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Iran Update March 25, 2025

Top Iranian officials reportedly authorized Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Abbas Araghchi to “advance any diplomatic initiative in relation to the United States,” according to an Iranian expert close to the regime.[1] It is not clear who precisely authorized Araghchi to begin “any diplomatic initiative,” but Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei would almost certainly make such a decision. Araghchi has historically taken a softer line on nuclear negotiations with the United States compared to the regime's hardline elements. Araghchi said on March 24 that Iran is open to indirect talks with the United States “through various channels,” though it rejects direct negotiations.[2] Former President Hassan Rouhani and former leading member of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team Mohammad Javad Zarif were previously given “full authority” to advance nuclear talks during the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiations.[3]

The Houthis continue to supplement their Iranian-sourced weapons arsenal by acquiring additional arms and dual-use components through Russian and Chinese commercial suppliers, according to the 2025 Annual US Intelligence Community Threat Assessment report.[11] Local media reported on March 24 that Yemeni border customs seized 800 Chinese-made drone propellers in a shipment bound for the Houthis at the Sarfait border crossing with Oman in southeastern Yemen.[12] The Houthis have previously procured dual-use items for drone and missile components on the international market.[13] The Houthis smuggle these shipments through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and through land borders, particularly from the Omani-Yemeni border via the Yemeni government-controlled Mahra and Hadramawt governorates in eastern Yemen.[14] The United States sanctioned China-based electronics companies for selling dual-use components to the Houthis in October 2024.[15] The Houthis also imported hydrogen fuel cylinders from unspecified Chinese suppliers in August 2024, which were aimed to increase the range and payloads of the Houthis’ drones.[16]

The Iranian rial depreciated from 989,000 rials to one US dollar on March 24 to 1,024,100 rials to one US dollar on March 25.[74] Iran's currency dropped to a record low on March 25, reflecting Iran's deepening economic instability amid renewed US “maximum pressure” sanctions and diplomatic deadlock.[75]

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-march-25-2025

25MAR2025 Treasury Sanctions Additional Iranian Intelligence Officers Involved in the Probable Death and Cover-Up of Robert Levinson
(OFAC), in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is imposing sanctions on three Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) officials who were involved in the abduction, detention, and probable death of former FBI Special Agent Robert A. “Bob” Levinson. The individuals designated today, Reza Amiri Moghadam, Gholamhossein Mohammadnia, and Taqi Daneshvar, all played a role in Mr. Levinson’s abduction, probable death, and Iran's efforts to cover up or obfuscate their responsibility. This action follows the December 2020 OFAC designations of two Iranian MOIS officers, Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai, who acted in their capacity as MOIS officers in Mr. Levinson’s abduction, detention, and probable death.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0059

2018:This is the most likely scenario
Last fall I met several retired and serving F.B.I. agents who had worked with Levinson. I was reporting on a notorious Ukrainian-born businessman named Semion Mogilevich, who had earned the dubious distinction of making the F.B.I.’s Top Ten Most Wanted List. Mogilevich is, according to one Russian organized crime expert, the “high-end underworld financier of choice.” Before he retired, Levinson had become perhaps the most fearless, crusading agent against Mogilevich. “He's dangerous because he'll get anybody who gets in his way,” Levinson once said of Mogilevich, speaking to the BBC. “It's become just a little personal hasn't it?” the interviewer replied. “I'd like to finish the job,” Levinson said, smirking.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/who-is-holding-robert-levinson

Perhaps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semion_Mogilevich made a deal with some Iranians that he met earlier:

An F.B.I. report on Russian organized crime said that when the Soviet Union withdrew its military forces from East Germany, many Russian generals sold their weapons to Mr. Mogilevich, who in turn sold them, at much higher prices, to countries like Iraq, Iran and Serbia.
https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/19/world/activity-at-bank-raises-suspicions-of-russia-mob-tie.html
If these Iranians were his counterparts it might explain why the Iranian government is unable to trace Levinson.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Levinson

https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3385870/posts?page=12#12