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UPDATE: 10:30 AM CET
Reps. Lawler and Cherfilus-Mccormick Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Enhance Sanctions on Iran
Washington, D.C. – 2/21/2025… This week, Rep. Mike Lawler (NY-17), Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Middle East and North Africa, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Ranking Member of the same Subcommittee, introduced the Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act. This bipartisan bill aims to strengthen secondary sanctions on foreign entities enabling Iran’s illicit oil trade. The Enhanced Iran Sanctions Act includes the following provisions:
- Enacts new secondary sanctions on additional foreign entities that engage in transactions involved in the processing, export, or sale of illicit Iranian oil. Listed entities include banks, other financial institutions, insurance providers, flagging registries, pipeline construction, and operation facilities for liquified natural gas.
- Requires the State Department to establish an Interagency Working Group on Iranian Sanctions.
- Requires the State Department to establish a multilateral contact group with like-minded nations to coordinate international efforts to enforce sanctions imposed on Iran.
- States that it is U.S. policy to fully enforce sanctions against all persons involved in the international logistical chain that provides support to the energy sector of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
UPDATE: 8:30 AM CET
Exclusive: U.S. Piles Pressure on Iraq To Resume Kurdish Oil Exports, Sources Say
DUBAI/BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is piling pressure on Iraq to allow Kurdish oil exports to restart or face sanctions alongside Iran, eight sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
An advisor to the Iraqi prime minister denied in a statement there had been a threat of sanctions or pressure on the government during its communications with the U.S. administration.
A speedy resumption of exports from Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region would help to offset a potential fall in Iranian oil exports, which Washington has pledged to cut to zero as part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
The U.S. government has said it wants to isolate Iran from the global economy and eliminate its oil export revenues in order to slow Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon.
Mike Waltz to CPAC: Trump’s Max Pressure on Iran to Restore Peace
President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign to stop Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism, as well as preventing the nation from having nuclear weapons, means a return to the policies that worked in the Middle East to achieve peace, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said during a CPAC interview Friday.
“You have the axis of terror from Iran all the way to threaten our partners — Israel — essentially disrupted, and we need to keep our foot on their neck in that regard,” he said. “And then from a maximum pressure campaign, the president just signed that executive order, returning to maximum pressure to start keeping a foot on the neck of the Iranian economy.”
The key to it all, said Waltz, is ensuring that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.
UPDATE: 7:00 AM CET
Khamenei’s Empty Rhetoric About Popular Support Is Reminiscent of The Final Days of The Shah
Dictators always try to cover up their collapsed image and authority with empty claims and hollow maneuvers at the end of their rule. In past decades, such political games might have briefly reassured the dictator’s courtiers and soldiers, but today, in the age of communication, they quickly become a source of ridicule for others. Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, whose image has crumbled after failures in his strategic depth—Lebanon—and the downfall of the Assad dictatorship in Syria, is trying to project power through bluffing and empty claims. Meanwhile, various voices express concerns: one states, “Be sure that if you continue on this path, you will lose power” (Jomhouri newspaper, November 26, 2024). Another says, “The fall of Bashar al-Assad is not just a significant event for Syria but has repercussions across the Middle East. No country feels these consequences as strongly as Iran—it is a strategic and military blow to Iran” (Ham-Mihan newspaper, December 21, 2024).
The Worsening Conditions of Nurses In Iran
The exploitation of Iranian nurses, a respected and hardworking sector of society, continues unabated.
The regime keeps nurses’ salaries below the poverty line, while simultaneously increasing their workload by reducing the number of nurses. This has led to nurses becoming unemployed, changing careers, or emigrating to other countries in a significant exodus.
According to official figures from the Ministry of Health, 1,800 nurses leave their jobs annually. On February 18, 2025, the state-run newspaper Vatan-e Emrooz acknowledged some aspects of the disastrous employment and salary situation of nurses in a report, writing: “Iran trains and exports nurses to the world for free!”
Zohreh Dadras: Political Prisoner Barred from Ph.D. Exam
Zohreh Dadras, a women’s rights activist and political prisoner from Rasht, was barred from attending the Ph.D. entrance exam for political science, despite having received her exam admission card. This restriction was imposed at the last minute, despite prior approval for her participation. On Thursday, February 20, 2025, Zohreh Dadras, who is currently serving her prison sentence in Lakan Prison, Rasht, was prepared for transfer to the exam center when prison authorities, acting under orders from security agencies, prevented her from leaving.
Her mother wrote on Instagram: “All the administrative procedures for Zohreh’s participation were completed, and even her exam admission card was issued. Yet, without any explanation, they barred her at the last moment.”
USD Surpasses 940,000 Iranian Rials as Inflation Accelerates
The exchange rate of the U.S. dollar in Iran’s free market surged by more than 13,500 rials on Thursday, February 20, reaching 941,000 rials. Meanwhile, Iran’s Statistical Center reports that monthly inflation in February has broken a two-year record. The value of the U.S. dollar against the Iranian rial has increased by five percent over the past week, more than 15 percent in the past month, and nearly 70 percent in the past year. This trend, coupled with the expansion of liquidity, has led to rampant inflation in the country.
The price of various gold coins also jumped between 1.5 percent and over three percent on Thursday compared to Wednesday.
Grossi: The JCPOA Is an Empty Shell
Statements by the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding the ineffectiveness of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in imposing restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program have prompted a reaction from the Iranian regime. On Thursday, February 20, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) called Grossi’s remarks “biased,” while Kazem Gharibabadi, Deputy Legal and International Affairs Minister of the Iranian regime’s Foreign Ministry, described them as “political and unprofessional” in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
On Thursday, during a press conference in Tokyo, Grossi stated that the JCPOA is obsolete in relation to Iran’s nuclear program and that seeking a new framework for an agreement with Iran is necessary.
Freedom-Loving Iranians to Gather in Washington, DC, for a Free Iran on March 8, 2025
Washington, DC – February 21, 2025: In a powerful demonstration of solidarity and resistance, Iranian Resistance supporters, human rights activists, and Iranian American communities will gather in Washington, DC, on Saturday, March 8, 2025, to demand justice, democracy, and an end to oppression in Iran.
Freedom-Loving Iranians to Gather in #WashingtonDC, for a Free #Iran on March 8, 2025 #WomenResistanceFreedom #2025RallyForAFreeIran #FreeIran2025 #IWD2025 https://t.co/8hh6RV8kWu
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) February 21, 2025
International Women’s Day Conference in Paris: Honoring the Struggle of Iranian Women for Freedom and Equality
The website of the NCRI Women’s Committee has recently highlighted the upcoming International Women’s Day Conference, organized by the Women’s Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI). The event is scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 22, 2025, in Paris, France, bringing together distinguished women leaders, former presidents, parliamentarians, and activists from around the world.
International Women’s Day Conference in Paris: Honoring the Struggle of Iranian #Women for Freedom and Equality #WomenForce4Change #IWD2025 https://t.co/67TUGVNYiU
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) February 21, 2025