Thanks to US Sanctions, Iranians Are Turning to Bitcoin Mining

Dispatches
Jan 28, 2026

The expert conversation: Should Trump strike Iran? What happens next if he does?

By
Jason M. Brodsky and Danny Citrinowicz

As the USS Abraham Lincoln arrives in the Middle East, two experts debate the opportunities, uncertainties, and risks of a US strike on Iran.

Iran
Middle East

Thanks to US Sanctions, Iranians Are Turning to Bitcoin Mining

Dispatches
Jan 23, 2026

What Trump could do next in Iran

By
Nate Swanson

As a US carrier strike group nears the Persian Gulf, what options does US President Donald Trump have to strike against the Iranian regime?

Iran
Middle East

Thanks to US Sanctions, Iranians Are Turning to Bitcoin Mining

MENASource
Jan 14, 2026

Voices from Iran: As rejection of government reaches all-time high, Iranians also wary of foreign intervention

By
Tara Kangarlou

If Trump is serious about peace, stability, and a lasting legacy, the path forward does not run through air strikes or transactional deals with a failing theocracy.

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Content

IranSource

Dec 17, 2018

Thanks to US Sanctions, Iranians Are Turning to Bitcoin Mining

By Maziar Motamedi

Ali Hosseini is a 26-year-old with a normal nine-to-five job in Tehran. He has a bachelor’s degree in information technology and mostly works in social media and public relations. Two months ago, he bought a Bitcoin mining device with his cousin and has been mining since. Hosseini had no prior knowledge of blockchains and distributed […]

Iran

In the News

Dec 14, 2018

Slavin Quoted in BuzzFeed on fear of war in Iran

By Barbara Slavin

Read the article here.

Iran

IranSource

Dec 14, 2018

Son of the Shah says he has not met Trump administration officials

By Barbara Slavin

History, it is said, does not repeat but it can rhyme. An appearance by the son of the deposed Shah of Iran at a prominent Washington think tank on Dec. 14 was reminiscent in some ways of speeches by the late Iraqi opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi in the run-up to the 2003 US invasion of […]

Iran

IranSource

Dec 14, 2018

Q&A: Nader Uskowi on the IRGC’s ‘Temperature Rising’

By Holly Dagres

Nonresident senior fellow Nader Uskowi talks about his new book, Temperature Rising: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and Wars in the Middle East. Uskowi discusses with IranSource the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) inside Iran and the Middle East, what the West is getting wrong about the elite force, and the challenges the IRGC is […]

Iran

IranSource

Dec 13, 2018

Mitigating Iran sanctions: The case for a humanitarian SPV

By Axel Hellman

As part of its efforts to salvage the Iran nuclear deal, Europe is on the verge of launching a special purpose vehicle (SPV)—a payment mechanism described as “a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran.” Yet while Europeans see this mechanism as both legitimate and necessary, the SPV is regarded by the Trump administration as an […]

European Union International Organizations

IranSource

Dec 12, 2018

Can Brazil’s Relationship With Iran Survive a New Administration?

By Fatemeh Aman

The trade and economic partnership between Iran and Brazil has expanded in recent years and was slated to grow even further after the completion of the Iran nuclear dealin 2015. But questions are being raised about this relationship after the victory of President-elect Jair Bolsonaro. Brazil is Iran’s seventh-largest trade partner and by far its most important economic […]

Brazil Iran

IranSource

Dec 11, 2018

Iran Leans on UN Security Council Legitimacy to Blunt US Pressure

By Noah Annan

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used to denigrate United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions as “worthless paper.” That is not the case anymore. In the aftermath of the US unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal codified by UNSC resolution 2231, Iranian diplomats are embracing this element of international legality to accuse the Trump administration of wrongdoing.

International Organizations Iran

IranSource

Dec 10, 2018

New Tehran Mayor Takes Office After Controversy

By Tahereh Hadian-Jazy

Pirouz Hanachi was narrowly elected mayor of Tehran last month by the capital’s city council, besting former roads and urban development minister Amir-Abbas Akhoundi by one vote—eleven to ten. Hanachi replaces Mohammad Ali Afshani as the third mayor of the capital in the council’s current term. However, the Interior Ministry delayed accepting his election and officially ratifying […]

Iran

IranSource

Dec 3, 2018

Iran’s Ballistic Missile Inventory

By Clara Belk

The Trump administration had major qualms with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) prompting the US withdrawal in May. These included the sunset provisions, which provide expiration dates for certain restrictions, and its narrow targeting of Iran’s nuclear program without addressing the continued enhancement of its ballistic missile arsenal, which enables the regime’s “malign […]

Iran

IranSource

Nov 30, 2018

After Iraq, Iran Chemical Weapons Allegation Met With Skepticism

By Borzou Daragahi

If there were any doubts that the United States under President Donald Trump was trying to pick a fight with Iran over anything—that Washington had no real agenda with its belligerent anti-Iran rhetoric and moves other than just flicking mud at the country and its rulers in hopes that something would stick—they were dispelled on […]

Iran
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Experts

Fellow

Carmiel Arbit

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Civil Society Extremism

Fellow

Colin Brooks

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Iran Middle East

Fellow

Hagar Hajjar Chemali

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Economic Statecraft Initiative GeoEconomics Center

Economy & Business Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

Fellow

Danny Citrinowicz  

Nonresident Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Cybersecurity

Fellow

Ariel Cohen

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Central Asia Politics & Diplomacy

Fellow

Jonathan Fulton

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

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