Under pressure, Georgia is being called Iran’s main sanctions evasion center, the report said

As Iran becomes increasingly isolated among its Gulf neighbors, recent reports say Tehran has deepened its ties in the South Caucasus with the Republic of Georgia.

The former Soviet republic, which until recently was seen as an ambitious European Union and potential candidate for NATO membership, has slowly moved closer to Tehran.

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Kandelaki, co-author of a recent report with the Hudson Institute entitled The Iranian turn in Georgia: Tehran’s rapid expansion of influence in a once committed US ally, said Tbilisi’s turn to Iran is bad for Georgians, but also bad for US interests in the region.

“Georgia has a predominantly pro-American public opinion committed to Western values, and is also seen in Washington as a traditional American ally. This reality sets a terrible precedent and reversing this trajectory is in the interests of both the US and Georgian society,” he added.

Although Georgia has remained diplomatically neutral, the Hudson report details the burgeoning ties between the two countries and how Iran uses Georgia as an intelligence infrastructure network, penetrating Georgia’s religious, educational and cultural institutions to impact society.

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Supporters of the ruling Georgian Dream party attend a rally in central Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024. (Shakh Aivazov/AP)

As early as 2007, Iran opened the Georgian branch of Al-Mustafa University, which, according to United Against a Nuclear Iran, is considered one of Iran’s main weapons for spreading the ideology of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, abroad.

The US Treasury Department stated in 2020 that Iran’s IRGC-Quds Force is using Al-Mustafa University in Georgia as an international recruitment network for Iran and acting as a conduit for the Islamic Republic’s ideological and security interests.

“Al-Mustafa facilitated unwitting tourists from Western countries to come to Iran, from whom members of the IRGC-Qud attempted to gather intelligence,” the Treasury Department said. It also said the university facilitated student exchanges with foreign universities to develop intelligence resources.

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A portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sits at the entrance to the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi on March 6, 2026. (Vano Shlamov/AFP via Getty Images)

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A report by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies estimates the university’s annual budget at $100 million and has trained tens of thousands of emissaries around the world who spread Iran’s revolutionary ideology.

Iran has used sympathetic Georgians to commit international crimes to advance its domestic agenda.

Although no ties were ever established to the Tbilisi government, a Georgian national, Agil Aslanov, who had ties to organized crime, was reportedly recruited by the Quds Force to assassinate a prominent Jewish leader in Azerbaijan in 2022. In another case in 2025, the Georgian citizen became a citizen Polad Omarov was indicted in federal court in New York City and sentenced to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of prominent Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, an outspoken critic of the Islamic Republic’s use of force against peaceful protesters.

Georgia once took important steps in advancing political and security ties with the United States after the Rose Revolution in 2003, becoming a foundation of regional security in the Black Sea region. After decades of Soviet rule, Georgia joined the United States, contributing to missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and eventually signed a Strategic Partnership Charter with the United States in 2009.

In this photo, taken from a video released by Georgian Dream Party on Sunday, October 27, 2024, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze speaks after the parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia. (Georgian Dream Party/AP)

Tbilisi’s ties with Tehran have expanded under the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party that came to power in 2012. That bond has become even closer, analysts say, after Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili ended her six-year term in 2024 and was replaced by Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was chosen as her successor by a newly created electoral college reportedly dominated by supporters of the Georgian Dream.

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Kavelashvili’s appointment followed parliamentary elections in October 2024, which were marred by some irregularities, according to the US Embassy in Tbilisiin which the Georgian Dream declared victory.

A billboard depicting Iran’s supreme leaders since 1979: (from left to right) Ayatollahs Ruhollah Khomeini (until 1989), Ali Khamenei (until 2026) and Mojtaba Khamenei (incumbent) is shown above a highway in Tehran on March 10, 2026. Iran marked the appointment of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in March to replace his father as supreme leader. 9, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)

Leadership ties between the two countries have grown steadily since the Georgian Dream’s disputed parliamentary victory in 2024.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze visited Iran in May 2024 for the funeral of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, and again in July to attend the inauguration of Iran’s current President Masoud Pezeshkian, where Iranian news agencies reported that both leaders praised the growing relationship between the two countries.

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Many Georgian companies also import oil and petroleum products from Iran, an important economic lifeline for the regime and its regional war efforts, according to Georgian NGO Civic IDEA. In 2024, Iranian oil export revenues amounted to approximately $43 billion, accounting for approximately 57% of total Iranian export revenues.

Iranian flags fly as fire and smoke rise from an Israeli attack on the Sharan oil depot, following Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran, June 15, 2025. (Majid Asgaripour/WANA)

According to Civic IDEA, between 2022 and 2025, 72 Georgia-registered companies imported Iranian oil and petroleum, including eight to donors to the ruling Georgian Dream party, boosting Iran’s revenue stream even as they were heavily sanctioned by Western countries.

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Chkhaidze said these Georgian companies importing Iranian oil pay in cash and can avoid international banking sanctions.

“The scale is enormous, because Tehran uses the revenue from these programs to finance its regional operations,” Chkhaidze claimed.

Telephone and email requests for comment sent to the Georgia government were not answered. A spokesperson for the Iranian mission to the United Nations would not comment on relations between the two countries.