Two rights groups have reported that eight people were executed in two Iranian prisons in the early hours of August 19. Haalvsh, a group that monitors rights violations against Iran's Baluch ethnic minority, said three Baluchis and two Afghan nationals were hanged in a prison in the central city of Yazd. Their charges varied from murder to carrying illicit drugs. Separately, the Oslo-based Iran Human Rights reported that three men had been executed in a prison in the southern city of Shiraz for similar charges. The group said Iran had executed at least 376 people this year. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

The chatbot ChatGPT has been used by a network of Iranian accounts to generate texts aimed at influencing the U.S. presidential election, according to the ChatGPT developer OpenAI. "We banned accounts linked to an Iranian influence operation using ChatGPT to generate content focused on multiple topics, including the U.S. presidential campaign," the company said in a statement on August 16. "We identified and took down a cluster of ChatGPT accounts that were generating content for a covert Iranian influence operation identified as Storm-2035," the statement said.

A new report says Iran is preparing to export Fath-360 and Ababil close-range ballistic missiles (CRBMs) to Russia and has started training Russian personnel to use the former.

There have been several reports since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 claiming Iran was gearing up to sell or had already supplied Russia with ballistic missiles. None of the reports was confirmed by U.S. or Ukrainian officials, and Iran continues to deny having armed or planning to arm Russia.

Analysts who spoke to RFE/RL were unsure about the latest report but added that if confirmed it would provide a boon for Russia's war efforts and have both benefits and pitfalls for Iran.

Russia's use of North Korean ballistic missiles briefly allayed concerns Moscow would turn to Iran to restock its inventory.

"However, the extensive demands of the battlefield may have strained North Korea's supply capabilities," Nicole Grajewski, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told RFE/RL.

She said Moscow might be seeking Iranian ballistic missiles as a strategy to "lessen its dependence on North Korea," which would allow Russia to play off Pyongyang and Tehran against each other, "potentially maximizing its strategic benefits."

A visit to Tehran on August 6 by Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, who previously served as the country's defense minister, fueled suspicions that Moscow was seeking to acquire Iranian missiles.

From Drones To Missiles

Since the early months of the Ukraine war, Russia was suspected of using Iranian-made Shahed and Mohajer-6 drones, many of which have been found after being shot down in Ukrainian cities and battlefields. Iran initially denied arming Russia before relenting and admitting that it had supplied "a limited number of drones" to Moscow before the war.

Despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Tehran continues to deny that its drones are being used by Russia against Ukraine. That has not stopped the United States and EU from imposing sanctions on Iran for helping Moscow.

Grajewski said Iranian drones "had a comparative advantage over the Russian ones in terms of technology, manufacturing, and operational use." But with ballistic missiles, it "is about quantity, not quality."

Aside from the reputational boost that would come from supplying ballistic missiles to Russia, Iran would also gain significant knowledge about how Fath-360 and Ababil perform in battle.

In addition, Grejewski said, the "operational use and any Russian modifications would potentially help Iran with some areas where its missiles tend to be lacking."

Earlier reports suggested Russia was eyeing Iran's Fateh-110 and Zolfaqar short-range ballistic missiles. But exporting those to Russia would put Iran in violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) range and payload thresholds, said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.

However, Fath-360 and Ababil are under the 300 km and 500 kg thresholds established by the MTCR.

"Nonetheless, that does not mean [CRBMs] should be ignored, as they help Russia conserve their own domestically produced long-range strike assets and are further signs of a deepening Russo-Iranian relationship," Taleblu argued.

Taking Risks To Grow Partnership

Not contravening the MTCR would still draw the ire of Western nations if Iran ends up supplying Russia with ballistic missiles.

UN restrictions on Iran's imports and exports of missiles expired in October 2023, but the United States and the E3 (Britain, France, and Germany) as well as the wider EU extended ballistic-missile sanctions against Iran.

"The E3 was resolute in their warnings to Iran," Grajewski said. "The supply of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would complicate any solution with the Iranian nuclear program."

Talks on restoring the nuclear deal have stalled and the agreement is set to expire in October 2025, so Iran may be looking to bolster its relations with Russia in case the prospects for reviving the deal disappear.

Iran took part in Russia's annual army exhibition, which was held in Moscow on August 12-14, and showcased some of its latest military technology including the Mohajer-10 drone -- the updated version of the Mohajer-6 that Russia has used in Ukraine.

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But Grajewski argued that more notable was the presence in Moscow of Brigadier General Ali Shadmani, a deputy commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters that is responsible for the operational command and control of Iran's armed forces.

Taleblu said Iran had received a combination of things for arming Russia with drones, including cash and gold, and maintained that "these vectors of cooperation are likely set to deepen."

