enforcement Actions
January 10, 2013
On January 8, 2013, retired British businessman Christopher Tappin was sentenced to 33 months in prison in an El Paso, Texas federal court for attempting to illegally export batteries used in the Hawk air defense missile to Iran via Britain or the Netherlands. In 2006, Tappin offered to sell the missile batteries for $25,000 to undercover U.S....
International Enforcement Actions
December 15, 2012
A U.S. district court in New York indicted Iranian citizen Alireza Moazimi Goudarzi on November 15, 2012, for his alleged role in illegally exporting and attempting to export military and civilian aircraft parts from the United States to Iran. Goudarzi used multiple pseudonyms, such as “Mikel Scofield,” “Mike Brown,” and “Sebastian Wilson,” and a...
Articles and Reports
October 12, 2012
"Facts matter." That's what Vice President Joe Biden said during the portion of last night's debate with Congressman Paul Ryan that related to Iran. Facts especially matter when discussing what the debate's moderator called the biggest national security threat facing the United States. So, how were Vice President Biden and Congressman Ryan on the...
International Enforcement Actions
September 30, 2012
An increasing number of countries are refusing to flag vessels affiliated with the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), and are revoking flags from IRISL vessels, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. In June, Sierra Leone revoked its flag from the Amin, a vessel owned by the U.N. sanctioned IRISL affiliate Irano-Hind. Since then...
Articles and Reports, Wisconsin Project Investigations
August 2, 2012
Nearly four years after the United States first sanctioned the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) and its fleet, the company appears to be struggling to stay afloat. IRISL has been scrambling in recent months, setting up new front companies, dissolving others, swapping personnel, re-naming vessels, and re-flagging ships to...