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Financing Terrorism

Spotlight on Iran and the Shiite Axis (June 22—July 2, 2025)

Iranian officials continued to portray the ceasefire between Iran and Israel as a victory for the Islamic Republic. Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei and other senior officials warned that any violation of the ceasefire by Israel would result in a harsher response from the Iranian armed forces. They emphasized that the United States was forced to join the campaign against Iran directly to save Israel from defeat; Iran has not yet commented on the abstention of its proxies in the region, including Hezbollah and the Iraqi Shiite militias, from opening additional fronts against Israel during the 12-day war. Apparently, Iran expected assistance from its allies in the region and likely even urged them to join the fighting, but at this stage, senior Iranian officials have not publicly expressed disappointment with the conduct of the components of the “pro-Iranian axis” in the region in the war with Israel and the United States; The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon expressed his appreciation to the participants in the demonstration of solidarity held by Hezbollah supporters in front of the embassy in Beirut and stressed the close ties between the peoples of Iran and Lebanon; A hardline Iranian newspaper strongly attacked Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara over reports of secret talks between Israel and Syria. The criticism reflects growing discontent in Tehran over the possibility of expanding cooperation between Syria and Israel, including vis-à-vis Iran; The Houthis claimed responsibility for several attacks against Israel using ballistic missiles and drones. The IDF Spokesperson reported two incidents of intercepting a ballistic missile and the interception of one drone. In addition, a ballistic missile launched from Yemen crashed en route to Israel.
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Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah and Lebanon (June 23 – 30, 2025)

IDF forces attacked Hezbollah facilities and eliminated organization operatives as part of ongoing actions targeting Hezbollah's presence in south Lebanon, contrary to the understandings of the ceasefire agreement and foiling the organization's attempts to rebuild its military capabilities. The IDF attacked a fire- and defense-management complex which Hezbollah was rebuilding at the Beaufort Ridge and eliminated a foreign currency exchange owner who was transferring funds to Hezbollah from Iran; Hezbollah continued to demand that the Lebanese leadership increase pressure on Israel to stop the attacks and withdraw from the five points in south Lebanon, warning that the organization's patience could end. Hezbollah secretary general Qassem stated the organization was capable of "expelling" the IDF from south Lebanon; Despite the continued condemnations by the Lebanese leadership after the Israeli attacks, the Lebanese foreign minister admitted that the statements were meaningless; Deodato Abnagara, the new UNIFIL commander, took office and met with Lebanese President Aoun, who said it was necessary for UNIFIL to cooperate with the Lebanese army to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701; Hezbollah promoted Iran's "victory" narrative after the ceasefire in the Israel-Iran War. According to reports, the death of Muhammad Saeed Izadi, the head of the Palestine branch of the Qods Force, caused Hezbollah to stop payments to Lebanese whose homes were damaged in the fighting against Israel; Following the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, discussions within the Lebanese leadership accelerated ahead of the first government meeting on disarming Hezbollah. Hezbollah allies, including the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, called on the organization to give up its weapons, but Hezbollah continues to resist; Lebanese authorities announced they had seized $7 million in cash in suitcases which had arrived on a flight from an African country to Beirut International Airport. 
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Spotlight on Iran and the Shiite Axis (June 18-25, 2025)

Prior to the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which was announced on June 24, 2025, senior officials in the Iranian administration and the security-military leadership continued to threaten harsh responses to Israel’s ongoing attacks on Iran and the American attack on three nuclear facilities in Iran. The officials called the attacks a “crime” constituting a violation of Iran’s sovereignty and international law and claimed that the American attacks were intended to save Israel, which, they claimed, had failed to achieve its war objectives; Following the announcement of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel, senior Iranian officials presented the end of the fighting as a “victory” for Iran and warned Israel against violating the ceasefire; The IRGC assistant commander for coordination wrote in an open letter to the Palestinian people that “your ongoing jihad for 76 years is beginning to bear fruit,” and that “the fateful day for the realization of your historic mission is approaching, and we will all stand by your side”; Senior Houthi officials expressed support for Iran in the face of the Israeli and American attacks, but did not carry out their own attacks against Israel or American vessels. After the ceasefire, the Houthis made it clear that they would continue their attacks against Israel and escalate them. A senior Houthi official claimed that more than 82,000 volunteers had completed military training to fight Israel; The pro-Iranian militias in Iraq threatened to act against American bases in the country following the American attack on Iran, but there were no exceptional incidents; The leader of the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria said that any “aggression” against the “axis of resistance” is also “aggression” against them and threatened that “every Zionist is a target.”
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Oil Exports, an Important Component of Iran’s Funding for Terrorism