"Iran is intent on moving up from the status of junior partner to Russia, which is one reason why the arms cooperation between the two over Ukraine is unlikely to be compartmentalized," he added.

The Revolutionary Court of Isfahan has acquitted Toomaj Salehi, an Iranian rapper who was sentenced to death over his protest songs against the Islamic republic.

Salehi’s lawyer said the court that heard his client's case in 2022 on the charge of "corruption on Earth" issued the ruling on August 14.

Amir Raesian said on X that Branch 5 of the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan had issued a verdict of acquittal in the case.

He added that the court also "issued a suspension of the prosecution order on other charges” and sent two charges of publishing computer lies and disturbing order to Criminal Court 2 with a “disqualification order.”

Salehi was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court in May on the "corruption on Earth” charge, but the Supreme Court overturned the punishment and referred the case to a parallel branch of the Revolutionary Court for reconsideration.

Salehi was serving a six-year prison sentence for his involvement in the 2022 protests that rocked Iran when he was sentenced to death on the "corruption on Earth” charge.

Salehi was initially arrested in October 2022 after making public statements in support of the protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died while in police custody for allegedly wearing her head scarf improperly.

Salehi gained prominence for lyrics that rail against corruption, widespread poverty, executions, and the killing of protesters in Iran. His songs also point to a widening gap between ordinary Iranians and the country's leadership, accusing the authorities of "suffocating" the people without regard for their well-being.

After spending much of his pretrial detention in solitary confinement, he was sentenced to six years in prison but released in November 2023 on appeal after the Supreme Court found "flaws in the original sentence." But he was arrested with "beatings" only 12 days later after a video describing his torture in prison was published.

In a letter published in late May, Amnesty International said Salehi had been tortured and beaten repeatedly during his detention.

The U.S. Justice Department charged U.S.-Iranian national Jeffrey Chance Nader on August 14 with crimes related to the alleged export of U.S.-manufactured aircraft components to Iran. The Justice Department accused Nader, 68, who was arrested on August 13 in California, and other associates of conspiring to purchase and illegally export four types of aircraft components totaling nearly three dozen individual pieces in violation of U.S. economic sanctions and other federal laws. Some of the components are used in military aircraft operated by Iran’s armed forces, including U.S.-made F-4 fighter jets. The Justice Department said the indictment demonstrates its “commitment to keeping military-grade equipment out of the hands of the Iranian regime.”

Iran has kept the world on edge since it promised to strike Israel more than two weeks ago -- a move experts say could plunge the region into an all-out war.

The promised attack by Islamic republic is meant as retaliation for the July 31 killing in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the U.S.- and EU-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said after the assassination that Iran was "duty-bound" to avenge its "guest."

An Iranian attack has been "imminent" for the past two weeks, and this anticipation has led to frequent bouts of hysteria on social media predicting an attack by Iran and its allies -- including Lebanese militant group Hizballah -- within hours.

"I think they really enjoy that: watching Israel stuck in this waiting period, paying a heavy economic and psychological price," said Raz Zimmt, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

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But the fallout from the anticipation is a double-edged sword that also hurts Iran and its allies.

"The negative impact on Israel, be it the stress to the home front, the military mobilization, and even the economic consequences, will not be limited to Israel, but also affect Iran and Lebanon," warned Michael Horowitz, head of intelligence at the Bahrain-based Le Beck International consultancy.

Why The Wait?

Analysts said the idea Iran is delaying its retaliation because it is relishing the psychological impact it is having is more of an excuse than a proper strategy.

They agreed intense domestic debates, the complexity of coordinating with proxies, and assessing the risks associated with an attack have all contributed to Iran's hesitation.

Zimmt said Iran is "facing a major dilemma" because while Khamenei and the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) want to restore Iran's deterrence vis-a-vis Israel, there are elements in Iran that worry a large-scale attack could drag Iran into a war with Israel and maybe even the United States.

Even if a decision on how to respond to Haniyeh's killing has been made, coordinating with Hizballah and other members of the so-called axis of resistance -- Tehran's loosely knit network of regional state and nonstate allies and proxies -- is a time-consuming process.

Another factor likely affecting Iran's decision-making is the United States beefing up its military presence in the region more than it did in April ahead of Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack against Israel.

"We're seeing a bigger response [from the United States] than in April, which is probably meant to match the scope of the threat, as Iran may carry out a larger response than the one in April," Horowitz said.

"The message [from the United States] in sending both defensive assets -- but also potentially offensive ones -- is one of deterrence and perhaps the only kind of message that does truly matter at this stage."

Can Diplomacy Prevail?

Tehran has rebuffed calls by Western nations to show restraint, insisting it has a legitimate right to respond to Israel's killing of Haniyeh on Iranian territory.

