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Tag: state

  • Disrupting Iran’s Overseas Military Procurement Networks

    Disrupting Iran’s Overseas Military Procurement Networks

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    Disrupting Iran’s Overseas Military Procurement Networks

    Marco Rubio, Secretary of State

    Disrupting Iran’s Overseas Military Procurement Networks

    Press Statement

    May 8, 2026

    Today, the Trump Administration is imposing sanctions on 11 entities and three individuals based in Iran, China, Belarus, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) involved in Iran’s efforts to acquire or use arms and related materiel. Included in today’s actions are several China-based entities providing satellite imagery to enable Iran’s military strikes against U.S. forces in the Middle East. Additionally, we are designating entities and individuals enabling efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons, as well as raw materials with applications in Iran’s ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) programs.

    Today’s action holds China-based entities accountable for their support to Iran. The United States will take all necessary action at its disposal to target third-country entities and individuals aiding Iran’s military and defense industrial base.

    In furtherance of President Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum-2, the United States is acting to disrupt procurement networks supporting Iran’s military programs. This action represents the United States’ ongoing commitment to supporting the reimposition of United Nations (UN) restrictive measures and sanctions on Iran, which occurred as a direct result of Iran’s “significant non-performance” of its nuclear commitments.

    Consistent with its UN obligations, the United States will use all available tools, including U.S. autonomous sanctions on the entities and individuals engaging in activities prohibited by UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs), to expose, disrupt, and counter Iran’s destabilizing activities and to stop Iran from engaging in activities related to the reconstitution of its proliferation-sensitive programs.

    The Department of State’s action was taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13949, which targets certain persons with respect to the conventional arms activities of Iran. The Department of the Treasury’s action was taken pursuant to E.O. 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their supporters. For more information on today’s actions, please see the Department of State’s fact sheet and Department of the Treasury’s press release.

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  • Democrats set sights on protecting, adding to Ohio Supreme Court seats

    Democrats set sights on protecting, adding to Ohio Supreme Court seats

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    Democrats set sights on protecting, adding to Ohio Supreme Court seats

    Democratic judges have an uphill battle to change the 6-1 Ohio Supreme Court, where Justice Jennifer Brunner is an island unto herself in a sea of Republican justices. But she and another judge making a run for a seat in November sense a change in the winds when it comes to Democratic support, both in the judicial system and elsewhere.

    “As I travel the state, I am taken by the movement, the energy, the sort of undertow that I’m sensing from the counties around the state,” Brunner said at the Ohio Democratic Party’s primary night event on Tuesday.

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    Brunner has been on the court since 2021, but until last year, she shared the bench with two other Democratic justices.

    Races for the state’s top judicial positions were made explicitly partisan when Republican state lawmakers added party labels to the races starting in 2022. Since that change, the court has gone from 4-3 to 6-1 Republican.

    “I don’t mind it,” Brunner said. “But I sure would like a little more company.”

    The most recent general election in 2024 saw the defeat of Justice Melody Stewart and Justice Michael P. Donnelly, in favor of Republican justices Joe Deters and Megan Shanahan.

    Brunner will now face off against Republican challenger and former Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Colleen O’Donnell, who edged out a crowded primary field of appellate judges on Tuesday, garnering 32% of the vote in unofficial results from the Ohio Secretary of State.

    She succeeded in the election with a margin of less than 18,000 votes between her and her closest opponent, Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Andrew King.

    “This is not just a victory for my campaign team, but for all Ohioans who support law and order, public safety, and fair, consistent court decisions,” O’Donnell said in a statement late Tuesday night.

    Brunner told the crowd of Democratic supporters that she wants to be “part of the foundation and the strong shoulders that people like (governor candidate Dr.) Amy Acton can stand on.”

    She said the energy she’s seen from voters shows a dissatisfaction with the way government is working, particularly the Republican leadership at the federal level.

    “We know we all have problems in our lives … and every time we look up thinking we might get a little hope, what we get out of Washington is this din, and this craziness, and this sense that this is not our country,” she said.

    If Brunner loses the Nov. 3 election, and Justice Dan Hawkins defends his seat against a Democratic challenger, First District Court of Appeals Judge Marilyn Zayas, the Ohio Supreme Court will be a full 7-0 Republican panel.

    In her campaign to join Brunner on the court, Zayas also feels a different energy in the 2026 election.

    “I’m seeing how we are losing faith in our court because of politics, and politics has no place in our Ohio Supreme Court,” said Zayas, who was unopposed in her primary race.

    Zayas said the state is at a crossroads, one in which wins for the two Democrats in 2026 could provide opportunities for more judges in 2028.

    “We have to do this, because the alternative is way too dire,” Zayas said.

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