[AdmSmith]

Iran Update, June 1, 2023

Iran has been building and training forces to target and kill US personnel and expel US forces from Syria.
Some of the arms and training that Iran has provided to militias in Syria could also support transfers of advanced conventional weapons.
Iran is attempting to assuage Western concerns about its nuclear program, likely to preempt the upcoming International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report that will detail Iran’s noncompliance with its nuclear safeguard obligations.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-june-1-2023

[AdmSmith]

Russia became Iran's largest investor - Iranian information agency IRNA

Chief of Iran-Russia Joint Chamber of Commerce Hadi Tizhoush Taban said fhat Russia invested $2.7 billion in Iran's oil industry - about 45% of the total number of investments into Iran (October 2021-January 2023). The share of national currencies in the trade between two countries grew up to 60%.

https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1665096895901966344

https://www.mei.edu/publications/diagnosing-irans-emerging-pivot-toward-russia-and-china

A comment: This is not actual investment, its just getting around sanctions, selling russian oil under Ayatollah flag

[AdmSmith]

Iran Update, June 2, 2023

1) Iran is training its militias in Syria to use a range of improvised and advanced weapons to attack US personnel in Syria. Iranian-backed militias in Iraq may conduct attacks against US forces in Syria.
2). Iran likely calculates that it has achieved strategic depth and using militias in Iraq and Syria to attack US forces will keep conflict confined to Syria.
3). Iranian media circulated reports of an IRGC-conducted a drone strike targeting Kurdish Iranian separatist groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan region on June 2.
4). The Iranian regime is pursuing increased gas swaps with Turkmenistan, likely to preempt electricity shortages in the summer that could fuel internal unrest. https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-june-2-2023