Still, the flurry of phone calls made to new President Masud Pezeshkian and acting Foreign Minister Ali Baqeri-Kani have raised speculation that attempts at diplomacy have helped delay an attack and could potentially stave it off.

"I am skeptical that diplomacy, on its own, is enough to truly change the Iranian calculus," Horowitz said. "Iran will do what it feels is in its best interest, regardless of the calls and statements urging restraint."

But Iran has suggested a different kind of diplomacy could convince it to at least "delay" its promised attack: a permanent cease-fire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Farzan Sabet, senior research associate at the Geneva Graduate Institute, speculated Iran "may be looking for off-ramps" to justify a toned-down response, and some kind of Gaza cease-fire could be just the "diplomatic victory" it needs to do that.

Zimmt said a Gaza cease-fire may not be important to Iran but it does provide Tehran with "an excuse or an explanation to legitimize this delay, both internally and mostly externally."

He said a cease-fire could lead to Iran either reducing the scale of its attack or choosing a different method of retaliation altogether that does not involve a direct strike on Israel.

No Good Options

It remains a mystery when and how Iran is going to respond, but as things stand Tehran does not seem to have any good options.

"Decision-makers in Tehran may have vacillated in finding a 'Goldilocks' option," Sabet said.

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That, he explained, is Iran's conundrum to deliver "a retaliatory strike that is not so weak as to have little symbolic or deterrent value, but not so strong as to cause an uncontrolled cycle of escalation that leads to a larger war."

Tehran is effectively left with either a weak response or one that crosses the threshold of war.

Both options "entail significant risks," Horowitz said, "either for Iran's regional projection power or the risks Iran could take if it crosses a line and is hit back in return."

Iranian authorities have issued a summons for the reimprisonment of 76-year-old human rights lawyer Mohammad Seifzadeh despite his ailing health, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said on August 14. Seifzadeh was summoned to Tehran's notorious Evin prison in mid-August on charges of "propaganda against the state" and "publishing falsehoods" for signing a joint letter by 45 Iranian activists calling on United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to speak out against political executions in Iran, CHRI said, adding that this was a "politically motivated attack."

Five Iranian women's rights activists were sentenced cumulatively to more than 20 years in prison, sources told RFE/RL. Nina Golestani, Anahita Hejazi, Anahita Dostdar, Rosita Rajaei, and Nagin Adalatkhah were arrested in the northern city of Rasht in November alongside other women activists. They were sentenced to three years and six months each for "assembly and collusion" and seven months and 16 days each for "propaganda against the regime." Rasht witnessed widespread protests during the "Women, Life, Freedom" demonstrations following the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, who was arrested for allegedly wearing her head scarf improperly. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

Iran on August 13 rejected Western calls to renounce its threat to retaliate against Israel following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Haniyeh was killed along with his personal bodyguard in Tehran on July 31 as he visited the Iranian capital for the swearing-in of President Masud Pezeshkian.

Israel hasn't confirmed or denied carrying out the attack.

Iran, Hamas's main backer, blames Israel for the killing of Haniyeh and has vowed revenge, raising fears of a wider war in the region.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement that "such a request lacks political logic, flies in the face of the principles and rules of international law, and constitutes public and practical support" for Israel.

Reuters quoted on August 13 three senior Iranian officials as saying that only a cease-fire deal in Gaza stemming from talks expected to take place in the coming days would hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel.

Israel started an air and ground offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters surged across the border into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage. Israel’s action has killed more than 38,900 people in the Gaza Strip, according to health officials from Hamas.

According to one of the officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, Iran, along with allies such as Hizballah, would launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks, which are due to begin on August 15 in either Egypt or Qatar, fail or if it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations. A cease-fire in Gaza, on the other hand, would give Iran cover for a smaller "symbolic" response, one of Reuters' sources said.

His statement came after the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy called on Iran on August 12 to "stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel."

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also held phone calls with Pezeshkian the same day.

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Prospect Of Iran-Israel War Brings Region To 'Most Dangerous Moment' In Years

Starmer asked Pezeshkian to refrain from attacking Israel and said that war was not in anyone's interest, his office said. Starmer told Pezeshkian he was deeply concerned by the situation in the Middle East and called on all parties to de-escalate to avoid further regional confrontation.

"There was a serious risk of miscalculation and now was the time for calm and careful consideration," Starmer was quoted as saying, adding that he had underlined his commitment to an immediate cease-fire, the release of all hostages, and increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Following the call with Starmer, the Iranian president was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that war anywhere in the world was in no one's interest but that states had the right to "punitive responses against an aggressor."

Scholz also called on Pezeshkian to prevent further military escalation in the Middle East. "The spiral of violence in the Middle East must now be broken," Scholz told Pezeshkian, according to a German government statement.