For over four decades Iran has been considered the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, with the regime in Tehran using the Qods Force of the Revolutionary Guards to directly support a range of proxy organizations operating against the United States, Israel and pro-Western Arab states across the Middle East. According to estimates, Iran provides hundreds of millions of dollars annually in financial assistance to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen and the Shi'ite militias in Iraq; The Iranian regime’s main source of revenue is its energy sector, which generates about half the country’s export income. Iran’s security bodies receive state allocations of oil which they are expected to sell themselves, and the profits from the sales are used to fund their own operations and those of affiliated terrorist organizations; The United States has imposed sanctions on Iran with the objective of restricting its ability to sell oil on international markets. In an effort to circumvent the sanctions, Iran operates a complex network of intermediaries, front companies, and “shadow fleet“ of tankers; With the formation of the Trump administration at the beginning of 2025, the United States renewed its “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, which had been in effect during Trump’s first term between 2018 and 2020. In recent months, the United States has worked to tighten the sanctions while exposing dozens of entities involved in Iran’s illegal oil trade; At the same time, Iranian opposition elements have exposed dozens of companies, individuals and financial entities involved in Iran’s sanction-evasion operations. The exposures reflect the extensive scope of Iran’s illegal activities and provide a broad foundation for expanding the campaign against Tehran’s attempts to evade American sanctions; The aim of this report is to shed light on how the Iranian security bodies use the illegal oil trade to finance support for terrorist organizations across the Middle East, as well as the entities assisting them. It can be assumed that a focused application of sanctions targeting Iran’s ability to export oil could yield two achievements, namely increasing economic pressure on Iran as part of the “maximum pressure” strategy and directly undermining the financing the support and military buildup of the terrorist organizations loyal to the Tehran regime.
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Spotlight on the Israel-Palestinian Conflict (June 3 – 10, 2025)

IDF forces continued extensive air and ground attacks on targets belonging to Hamas and the other terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip and expanded their control to additional areas. A leader of the Mujaheddin Brigades who participated in the October 7, 2023 attack and massacre was eliminated. He was also involved in holding and murdering hostages. Five IDF fighters were killed in two incidents; Hamas said it was prepared to hold renewed negotiations for a permanent ceasefire and accused the Israeli government of the stalemate; The humanitarian fund in the Gaza Strip continued to distribute food packages at centers and through local traders. Hamas accused IDF forces and American security guards of shooting at civilians who had arrived in the area; Hamas security forces announced they would pursue members of the Yasser Abu Shabab militia after confirmation that Israel had given them weapons. Chaos continues in the Gaza Strip with looting, exchanges of fire and executions; The IDF stopped the protest ship Madeleine en route to the Gaza Strip and deported most of the passengers to their original countries. A land convoy with thousands of volunteers left Tunisia for the Rafah Crossing in an attempt to "break the siege"; Israeli security forces continued extensive counterterrorism operations in Judea and Samaria; Palestinian Authority chairman Abbas sent a letter to the French president and the Saudi Arabian crown prince in preparation for the "two-state solution conference" in New York. He called for the release of the hostages in the Gaza Strip and declared that the "Palestinian state" would be demilitarized if it received international protection.
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Spotlight on Terrorism: Hezbollah and Lebanon (May 26 – June 4, 2025)

IDF forces continued to operate against the presence of Hezbollah in south Lebanon in violation of the ceasefire understandings and against the organization’s attempts to renew its military capabilities. Six Hezbollah operatives were eliminated and weapons storage facilities in south Lebanon and in the Beqa'a Valley were attacked; Senior Hezbollah figures continued to criticize the Lebanese government's diplomatic conduct in response to Israeli “violations” and emphasized the role of the “resistance"; Senior Lebanese government officials reiterated the claim that the Israeli presence in south Lebanon prevented the army from deploying to the border and claimed that Hezbollah was complying with the ceasefire terms; The president and prime minister of Lebanon reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the state’s monopoly on weapons. Hezbollah expressed outrage at the Lebanese foreign minister’s remarks against the organization but welcomed President Aoun’s actions following their first meeting; Hezbollah reportedly changed its organizational and military structure following the penetration of Israeli intelligence and the damage to the organization’s security; The Iranian foreign minister visited Lebanon and met with senior government officials and with Hezbollah's secretary general. He claimed his country sought good relations with Lebanon and did not interfere in its internal affairs; A senior officer in the Lebanese army informed representatives of the Palestinian "factions" of the intention to begin disarming the refugee camps in the middle of the month. 
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