Iran

Since our inception, CUFI has been opposed to the radical regime in Iran and its vehement hatred of Israel. Iran’s obsession with destroying Israel began in 1979 after the violent Islamic Revolution empowered radical fundamentalists committed to dominating the Middle East. Ever since, Iran’s hatred of Israel and the United States has been the foundation of its foreign policy.

Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Iran’s proxies, including the terrorist-army Hezbollah, are all over the world. CUFI is committed to countering Iran’s malevolence through sanctions on the Islamic Republic and efforts to disrupt military and financial support of Hezbollah. Furthermore, CUFI supports the Iranian people and those who protest Tehran’s tyranny as they seek regime change from the Islamic Republic’s oppressive government.

Iran capable of enriching uranium to weapon-grade level, Rouhani warns

04/15/2021
Rouhani asserts that Iran not aiming to create nukes, vows to slash enrichment to 2015 threshold if US rejoins

Tehran could begin enriching uranium to weapons-grade level, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani warned Thursday in his remarks on state TV, as cited by the Russian TASS agency.
He stressed, however, that creating nuclear…

America’s Middle East allies unite against Iran

04/12/2021

The renewal of indirect talks last week between the United States and Iran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal—the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—appears to have escalated tensions in the Middle East, as Israel makes it clear to its ally that it will not accept Iranian nuclear capability.

Israeli media reported on Sunday…

Iran has begun 60% uranium enrichment – Chief nuclear negotiator

04/13/2021

In a potentially unprecedented escalation, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi announced on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic has begun 60% uranium enrichment, according to state media, Reuters reported.

In order for uranium to be weaponized, it must be enriched to 90%.

Under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran had to stay…

Iran accuses Israel of attack on Natanz nuclear facility, vows ‘to take revenge’

04/12/2021
Iranian authorities described the incident a day earlier as an act of ‘nuclear terrorism’

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif openly accused Israel on Monday of launching an attack on the Natanz nuclear facility, where a power failure occurred on Sunday, and vowed “to take revenge,” state TV quoted him as saying on…

Iran

‘Battling Iran is a colossal mission,’ Netanyahu says following blackout at Iranian nuclear plant

04/11/2021
The shadow war against Iran has seen Israel become a global power, Netanyahu says

Battling Iran is a colossal mission, yet one that saw Israel grow in stature into a global power, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday amid reports that the Mossad intelligence agency was behind the blackout at an Iranian nuclear plant….

Iran testing nuclear-capable missiles, Israeli envoy warns: report

04/09/2021
Israel’s US, UN envoy Erdan warns of Iran’s violations amid renewed push for revitalizing 2015 deal

Israel warned the global community that Iran is testing nuclear-capable missiles amid the efforts to revitalize the 2015 nuclear accord, Israel Hayom reported on Friday.
The newspaper cited a letter penned by Israel’s envoy to the…

Israel notifies US it attacked Iranian ship in Red Sea – report

04/07/2021

Israel notified the US that it is responsible for the Tuesday attack on an Iranian cargo ship affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, an American official told The New York Times. 

A spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the Saviz was lightly damaged in the Red Sea off the coast of…

US set to join talks aimed at salvaging Iran nuclear deal

04/06/2021

The United States will on Tuesday join talks in Austria’s capital Vienna aimed at salvaging an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, which Washington withdrew from under then-president Donald Trump in 2018.

US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to reverse the decision of his predecessor and return to the 2015…

Iran adds advanced machines enriching underground at Natanz

04/01/2021

Iran has started enriching uranium with a fourth cascade, or cluster, of advanced IR-2m machines at its underground Natanz plant, a report by the U.N. atomic watchdog obtained by Reuters on Thursday showed, in a further breach of Iran’s nuclear deal.

“On 31 March 2021, the Agency verified at FEP that: Iran had begun feeding…

EU set to sanction more Iranians for human rights abuses, first since 2013, diplomats say

03/31/2021
The European Union is set to agree to sanction several Iranian individuals on Wednesday for human rights abuses, the first such measures since 2013, three EU diplomats said.

EU envoys are expected to agree to impose travel bans and asset freezes on the individuals, the diplomats said, and their names would be published next week,…

Iran’s new missile corvette could reshape naval doctrine

03/31/2021

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy (IRGC-N) is building a new class of warships, as first reported in Naval News last week based on satellite imagery. The catamaran design appears relatively large, modern and capable compared to existing IRGC commercial-based designs.

The sectarian arm of the Iranian military’s move to…

Iran rejects US offer to open nuclear talks amid offer to lift sanctions

03/30/2021

Iran has rejected a US offer – revealed in Politico on Tuesday – to launch negotiations over a new nuclear deal in exchange for the lifting of some American sanctions.

Iran said that it will not stop its 20% uranium enrichment before the US lifts all sanctions, Iranian state TV quoted an unnamed official as saying in reaction to…

U.S. senators push for Biden not to return to Iran nuclear pact

03/25/2021
Forty-three U.S. senators, many of whom opposed the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, appealed to President Joe Biden on Thursday to work toward an international agreement that addresses issues beyond just Tehran’s nuclear program.
The letter was released as the Democrat Biden’s administration explores ways to restore the nuclear pact…

Iran

Bipartisan group of more than 40 senators sound alarm on Iran’s nuclear program

03/25/2021

A bipartisan group of more than 40 senators is sounding the alarm on Iran’s nuclear program, urging President Biden to use a mix of “diplomatic and economic tools.”

The letter to Biden — led by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — comes as Biden seeks to…

Iran temporarily releases elderly Jewish man jailed for living in Israel

03/24/2021

The Islamic Republic of Iran has temporarily released the 65-year-old Iranian Jew Nourollah Shemian who was imprisoned for allegedly visiting Israel, according to a Tuesday report on the Persian-language website of the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

“The temporary release of Nourollah Shemian as the third recently…

Iran threatens to infiltrate US Army base, kill senior general: report

03/21/2021
NSA intercepted chatter in January that suggested IRGC was planning USS Cole-style attacks against the base

Iran reportedly made threats against a United States Army base in the nation’s capital and against the Army’s vice chief of staff, said two senior US intelligence officials according to The Associated Press (AP).
They…

Western officials fear Iran hiding equipment it could use to build nuke — report

03/22/2021

Iran is hiding equipment from international officials that could enable it to build a nuclear bomb, according to a Monday report.

Unnamed Western intelligence officials told The Telegraph that they fear Iran is concealing essential parts and pumps for centrifuges that are used to enrich uranium to the weapons-grade level of 90…

Iran concealing elements of nuclear activities, officials fear

03/22/2021

Iran is deliberately concealing key components of its nuclear programme from UN inspectors that can be used for producing nuclear weapons, according to the latest reports received by Western intelligence officials.

The equipment being hidden from UN inspectors includes machinery, pumps and spare parts for centrifuges, the machines…