The United States on August 12 said it agreed with intelligence assessments that Iran and/or its proxies in the Middle East could "attack Israel as early as this week." U.S. national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that President Joe Biden had spoken to leaders of key Western allies to discuss the situation.

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U.S. Says Iran Attack On Israel Could Come 'This Week,' Warns Tehran To 'Stand Down'

Western diplomats have scrambled to avert a major conflagration in the Middle East, where tensions were already high due to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Israel's air and ground offensive has killed more than 38,900 people in the Gaza Strip, according to health officials from Hamas.

Israel launched its action after Hamas fighters surged across the border into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and dpa

Yahya Sinwar, the alleged architect of the deadly October 7 attack on Israel and surprise appointment as the new leader of the U.S.- and EU-designated terror group Hamas, is known to have close ties to Iran.

His appointment on August 6 as the head of the Palestinian group's political bureau followed the assassination of his predecessor, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on July 31, an act that Iran and Hamas blame on Israel.

Following the death of Haniyeh, who had strong relations with Iranian officials, the most prominent names to be considered as his successor were Khaled Meshaal, a former politburo chief of Hamas, and Khalil al-Hayya, a prominent figure within the bureau with close ties to Haniyeh.

The appointment of Sinwar, who has been the Hamas chief in Gaza since 2017, came as a big surprise because many did not take into account the Iran factor, analysts say.

"None of us experts on Palestinian affairs -- especially here in Israel -- thought about Sinwar as the person who would replace Haniyeh," said Yohanan Tzoreff, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies who specializes in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

"One [major] reason why Sinwar is the [new] leader is Iran," he added.

Sinwar was appointed after two days of deliberations in Qatar by the Shura Council -- a consultative body that elects the group's politburo and has members in Gaza, the West Bank, Israeli prisons, and the Palestinian diaspora.

Tzoreff said Meshaal's criticism during the 2011 Arab Spring of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- a close ally of Tehran -- made him a deeply unpopular figure among Iran's top brass.

Tzoreff argued that Mashaal's return to power could have jeopardized the Palestinian group's relations with the Islamic republic and "[the Iranians] may have stopped giving Hamas everything it needs [to fight Israeli forces]."

But Sinwar is reportedly stuck in Gaza, where he has been in hiding since the start of the war with Israel in October 2023. The constraints on his movement and restricted ability to communicate with the world mean Sinwar is very limited in what he can do.

"I don’t expect him or Hamas to become closer to Iran. At this point, the relationship will likely stay the same," said Joost Hiltermann, the Middle East and North Africa Program director at the Belgium-based International Crisis Group.

Molded By Israeli Prisons

Also known by his supporters as Abu Ibrahim, the 61-year-old Sinwar was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza. His parents, like Haniyeh's, fled the coastal town of Ashkelon during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War that resulted in the establishment of the state of Israel -- or what Palestinians call the "nakba" (catastrophe).

Sinwar joined Hamas shortly after it was formed in 1987 and set up its feared internal security organization, Al-Majd, whose main purpose was to find Israeli spies within the group. He gained a reputation for violence and was nicknamed the "Butcher of Khan Younis."

Sinwar was captured by Israeli forces and sentenced to multiple life terms for a variety of offenses -- including the killing of two Israeli soldiers -- and spent more than two decades in prison.

"He is a guy who was hardened in Israeli prisons, like many longtime Palestinian ex-prisoners," Hiltermann said.

He said Sinwar learned Hebrew while in prison and, crucially, this helped him to learn how Israeli leaders think.

"Sinwar's really tough. He is ruthless. He is very much a leader in the mold of any Israeli leader," Hiltermann said.

While in prison, Sinwar organized strikes to improve working conditions and emerged as a leader among incarcerated Palestinians.

His experience in prison "prepared him very well for the leadership of Hamas" and in planning the October 7 attack, Hiltermann said.

Nearly 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed when Hamas militants raided communities in south Israel in October and took hostages back to Gaza. The attack prompted Israel to launch a major offensive in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, which Palestinian sources say has killed more than 40,000 people.

Sinwar was released from prison in 2011 as part of an exchange that saw more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners freed in return for one Israeli soldier held by Hamas. Soon after his release, Sinwar accompanied Haniyeh on a trip to Tehran where he met Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The same day Sinwar was announced as Haniyeh's successor on August 6, Khamenei's account on X posted a short video of that visit showing Sinwar meeting with the Iranian leader in February 2012.

Hamas's Message

Traditionally, Hamas's political bureau chief is based abroad so he can travel and maintain contact with regional allies, such as Iran and the Lebanese Islamic militant group Hizballah.

But Sinwar, who U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken once joked is "buried 10 stories underground" in Gaza, is unable to leave the enclave because of the war.

Tzoreff said that, by appointing a Gaza-based leader, Hamas was "sending a very strong message" to both Israel and Arab states that "the resistance of Hamas has not collapsed."

