Iranian-American Mora Namdar appointed US assistant secretary of state

"In the case of some of these executions," Rubio told reporters at a State Department press conference when asked about reports by human rights organizations that Iran has had the highest number of executions in 2025.

"Some of them, by the way, were in the aftermath of the war with Israel, where they went through and have jailed people and accused people of being informants and spies."

"Our problem with the Iranian regime isn't simply – I mean, obviously, it's predominantly their desire to acquire nuclear weapons, their sponsorship of terrorism – but it's ultimately the treatment of their own people," Rubio said.

Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon and a standoff between Tehran and Washington over the future of its uranium enrichment has precluded any renewed talks since a 12-day war launched by Israel and the United States in June.

Tehran rejects US demands to stop enrichment, curb its missile arsenal and end support armed allies in the Middle East like Hezbollah and Hamas.

Under Rubio, the state department has ramped up its criticism of Iran's human rights records in frequent social media posts, most recently branding as suspicious the sudden death of a human rights lawyer whom Tehran said died of a heart attack.

Earlier this month, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammedi was arrested at a memorial service for the man, Khosrow Alikordi, along with dozens of other activists in one of the more prominent anti-government protests against authorities since a June war.

Economic and ecological problems have also beset the country as US and international sanctions ramped up after the war.

"You've got a clerical, radical regime that has driven and taken the wealth of that country and used it not to enrich their – secure their people and their future, not to make sure they have enough water and electricity," Rubio added.

"They've used their money to sponsor terrorist organizations all over the world."

Tehran says it oversees a regional axis of Resistance opposed to Israel and the United States, but its sway is diminished after two years of regional combat in which Iran itself and its allies took heavy blows.

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the newly sanctioned vessels and management companies had transported hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum through deceptive shipping practices, primarily to buyers in Asia.

“Treasury will continue to deprive the regime of the petroleum revenue it uses to fund its military and weapons programs," Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John K. Hurley said.

The sanctioned vessels are registered under a range of flags of convenience, including those of Panama, Palau, the Cook Islands, Barbados, Jamaica and other jurisdictions commonly used by sanctions-evading shipping networks.

According to OFAC, the action brings the total number of vessels sanctioned since Trump returned to office to more than 180, a campaign the Treasury says has raised costs for Iranian oil exporters and reduced the revenue Tehran earns per barrel.

The US campaign targeting the dark fleet has intensified for months. In an October report, analytics firm Kpler said that over 60% of the vessels that have loaded Iranian crude in the last 12 months are now sanctioned by OFAC, up from 38% one year ago.

Still, according to shipping analytics firm Vortexa, Iran's shadow trade to China appears to be operating at full tilt. Export volumes stood at around 1.5-1.7 million bpd so far in 2025, it said, up slightly from last year but a full 25% from 2023.

OFAC said the sanctioned vessels carried Iranian crude oil, fuel oil, bitumen, naphtha and condensate, often operating under flags of convenience and managed by companies set up solely to own and operate individual ships.

100%

The Treasury also designated Egyptian businessman Hatem Elsaid Farid Ibrahim Sakr, accusing his UAE-based companies of playing a key role in transporting Iranian petroleum products in coordination with entities linked to Iran’s Ministry of Defense.

OFAC said vessels associated with Sakr had conducted ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil and made port calls at Houthi-controlled ports in Yemen.

The sanctions against Iran's so-called shadow oil fleet could endanger the funding of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as Iran's budget for this fiscal year had given the sprawling paramilitary body new economic power by tasking it with selling nearly 600,000 barrels of oil per day to fund military expenditures.

The lawsuit names Texas Instruments, AMD and Intel, accusing the companies of allowing tiny computer chips they produced to reach - what the plaintiffs refer to as - hostile countries through weak oversight of global supply chains.

The companies did not immediately respond to an Iran International request for comment.

Filed by Watts Law Firm LLP and BakerHostetler LLP, the case represents Ukrainian civilians and families who say they lost loved ones or suffered serious injuries during drone and missile attacks. The plaintiffs are seeking damages for wrongful death, physical injury and psychological trauma.

The chips, they added, were later found in drones and missiles used by Russia and Iran in strikes that killed and injured civilians in Ukraine.

Iran has supplied drones and other military support to Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tehran and Moscow are both heavily sanctioned by the United States, in curbs aimed at sapping their ability to project military power.

The complaint alleges the companies failed to take reasonable steps to prevent their products from reaching sanctioned actors, despite years of public warnings from governments, journalists and international watchdogs.

US export control laws are designed to stop sensitive technology from being diverted into foreign weapons programs and the lawsuit claims those safeguards were ignored.

According to the filing, American-made chips were identified in Iranian-manufactured Shahed drones and in Russian missiles used to strike residential areas and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

The Shahed has helped define the Ukrainian battlespace and the United States announced this month it had copied elements of the kamikaze drone and deployed it to the Middle East, in a move which drew pride and mockery in Tehran.

Plaintiffs argue the companies continued selling chips through distributors and online channels they knew were vulnerable to diversion. The complaint says sales continued even after reports showed US technology repeatedly appearing in Iranian and Russian weapons systems.

