The Iranian regime is using a former Soviet republic to bypass sanctions and finance its military machine, according to an article published by Fox News.

“According to a report by the Hudson Institute, the Republic of Georgia’s shift toward the Tehran regime could pose problems for U.S. interests in the region. Recent reports indicate that, as Iran becomes increasingly isolated among its Persian Gulf neighbors, Tehran is deepening its ties with the Republic of Georgia in the South Caucasus. The former Soviet republic, which until recently was still considered a candidate for EU and NATO membership, has gradually moved closer to Tehran,” the article states.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, former member of the Georgian Parliament and co-author of the Hudson Institute study, Giorgi Kandelaki, said that “Iran has built a broad infrastructure of influence in Georgia, including organizations sanctioned by the United States for links to extremism.”

“Although Georgia remains diplomatically neutral, the Hudson Institute report details the deepening ties between the two countries and how Iran uses Georgia as a network for intelligence infrastructure, which even extends into Georgia’s religious, educational, and cultural institutions in order to influence society,” the publication writes.

The article notes that “Iran opened a Georgian branch of Al-Mustafa University as early as 2007, which is considered a key vehicle for spreading the ideology of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, abroad.”

“The U.S. Treasury Department stated in 2020 that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force uses Al-Mustafa University in Georgia as an international recruitment network for Iran and promotes the ideological and security interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran uses sympathetic Georgian citizens to carry out international crimes in order to advance its internal agenda,” the article says.

The article provides several examples, noting that “although no link to the Tbilisi government has been confirmed, reports indicate that in 2022 the Quds Force recruited a Georgian citizen, Agil Aslanov, who had ties to organized crime, to assassinate a prominent Jewish leader in Azerbaijan. Additionally, in 2025, another Georgian citizen, Polad Omarov, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a federal court in New York for attempting to assassinate well-known Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, a prominent critic of the Islamic Republic’s use of force against peaceful protesters.”

“After the 2003 Rose Revolution, Georgia took significant steps to strengthen political and security ties with the United States and became a cornerstone of regional security in the Black Sea region. After decades under Soviet rule, Georgia became a U.S. ally, participated in missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and signed a Strategic Partnership Charter with the United States in 2009. Ties between Tbilisi and Tehran deepened after the pro-Russian party ‘Georgian Dream’ came to power in 2012. Relations between the leadership of the two countries have steadily increased following Georgian Dream’s contested victory in the 2024 elections. Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze visited Iran in May 2024 to attend the funeral of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, and in July attended the inauguration of Iran’s current president, Masoud Pezeshkian. According to data from the Georgian NGO Civic IDEA, many Georgian companies import oil and petroleum products from Iran. Civic IDEA reports that between 2022 and 2025, 72 companies registered in Georgia imported Iranian oil and petroleum products,” the article states.

According to the author, the Georgian government did not respond to phone calls or emails requesting comment. A representative of Iran’s diplomatic mission to the United Nations also declined to comment.