"The main message is that nobody can push them out of the area," he added.

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Sinwar himself may not be keen on leaving Gaza, because his legitimacy is based on his being in the enclave.

"If Sinwar were to leave Gaza, Palestinians would say he is abandoning them, like a captain leaving the ship," Hiltermann said.

Sinwar has been in Israel's sights since the beginning of the war, with army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari describing him as a "dead man" following the October attack.

Killing Sinwar remains a priority for the Israeli army.

Chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi vowed on August 7 that his troops would target Sinwar and force Hamas to "replace the head of the political bureau again."

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said on August 12 that it was investigating a hack of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. The Trump campaign has blamed Iran for the hack, which the Iranian government has denied. "We can confirm the FBI is investigating this matter,” the law enforcement agency said in a brief statement. On August 9, Microsoft issued a report stating that Iranian hackers tried to penetrate the account of an official with one of the presidential campaigns. Trump’s campaign on August 10 said it had been the victim of a foreign hack after the campaign received questions from news organizations about a vetting document on Senator J.D. Vance -- Trump's nominee for vice president -- that had been sent to the outlets.

The United States on August 12 said it agrees with intelligence assessments that Iran and/or its proxies in the Middle East could “attack Israel as early as this week” and it urged Tehran to “stand down” with regard its ongoing threats.

U.S. national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that President Joe Biden had spoken to leaders of key Western allies to discuss the situation and said Washington takes seriously reports that Iran could soon attack Israel in retaliation for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the EU- and U.S.-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in Tehran on July 31.

Iran blames Israel for the killing of Haniyeh and has vowed revenge, raising fears of a wider war in the region.

“We have to be prepared for what could be a significant set of attacks, which is why, again, we have increased our force posture capabilities in the region even in just the last few days,” Kirby said.

“We've got significant force capabilities in the region. We've changed some of that posture in just the last few days. The president is confident that we have the capability available to us to help defend Israel,” Kirby added.

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Prospect Of Iran-Israel War Brings Region To 'Most Dangerous Moment' In Years

The Pentagon has bolstered its forces in the Middle East amid the mounting tensions as Washington reiterated its support for long-standing ally Israel.

In a joint statement later with Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, the White House said: “We expressed our support for the defense of Israel against Iranian aggression and against attacks by Iran-backed terrorist groups."

“We called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place,” the statement added.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian in separate phone calls to avoid escalation of military tensions in the region, their offices said. Washington does not have diplomatic relations with Tehran.

Following the call with Scholz, the Iranian president was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that, "while Iran welcomes the expansion of interactions with all countries and stresses the need for resolving problems through negotiations, it will not give in to pressure, sanctions, bullying, and aggression."

"Rather," he added, "it considers it a right to respond to aggressors based on international rules."

The Western allies' joint statement also said they “expressed our full support for ongoing efforts to de-escalate tensions and reach a cease-fire and hostage release deal in Gaza."

It said the group endorsed the joint call by Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Amir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani of Qatar “to renew talks later this week with an aim to concluding the deal as soon as possible, and stressed there is no further time to lose.”

“All parties must live up to their responsibilities. In addition, unfettered delivery and distribution of aid is needed,” it said.

Israel's air and ground offensive has killed more than 38,900 people in the Gaza Strip, according to health officials from Hamas.

Israel launched its action after Hamas extremists surged across the border into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage.

Washington has warned Tehran of “swift and severe” consequences if reports that it is planning to send hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia are confirmed.

We are prepared to deliver a swift and severe response if Iran were to move forward with the transfer of ballistic missiles, which would, in our view, represent a dramatic escalation in Iran's support for Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters on August 12.

The warning matches one issued by the United States earlier this year after Reuters -- citing six unidentified sources -- reported that Iran had shipped a “large number” of powerful surface-to-surface ballistic weapons to Russia.

The United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Iran's ballistic missile program over concerns Tehran could send such weapons to its Middle East allies and proxies and to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Russia has suffered from weapons shortages as its full-scale invasion of Ukraine – launched in February 2022 – has dragged on with heavy losses of troops and military hardware, leaving it to look to allies such as Iran and North Korea to replenish its arms stock.

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On February 22, the U.S. administration also warned Iran of a "swift and severe" response from the international community if Tehran provided ballistic missiles to Russia,

National-security spokesman John Kirby said at the time that Washington had yet to confirm the missiles had been transferred by Iran to Russia, but he said the move appeared likely.

"In this press reporting, the Iranians are clearly indicating that they will ship ballistic missiles to Russia, and we have no reason to believe they will not follow through," Kirby said.

Tehran has been providing Russia with unmanned aerial vehicles or drones, guided aerial bombs, and artillery ammunition, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials following widespread evidence of Iran-made Shahed drones causing damage and casualties in Ukraine, leading to additional Western sanctions.