The companies named in the lawsuit have previously said they comply with US export controls and sanctions and do not sell products directly to Iran or Russia. The defendants have not yet responded publicly to the specific allegations in the new lawsuit and its merits have not yet been tested in court.

The lawsuit does not allege the companies intentionally supplied weapons programs but argues they knowingly failed to prevent foreseeable harm caused by the misuse of their technology.

Citing Texas tort law covering negligence, gross negligence and wrongful death, the lawsuit also argues that violations of US export control and sanctions laws automatically constitute negligence under state law.

The filing cites multiple reports documenting how American electronics ended up in Iranian and Russian weapons. Investigations by US and international research organizations have previously found that a large share of components recovered from Iranian drones used in Ukraine originated from US companies.

The complaint also points to internal warnings.

In the case of Texas Instruments, shareholders reportedly raised concerns about chips appearing in sanctioned markets but the company maintained that full traceability of its products was not achievable. Plaintiffs argue that response showed a failure to strengthen safeguards despite known risks.

David Albright, a prominent physicist and nuclear proliferation expert, posted to X that "Texas instruments has sold its goods to China and it knows they end up in Russian Shahed drones and other military systems."

The 2025 National Security Strategy reflects a narrowing of what Washington now defines as its core national interests, Taleblu said, with Iran mentioned just three times despite being labeled a central threat in Trump’s 2017 strategy.

“There’s a focus on the homeland, the Western Hemisphere, strategic competition with China and getting Europe to do more,” said Taleblu, an analyst for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank in Washington DC, adding that Iran is absent from the list of top-tier threats outlined in the document.

The strategy released this month emphasizes reducing US involvement in the Middle East in favor of focusing on great power competition with China, threats in the Western Hemisphere and urging Europe to shoulder more security responsibility.

Iran appears to have slipped down Washington’s priority list following last year’s 12-day war between Israel and Iran, which the United States briefly joined.

“It seems like, at least for the Trump administration, they’re content to take that victory lap,” Taleblu said on Eye for Iran, saying the White House is attempting to declare success and move on following US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The NSS suggests Washington is ready to “turn the page” on a region that has dominated US foreign policy for decades, he added, and it credits Trump’s energy policies, regional diplomacy and limited use of force for creating political space to step back from the Middle East.

US strikes on Iran included the use of 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs carried by B-2 stealth bombers.

While President Trump has said Iran’s major nuclear sites were “obliterated,” US intelligence assessments indicate the program was set back but not completely destroyed, according to officials cited in US media reports.

Iran is believed to possess more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium whose whereabouts remain unknown, and Iranian officials have said they rebuilt its missile capacity and would respond forcefully to any future attack.

“Iran may be weakened, but it is down and not out,” Taleblu added.

The strategy document implies that major regional crises — including the Gaza war, the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, Houthi attacks from Yemen and instability in post-Assad Syria — are either resolved or on track toward resolution.

The document does not appear to assess that Iran could strongly reverse recent setbacks to its nuclear program and its so-called Axis of Resistance coalition.

While Taleblu credited the Trump administration for reviving elements of its maximum pressure campaign of sanctions, he criticized what he called gaps. Iranian oil exports have reached record highs, and the administration has not issued a single new human rights designation related to Iran in 2025.

“While the regime is threatening the life of this very president and the first family, it is beyond me to be thinking about peace and prosperity without a clear strategy to contain Iran further,” Taleblu said, “There is a lot of room for improvement when I look at both this document and the administration’s track record this year.”

Hamid Ziaei, who was detained in June after a check-in appointment with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in California, had been held at the Torrance County Detention Facility in New Mexico while US officials pursued possible deportation to a third country, his attorneys said.

“The US government provided no evidence that there was any likelihood of Mr. Ziaei’s removal in the reasonable, foreseeable future,” Rachel Landry, a staff attorney at Innovation Law Lab, told the court in Albuquerque, the group said.

US District Court Judge Matthew Garcia said he would issue an order for Ziaei’s release within 24 hours, Landry and fellow attorney Tiffany Wang said.

Court filings on Ziaei’s behalf say he fled Iran after speaking out against the government and entered the United States in San Diego in January 2024. His asylum request was rejected, but he was released in mid-2024 with authorization to work based on concerns he could face persecution if returned to Iran, the filings said.

An ICE officer said in court documents that the agency began vetting Ziaei for removal to a third country in August and initiated procedures to coordinate an interview with a foreign embassy that might accept him.

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The US attorney’s office in New Mexico, representing immigration authorities, declined to comment. In filings, immigration authorities cited a 2001 US Supreme Court ruling they said gives the government at least six months to make removal arrangements.

In a December 2 statement submitted to the court, Ziaei said prolonged detention led to anxiety and panic attacks, deferred dental treatment for infections, and weight and muscle loss that could affect his future income as an athlete.

The case comes as Iran’s foreign ministry has confirmed recent US detentions and deportations of Iranian nationals under tightened immigration enforcement, including groups returned to Iran via transit countries.