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Criminal Penalties: While you are traveling in Iran, you are subject to its laws even though you are a U.S. citizen. U.S. citizens in Iran who violate Iranian laws, even unknowingly, including laws unfamiliar to Westerners, may be expelled, arrested, imprisoned (long prison terms and solitary confinement are common), or subject to other punishments depending on the crime including execution, amputation, flogging, blinding, stoning, and fines.

Examples of local laws that you may be unfamiliar with include:

Carry a copy of your U.S. passport (biodata page and page with Iranian visa) and some other form of identification with you at all times so that, if questioned by local officials, proof of U.S. citizenship is readily available.

If you are arrested while in Iran, request that the police and prison officials notify the Foreign Interests Section at the Swiss Embassy in Tehran immediately to ensure that the United States is aware of your circumstances. Under Iranian law, detainees may also request legal representation, although the authorities often fail to allow timely access to an attorney according to the Department of States 2017 edition of theCountryReports on Human Rights Practices.

Some laws are also prosecutable in the U.S., regardless of local law. For examples, see our website on crimes against minors abroad and the Department of Justice website.

Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal: The Iranian government reportedly has the names of all individuals who filed claims against Iran at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at The Hague pursuant to the 1981 Algerian Accords. In addition, the Iranian government reportedly has compiled a list of the claimants who were awarded compensation in the Iran Claims Program administered by the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission. The Iranian government has allegedly been targeting award-holders who travel to Iran. It has been reported that upon some claimants' entry into Iran, Iranian authorities have questioned them as to the status of payment of their respective awards with a view to recouping the award money. The Iranian government has also reportedly threatened to prevent U.S. claimants who visit Iran from departing the country until they make arrangements to repay their award either in part or its entirety.

Dual Nationality: Iran considers dual nationals to be solely Iranian citizens. Dual nationals sometimes have their U.S. passports confiscated and may be denied permission to leave Iran, or encounter other problems with Iranian authorities. Likewise, Iranian authorities may deny dual nationals access to the Foreign Interests Section in Tehran. Refer to the above section entitled "Entry/Exit Requirements" for additional information concerning dual nationality.

U.S. citizens who also possess Iranian citizenship are subject to laws that impose special obligations on citizens of Iran, such as military service or taxes. Iranian-citizen males aged 18-34 are required to perform military service, unless exempt. This requirement includes Iranian-Americans, even those born in the United States. Young men who have turned 17 years of age will not be allowed to leave Iran without completing their military service.

Employment: Do not work illegally. You will be deported, fined, and/or imprisoned. You may also be prevented from re-entering the country. The Iranian government has seized the passports and blocked the departure of foreigners who work in Iran on tax/commercial disputes.

Codes of Behavior and Dress: Islamic law is strictly enforced in Iran. Alcohol is forbidden. Women must wear a headscarf and a long jacket that covers the arms and upper legs while in public. Men may be required to wear long pants and cannot go bare-chested or wear tank tops, especially near religious sites or in conservative areas. There may be additional dress requirements at certain religious sites. Consult a guide book on Iran to determine how to dress and behave properly and respectfully. During the holy month of Ramadan, you should generally observe the Muslim tradition of not eating, drinking, or smoking in public from sunrise to sunset each day, though there are exemptions for foreign travelers who eat in hotel restaurants. In general, it is best to ask before taking photographs of people. Hobbies like photography and those involving the use of binoculars (e.g., bird-watching) can be misunderstood and may cause trouble with security officials.

Money: Non-Iranian credit cards and bank cards cannot be used in Iran. You will not be able to access U.S. or foreign bank accounts using ATMs in Iran. You can exchange U.S. dollars for rials, either at banks or with certified money changers but it is rarely possible to exchange travelers checks. Do not exchange currency on the street, and keep your exchange receipts. Bring enough hard currency to cover your stay, but make sure you declare this currency upon entry into Iran. There is no Western Union or similar institution and bank transfers are not possible. Due to economic sanctions on Iran, financial institutions have been known to block or freeze accounts of persons accessing financial accounts via the Internet from Iran. Any import and/or export of over 10,000 USD (or its equivalent in other foreign currencies) must be declared by submitting the relevant bank notice or any other document which proves that the amount was withdrawn from a foreign currency account or the sale of foreign currency.

