Fox News, citing a report by the Hudson Institute, claims that the Iranian regime is using Georgia to circumvent sanctions and fund its military machine. According to the report, Tehran is deepening its ties with Georgia in the South Caucasus, while the country—which until recently was viewed as a potential candidate for EU and NATO membership—is gradually drawing closer to Iran. The Hudson Institute report states that Georgia’s pivot toward the Iranian regime could pose a challenge to U.S. interests in the region.
“Iran has established an extensive infrastructure of influence in Georgia, including entities approved by actors sanctioned by the U.S. government for ties to extremism. In Washington, they are considered fronts for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” former Georgian Member of Parliament Giorgi Kandelaki told Fox News Digital.
Kandelaki, a co-author of the recent Hudson Institute report titled “Georgia’s Pivot to Iran: Tehran’s Rapidly Expanding Influence in a Once-Devoted U.S. Ally,” noted that Tbilisi’s rapprochement with Iran is detrimental to both Georgia and U.S. interests in the region.
“Pro-American public opinion committed to Western values prevails in Georgia, and it has traditionally been considered a U.S. ally in Washington. This reality creates a dangerous precedent, and reversing this trajectory is in the interest of both the United States and Georgian society,” he added.
Although Georgia formally maintains diplomatic neutrality, the report details growing ties between the two countries and how Iran uses Georgia as an infrastructure network of influence, penetrating religious, educational, and cultural institutions to impact society.
The article mentions a branch of Al-Mustafa University in Georgia, which is alleged to be one of the key tools for spreading the ideology of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, abroad.
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury stated in 2020 that a unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps uses Al-Mustafa University in Georgia as an international recruitment network and a tool for advancing the ideological and power interests of the Islamic Republic… Despite the lack of confirmed links to the government in Tbilisi, according to available information, Georgian citizen Agil Aslanov, linked to organized crime, was recruited by the Quds Force in 2022 to assassinate a prominent Jewish leader in Azerbaijan. In 2025, Georgian citizen Polad Omarov was charged in a New York federal court and sentenced to 25 years in prison for the attempted murder of prominent Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, a vocal critic of the use of violence against peaceful protesters in the Islamic Republic,” the article states.
The author also recalls that following the 2003 “Rose Revolution,” Georgia took significant steps to strengthen political and defense ties with the U.S. and became a pillar of regional security in the Black Sea region. After decades of Soviet rule, Georgia became a U.S. ally, participating in missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in 2009 signed the Charter on Strategic Partnership with the United States.
Tbilisi’s ties with Tehran expanded under the rule of “Georgian Dream” (the ruling party, often characterized by some as pro-Russian), which came to power in 2012. According to analysts, these ties were further strengthened after pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili completed her six-year term in 2024 and was replaced by Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was elected by a new college of electors formed by “Georgian Dream” supporters.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze visited Iran in May 2024 to attend the funeral of President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash, and again in July for the inauguration of the current Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian. According to Iranian media reports, during these visits, both sides praised the development of bilateral relations.
According to the Georgian non-governmental organization Civic IDEA, many Georgian companies also import oil and petroleum products from Iran, providing a vital economic pillar for the regime and its regional military activities.
According to Civic IDEA, between 2022 and 2025, 72 companies registered in Georgia imported Iranian oil and petroleum products; eight of these are linked to donors of the ruling “Georgian Dream” party. This has contributed to the growth of Iran’s revenues despite harsh sanctions from Western countries, Fox News Digital writes.