"Iranian officials also continue to deny providing any UAVs [unmanned arial systems] to Russia when evidence is plain for the world to see that Russia has used these UAVs in relentless attacks against the civilian population in Ukraine, against civilian infrastructure," Patel told reporters.

Newly elected Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian, considered by many to be a reformist leader, has spoken of hopes of improving relations with the West, but Patel expressed skepticism.

"This duplicity is only the latest reminder to the international community that the Iranian regime lacks in credibility," he said.

In January, the State Department issued a similar warning against North Korea in a joint statement with the European Union and dozens of others countries, including many in Asia.

“The transfer of these weapons increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia’s war of aggression, and undermines the global non-proliferation regime,” it said on January 9.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on August 12 he had resigned from his new position as vice president last week. In a post on X, Zarif cited several reasons for his resignation, including facing pressure after his appointment because his children hold U.S. citizenship. The resignation comes less than two weeks after newly elected reformist President Masud Pezeshkian chose Zarif as his deputy. Zarif, who negotiated the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with major world powers, said he plans to return to academia and focus less on domestic politics. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

The leaders of Britain, Germany, and France have called for "de-escalation and regional stability" in the Middle East and urged Iran and its allies not to "jeopardize the opportunity to agree a cease-fire and the release of hostages" in Gaza. In a joint statement on August 12, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed U.S. and regional calls for the immediate resumption of negotiations between Israel and Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union. They said there can be "no further delay" in such negotiations.

Abbas Araqchi, the Western-educated former nuclear talks negotiator, was nominated on August 11 as Iran's foreign minister by reformist President Masud Pezeshkian. The move comes as the newly elected Pezeshkian presented his slate of proposed ministers to Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly. The 61-year-old Araqchi was the leading negotiator in nuclear talks between Iran and world powers from 2013-21. He has also served as Iran's envoy to Estonia, Finland, and Japan, according to the ministry website. Araqchi was the Foreign Ministry spokesman during the during the presidency of Hassan Rohani, who was strongly criticized by Iran's hard-liners for attempts at reforms during his eight years in power. Araqchi has been a deputy foreign minister since 2013. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, click here.

Iranian courts have acquitted journalists Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi of "collaborating with a hostile foreign state," but upheld the five-year prison sentences for other charges. The journalists ran afoul of the authorities after writing about the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested for allegedly wearing her head scarf improperly. The women were each sentenced to five years in prison for collusion and conspiring against state security and one year for propaganda against the Islamic republic. Hamedi and Mohammadi have been out on bail after more than a year in Tehran's notorious Evin prison. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

Iran’s newly elected president reappointed a U.S.-educated official who came under United Nations sanctions 16 years ago as head of the country’s nuclear department, Iranian state TV reported on August 10. Mohammad Eslami, 67, will continue his work as chief of Iran's civilian nuclear program and serve as one of several vice presidents. Eslami's reappointment by President Masud Pezeshkian comes as Iran remains under heavy sanctions by the West following the collapse of the 2015 deal that curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief. Pezeshkian had said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.

Jailed Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi and other women inmates in Tehran's Evin prison were injured earlier this week in clashes that erupted after a spate of executions, Mohammadi’s family says.

Mohammadi’s husband, Taghi Rahmani, said Mohammadi suffered breathing problems and severe chest pain after being punched in the chest and was transferred to the prison's clinic.

Rahmani, who spoke by phone to RFE/RL from Paris, said several women came under attack by guards during the clashes on August 6. Mohammadi was hit in her chest, and her arm was bruised, he said.

The injured women were later taken to the prison clinic for treatment and were returned to their ward.

Rahmani said the news agency of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps claimed the clash was a riot, but he said it should be made clear that it was a protest in which the women in Evin prison chanted in the prison yard against the death penalty.

He added that he and the rest of Mohammadi’s family were worried about her health especially because she was hit in the chest. Mohammadi had surgery for blocked arteries in 2022.

Rahmani added that Mohammadi, who is renowned as a staunch advocate for the Women, Life, Freedom movement, cannot contact her sister in Iran and she hasn’t been allowed to contact her children for 2 1/2 years. She also has had no contact with her lawyer.

"These restrictions make all of us worried about her situation in that ward where other women are also facing difficult conditions," Rahmani told RFE/RL.

Before Rahmani spoke with RFE/RL, Mohammadi's family issued a statement about the clash on August 8. It said several women who stood in front of the security forces were severely beaten.

It said the women in Evin prison had been actively protesting against executions in Iran, and following the execution of Reza Rasaei, several prisoners gathered in the prison yard to voice their dissent, chanting slogans against the death penalty.