Communication: Pre-paid overseas calling cards are available at most newsagents. The Internet is widely used in Iran. There are Internet cafes in most hotels; however, usage may be monitored. The Iranian government blocks access to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Sanctions: U.S. government economic sanctions prohibit most economic activity between U.S. citizens and Iran. In general, unless licensed by the U.S. Department of TreasurysOffice of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), goods, technology, or services may not be exported, re-exported, sold or supplied, directly or indirectly, from the United States or by a U.S. citizen, wherever he or she is located, to Iran or the Government of Iran. With limited exceptions, goods or services of Iranian origin may not be imported into the United States, either directly or through third countries.

OFAC regulations provide general licenses authorizing the performance of certain categories of transactions. Such general licenses include, but are not limited to, the following:

All transactions ordinarily incident to travel to or from Iran, including baggage costs, living expenses, and the acquisition of goods or services for personal use are permitted. OFAC has the authority by means of a specific license to permit a person or entity to engage in many transactions or services which would otherwise be prohibited.

On May 8, 2018, the President announced his decision to cease the United States participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and to begin re-imposing the U.S. nuclear-related sanctions that were lifted to effectuate the JCPOA sanctions relief, following a wind-down period. OFAC has posted to its website additional frequently asked questions (FAQs) that provide guidance on the sanctions that are to be re-imposed and the relevant wind-down periods.

For further information, consult OFACs Iran sanctions resource pageor contact OFACs Compliance Programs Division at 202-622-2490, or obtain information via fax at 202-622-0077.

For information concerning licensing of imports or exports, contact OFACs Licensing Division at by phone at 202-622-2480 or fax at 202-622-1657.

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Iran - Travel

9/11 / Getty Images

BY: Adam KredoJune 8, 2018 6:03 pm

Iranian officials, in a first, have admitted to facilitating the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. by secretly aiding the free travel of al Qaeda operatives who eventually went on to fly commercial airliners into the Twin Towers in New York City, according to new remarks from a senior Iranian official.

Mohammad-Javad Larijani, an international affairs assistant in the Iran's judiciary, disclosed in Farsi-language remarks broadcast on Iran's state-controlled television that Iranian intelligence officials secretly helped provide the al Qaeda attackers with passage and gave them refuge in the Islamic Republic, according to an English translation published by Al Arabiya.

"Our government agreed not to stamp the passports of some of them because they were on transit flights for two hours, and they were resuming their flights without having their passports stamped. However their movements were under the complete supervision of the Iranian intelligence," Larijani was quoted as saying.

The remarks represent the first time senior Iranian officials have publicly admitted to aiding al Qaeda and playing a direct role in facilitating the 9/11 attacks.

The U.S. government has long accused Iran of playing a role in the attacks and even fined the Islamic Republic billions as a result. The U.S. 9/11 Commission assembled to investigate the attacks concluded that Iran played a role in facilitating the al Qaeda terrorists.

Larijani admitted that Iranian officials did not stamp the passports of the al Qaeda militants in order to obfuscate their movements and prevent detection by foreign governments. Al Qaeda operative also were given safe refuge in Iran.

"The Americans took this as evidence of Iran's cooperation with al-Qaeda and viewed the passage of an airplane through Iran's airspace, which had one of the pilots who carried out the attacks and a Hezbollah military leader sitting [next to] him on board, as evidence of direct cooperation with al-Qaeda through the Lebanese Hezbollah," Larijani was quoted as saying in the May 30 interview, which is gaining traction on social media.

The U.S. government has not formally commented on the interview, but did highlight it in an official tweet from the State Departments Arabic-only Twitter page.

See original here:
Iran Admits To Facilitating 9/11 Terror Attacks

Iran announced Tuesday that it has taken steps to increase its capacity for uranium enrichment in a warning of the potential consequences of the U.S. withdrawal last month from the nuclear deal.

Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said his government had notified the International Atomic Energy Agency of its plans to build a new facility for producing next-generation centrifuges to enrich uranium. At high enough levels of processing, enriched uranium is a component of a nuclear bomb.

Salehi stressed that Irans plans do not violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the 2015 nuclear accord is called. Under the agreement, the country is allowed to build centrifuge parts but cannot put them into operation for a decade. Salehi said new centrifuges will be assembled if the JCPOA collapses.

If conditions allow, maybe tomorrow night at [the Natanz enrichment plant], we can announce the opening of the center for production of new centrifuges, Salehi was quoted saying by the Fars news agency.

Iran has denied that it seeks to acquire nuclear weapons and says its programs are directed toward energy production and medical uses.

The modest planning steps Salehi announced do not immediately violate the landmark nuclear deal but would if new centrifuges were assembled and put into operation. But the decision sends a strong signal of Irans intentions if the deal falls apart under U.S. pressure, and it complicates the task for Europeans trying to salvage the agreement after the U.S. pullout.

The announcement came one day after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered preparations for increasing uranium enrichment if the nuclear agreement disintegrates. He also vowed not to accept limits on Irans ballistic missile testing.

The countries that negotiated the deal along with the United States Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany have all said they will stay in the deal. The Europeans have been trying to find a way to keep it alive, even though some international companies that moved to do business in Iran are talking of reducing their presence there.

Supporters and critics of the deal said they were not surprised by Irans move.

This is what defenders of the JCPOA warned the administration about, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.

For now, Iran will continue to stay within the JCPOA limitations while it assesses whether the Europeans, Chinese, Russians and India can and will sustain trade and investment to make it worthwhile from Irans subjective perspective. How much time we have, I dont know. Thats what worries me. I dont think weve got a lot.

Mark Dubowitz, the head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a prominent critic of the agreement, said Irans announced plans will not rescue the agreement as more companies shun the country for fear of running afoul of renewed U.S. sanctions.

The supreme leaders threat to step up enrichment is an attempt to use nuclear blackmail to force Europe to save his regime from an economic and political crisis of his own making, Dubowitz said. It will fail as more European companies exit Iran as the administration surrounds the country with an economic minefield.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in France for meetings with President Emmanuel Macron, said Iran is intent on destroying Israel.

We are not surprised, he said. We will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.

Macron warned against the danger of escalation that would lead to conflict.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert declined to respond to Tehrans seeming threat to start enriching more uranium.

If the IAEA believes that that is taking place, we believe that the IAEA will report that back to its board of governors, and also, to the United Nations, so well just await that, if that has, in fact, ended up happening in Iran, she said.

Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spelled out 12 conditions the United States expects Iran to meet if it wants U.S. sanctions lifted. Chief among them is the demand Iran that stop its uranium enrichment and never pursue plutonium reprocessing to foreclose any possible path to building a nuclear weapon.

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Iran plans new uranium enrichment - The Washington Post

There have since been reports, so far unverified, that Mr. Azari Jahromi has resigned.

On Tuesday, some users of Telegram in Iran said they were still able to communicate through the app over their home internet connections. In the confusion, several websites that are usually freely accessible including Wikipedia and Google were hard to reach.

Thousands of Russians are taking a bold stand against the Kremlins efforts to block the popular encrypted messaging service, which refused to give the state access to users messages.

Iran is not the only country trying to block Telegram. Two weeks ago, Russia obtained a court order to shut down the service after its founder, Pavel V. Durov, refused to provide the security services with the keys to read users encrypted messages.

To date, Moscows efforts have been thwarted as it continues a cat-and-mouse game with the company, and thousands of Russians demonstrated on Monday in a show of support for Telegram.

In Iran, the battle over the app has become something of a litmus test for Mr. Rouhani, whose popularity has dropped significantly since his re-election in May last year. During his campaign, he promised to deliver more freedoms, to provide greater employment opportunities and to get the countrys notorious morality police off the streets. He has largely fallen short of those goals.

Mr. President, none of your promises were realized, and preventing Telegram from being blocked is your last stronghold, a journalist named Nahid Molavi wrote on Twitter.

Telegram is widely used in Iran, for activities as varied as chatting, booking appointments at beauty salons, selling cars or finding partners. Even the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had his own channel until recently. Such channels, which sometimes draw hundreds of thousands of users who receive instant messages at the push of a button, played a major role in spreading videos of nationwide protests in December.

On Monday, Irans judiciary issued a decree ordering internet service providers to block access to the Telegram app, as they have already been doing for years for Facebook and Twitter.

Many people manage to bypass the states firewalls by using virtual private networks, or VPNs. But such software requires a lot of bandwidth, and they often significantly slow internet access.

In recent weeks, government institutions had already begun taking down their Telegram channels, urging people to switch to Iranian applications such as Soroush. But many Iranians chose not to follow the guidance.

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Iran, Like Russia Before It, Tries to Block Telegram App ...