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One woman suffered a nervous breakdown and passed out and another prisoner also fainted from the emotional strain, the statement said, adding that Mohammadi and several other prisoners protested against the locked doors that were preventing the critically ill inmates from being taken to the prison clinic.

Iranian authorities acknowledged a confrontation took place on August 6 but blamed Mohammadi for a "provocation" and denied any of the prisoners had been beaten.

Two prisoners "had heart palpitations due to the stress," but medical examinations determined that their general condition "is favorable," Iran's prison administration said in a statement, according to the Tasnim news agency.

Mohammadi, 52, has been campaigning for human rights in Iran for decades and has been in and out of prison for the last 20 years. She has been convicted five times since March 2021 and is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for "spreading propaganda" against the Islamic republic.

The executions that took place this week drew outrage from rights groups. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said 29 people were executed at two prisons in the Tehran satellite city of Karaj on August 7 alone.

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Rasaei, 34, was the 10th man executed by Iran in connection with the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests that erupted after the death of a woman in police custody. The Iranian judiciary said Rasaei was executed on August 6.

With reporting by AFP

Russia and Iran have both seen their international standing diminish in recent years. And as each seeks a way to boost their military and diplomatic influence, Africa looks like a land of opportunity.

There are no signs that Moscow and Tehran, whose bilateral ties have become closer as they each try to counter punitive international sanctions, are working in lockstep in Africa.

But their aims in the continent often align, and experts say the two are each attempting to capitalize on similar situations, including political instability, war, and apathy toward the influence of Western powers.

"Both Iran and Russia, what they see in Africa is an opportunity to break their diplomatic isolation," said Cameron Hudson, fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "They have been isolated by the West, financially, politically -- essentially branded as pariah states. And so, in Africa, they see 54 opportunities to break that status."

Russia and Iran have stepped up their engagement with African states, some of which are wary of the West and open to finding alternative trade and investment partners. Tehran and Moscow are notably active in places of conflict, such as West Africa and the Sahel, where juntas have made clear that Western forces are not welcome.

Hudson said Moscow's and Tehran’s involvement in Africa also has the "ancillary benefit of thumbing their nose" at the Western states behind the crippling international sanctions imposed on them.

The sanctions -- imposed over Russia's war in Ukraine and Iran's controversial nuclear program, among other things -- have effectively cut both Russia and Iran off from the global financial system and harmed their lucrative trade in arms and oil.

New Avenues

By opening new avenues of trade and influence in Africa, Moscow and Tehran can show that the attempts to isolate and punish them "is only marginally successful, and that they can build coalitions of states who support their interests," Hudson said.

The two countries see Africa as "a battleground where they can supplant the West and better position themselves economically, politically, and even militarily for prolonged tension with the West," said Liam Karr, an analyst with the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project.

Karr noted that Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger -- former French colonies in the central Sahel where anti-Western military juntas have taken power -- "have increased cooperation with Iran and Russia as they distanced themselves from France."

The situation has already led to the expulsion of French troops from Niger and Mali. U.S. forces battling Islamist insurgents in the region have withdrawn from Niger's capital, Niamey, and will completely leave the country by September.

The rapidly changing landscape has led to some uncomfortable situations, such as when Russian troops backing Niger's junta were deployed in May to an air base housing U.S. soldiers.

Both Iran and Russia "use military engagement to 'get their foot in the door' with unstable or other isolated countries to pursue greater economic and political cooperation," Karr explained. Such military engagement, he added, also "allows them to use limited resources to threaten critical waterways, such as the Mediterranean and the Red Sea."

'Opportunity In Chaos'

Moscow's influence is marked by high-level political engagement, business dealings including arms sales, and the ubiquitous presence of pro-Kremlin mercenaries in conflict areas.

"Russia finds opportunity in chaos. And so, when there is political instability in a country, when there is a kind of organic rejection of the West, which we have seen in a lot of states in Africa that view the West as a kind of neocolonial actor, then that creates openings and opportunities for Russia to come in with its narrative," Hudson said.

Russia's military footprint is also the most hazardous, as evidenced by the deaths of scores of Russian Wagner mercenaries in fighting against Tuareg separatists linked to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network in Mali last month.

Iran is playing catch-up to its Russian ally, working to expand its influence on the continent through trade ties, arms sales, and the use of proxies and militant partners as part of its "axis of resistance" against Israel and the West in general.

In West Africa, Iran has reached out to the trio of juntas in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. In Nigeria, Tehran has established a proxy group called the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, which functions like other proxies and partners.

Tehran has also used proxies to make its presence felt across the Sahel to the Horn of Africa, allowing it to put more pressure on regional adversaries, primarily Israel.

'Aligned Interests'

Iran's and Russia's interest in Africa sometimes overlaps, as is the case in Niger and in Sudan, where both are playing a role in the yearlong civil war between the Sudanese military and rebel forces.