Hezbollah's response was fierce. Rockets rained down for days on the northern Israeli countryside, with the Iranian proxy exchanging fire with Israeli forces near the border. Hezbollah fired five anti-tank missiles at an Israeli convoy on the border, killing two soldiers. As tensions soared along the border, a Spanish soldier serving as a UN peacekeeper was killed in the crossfire.

Three years later, and tensions are back. In fact, the situation has already deteriorated much further than it had in 2015.

It's no longer Israel confronting Hezbollah in a form of proxy war with Iran. Now, Israel and Iran face each other with Syria as the setting for their rivalry. What was for so long a war of words and covert actions between Israel and Iran risks moving closer to open confrontation.

The exchange made one thing clear: Israel and Iran appear to be on a collision course.

A battle that used to be carried out through proxies -- Israel fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon -- has been replaced by near-direct confrontation.

Another, more recent airstrike on the T-4 military base -- a strike pinned on Israel -- killed at least seven Iranian nationals.

A strike this past weekend that targeted Syrian military positions has all the hallmarks of an Israeli attack, though no one has yet blamed Israel. Airstrikes hit bases near Hama and Aleppo, with the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights saying 26 people were killed in the strike, most of them Iranian militiamen.

Iran denied an attack killed its fighters, according to the state-run Tasnim News Agency.

Nevertheless, Iran sees Israel's strikes in Syria as a violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty. Iran is Syria's biggest ally, supportive of President Bashar al-Assad. Iran has offered military assistance, technology and equipment to Assad as he tries to maintain his own position while fighting Syrian rebels and ISIS.

With the strikes attributed to Israel growing more frequent and more brazen, Iran has vowed to respond.

Hossein Salami, a senior Revolutionary Guard commander, issued a harsh warning during Friday prayers, seen as a key signaling tool for the Iranian regime.

"I say this to the Zionists, we know you very well. You are very vulnerable. You have neither depth nor backing. Your mischief has increased. Listen and be aware any war that might happen, rest assured will bring about your disappearance."

Israel has taken Iran's threat seriously, holding multiple security cabinet meetings in recent weeks to discuss tensions in the north. A CNN reporter in the Golan Heights also witnessed what appeared to be a buildup of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and more in the country's north.

"Iranian retaliation is on its way," says retired Israeli Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, the executive director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies in Israel. He notes two conflicting positions over Syria, in "the strategic position and determination of Iran to build advanced military forces in Syria, and the Israeli determination not to let that happen." Neither side has shown a willingness to compromise.

Israel views with growing alarm Iran's presence in Syria, with the country's leaders reiterating Israel's position: It will not allow Iran to establish a military presence in Syria.

While Syria might be suffering the fog of war, elsewhere Israel sees a surprising array of clearsighted neighbors and allies, creating favorable conditions to act.

Israel feels it can rely on unwavering support from the administration of US President Donald Trump, as the American President sees eye-to-eye with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Iran deal.

In the past two weeks, the head of US Central Command, Gen. Joseph Votel visited Israel, newly confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman met the US secretary of defense and national security adviser in Washington, and Netanyahu spoke with Trump on the phone.

Citing a trove of files apparently taken from Tehran that he says prove Iran tried to mislead the world about its program, Netanyahu asked: "Why would a terrorist regime hide and meticulously catalog its secret nuclear files, if not to use them at a later date? Iran lied about having a nuclear weapons program. Iran continued to preserve and expands its nuclear weapons know-how for future use."

Additionally, the Saudis view Iran just as the Israelis do: a major threat to the region that is the Middle East's primary concern. Meanwhile, Egypt is focused on its own domestic issues and the security of the Sinai Peninsula. In other words, two key regional players who formerly had a tendency, in Israel's eyes, to place too much focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are looking elsewhere now.

"I know one thing for certain. We will not allow the Iranians to base themselves in Syria and there will be a price for that. We have no other choice," Liberman said recently. "To agree to an Iranian presence in Syria, it's agreeing to the fact that the Iranians will put a noose around your neck."

At a conference in New York this past weekend, Liberman insisted Israel still had liberty to act over Syria, even after it lost a fighter jet earlier this year.

Syria is a fractured country, but even in its shifting sands, Iran and Israel have drawn their red lines.

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Analysis: Iran and Israel draw closer to war than ever - CNN