"Sudan is a clear area where they both have military interests. Iran and Russia have both offered military support to the Sudanese Armed Forces hoping to secure a military base on Sudan’s Red Sea coast that would enable them to improve their military posture in the area vis-à-vis the West," Karr said. "Iran has offered drones, whereas Russia has offered 'unrestricted qualitative military aid.'"

Juntas that have taken power in Mali and Niger, meanwhile, are looking to Moscow and Tehran to fortify their positions.

"They certainly lack legitimacy in the West and among international institutions, and so building relations to Iran or to Russia helps them build legitimacy, because all of a sudden they look like state actors," Hudson said. "They look like they're doing the trade and diplomacy that a legitimate government would do."

Both Karr and Hudson say there are no clear signs that Russia and Iran are coordinating their strategies in Africa.

Karr said that "similar aims and methods mean that most of their efforts mutually reinforce each other," while Hudson noted "a set of aligned interests, but not interests that are being explicitly coordinated."

Autocracies around the world have become increasingly mutually reinforcing in their competition with democratic societies, Pulitzer Prize winning U.S. journalist and historian Anne Applebaum said in an interview with Current Time.

"Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe, Azerbaijan, and Angola don't have a common ideology," Applebaum said. "But they have places where they can cooperate and common interests. And some of their interests are financial."

"The Chinese invest in autocratic regimes all over the world and help prop them up," she added. "The Russians do the same…. They offer mercenaries to dictators in Africa who are in trouble. They look for areas where they have something in common and where they can help one another."

"They don't need a common ideology to do that," Applebaum said.

In her new book, Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want To Rule The World, Applebaum writes that such governments are undergirded by "sophisticated networks composed of kleptocratic financial structures, surveillance technologies, and professional propagandists, all of which cooperate across multiple regimes," the book argues, according to the author's website.

Applebaum told Current Time this is a fundamental difference from the geopolitical situation in the 20th century, "when there was a thing called the communist bloc and they all used the same language…and they even had very similar political and social systems."

Despite the lack of a centralizing ideology, the world's autocracies share a "common enemy," she noted.

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"The common enemy is…anybody who lives in the democratic world and anybody who uses the language of democracy…of human rights, transparency, accountability, the rule of law, justice," Applebaum said. "That language is threatening to them and, of course, it is most threatening to them when it comes from their own opposition movements and their own internal critics and…dissidents."

In addition, freed from ideology, modern authoritarian regimes have much greater scope to influence political and social developments in open societies.

"Authoritarian propaganda can now reach people in the United States in a way that communist propaganda could not," Applebaum said. "The money that autocratic states have gives them a kind of power that, again, the Soviet Union never had, whether it's to invest as investors, whether it's to buy influence among politicians or…the business community, whether its even in the form of dark money to fund political campaigns."

"All those things give them more tools to influence the internal debates and political conversations of democracies, as well as their economies, than they used to have," she added.

Media outlets like the Kremlin's RT network, Applebaum added, "turned out to be good at…crafting an authoritarian narrative that described autocracies as safe and secure and stable, and democracies as divided, chaotic, and degenerate."

"And some version of that, in millions of forms, is now available on the Internet," she said. "And that…chimed with a part of the American political spectrum that is…feeling disgruntled, that doesn't like social change, demographic change, economic change, and political change over the last couple of decades and is seeking to reverse it."

Authoritarian regimes did not cause the "backlash against democracy" in the United States and other democratic countries, "but they helped give it language," she said. "They make existing divisions deeper."

Nonetheless, these regimes understand that democratic values and language remain in demand. In Venezuela, for instance, people have taken to the streets to call for transparency, justice, and the rule of law despite the country's "really ugly dictatorship."

"People want to live in a society where there's rule of law, where judges are real judges," Applebaum told Current Time, a Russian-language TV and digital network run by RFE/RL. "I think you can see this in a lot of places. It's about the innate appeal of the idea of living in a more fair society where citizens have some influence."

"I think this one of the reasons why the autocratic world has, if you will, rearmed itself or has girded itself against the democratic world in a much more dramatic way than it did two decades ago," Applebaum said.

Written by RFE/RL's Robert Coalson based on reporting by Current Time correspondent Ksenia Sokolyanskaya.

Two Iranian brothers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps face terrorism charges in the United States in connection with deaths of two U.S. sailors during the interception of a vessel in the Arabian Sea earlier this year. The indictment announced on August 8 by federal prosecutors charges Shahab and Yunus Mir'kazei and Pakistani boat captain Muhammad Pahlawan with providing material support to Iran’s weapons-of-mass-destruction program and other charges. The brothers are at large. Pahlawan and three of his crew members have been in custody since the Navy SEAL team intercepted their small vessel in January.