With Iran increasingly isolated among its Gulf neighbors, recent reports say Tehran has been deepening its ties in the South Caucasus with the Republic of Georgia.

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

“Iran has built a vast influence infrastructure in Georgia, which includes entities sanctioned by the U.S. government for links to extremism and viewed in Washington as fronts for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” Giorgi Kandelaki, former member of the Georgian Parliament, told Fox News Digital. 

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Kandelaki, co-author of a recent report with the Hudson Institute titled Georgia’s Iranian Turn: Tehran’s Rapid Expansion of Influence in a Once-Committed U.S. Ally, said that Tbilisi’s turn toward Iran is bad for Georgians but also bad for U.S. interests in the region.

“Georgia has an overwhelmingly pro-U.S. public opinion committed to Western values with it also being viewed as a traditional U.S. ally in Washington. This reality presents a terrible precedent and reversing this trajectory is in the interest of both the U.S. but also Georgian society,” he added.

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

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

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

“Al-Mustafa has facilitated unwitting tourists from Western countries to come to Iran, from whom IRGC-Qud’s Force members sought to collect intelligence,” the Treasury Department said. It also said that the university facilitated student exchanges with foreign universities to develop intelligence sources.

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A report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies estimated the university’s annual budget is $100 million and has trained tens of thousands of emissaries across the world who spread Iran’s revolutionary ideology.

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

While no links have ever been made with the Tbilisi government, a Georgian national, Agil Aslanov, who had ties to organized crime, was reportedly recruited by the Quds Forces to assassinate a prominent Jewish leader in Azerbaijan in 2022. In another case in 2025, Georgian national Polad Omarov was indicted in federal court in New York City and sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempting to assassinate prominent Iranian activist Masih Alinejad, a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic’s use of violence against peaceful protesters.

Georgia once made significant inroads to foster political and security ties with the United States following the Rose Revolution in 2003, becoming a bedrock of regional security in the Black Sea region. After decades of Soviet rule, Georgia aligned itself with the United States, contributing to missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and eventually signed a Strategic Partnership Charter with the United States in 2009.

Tbilisi’s ties with Tehran have been expanded under the pro-Russia Georgian Dream party that took power in 2012. That bond, according to analysts, has tightened after Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili finished her six-year term in office in 2024 and was replaced by Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was chosen as her successor by a newly established electoral college reportedly dominated by Georgian Dream supporters.

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Kavelashvili’s installment followed parliamentary elections in Oct. 2024 marred by some irregularities, according to the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi, in which the Georgian Dream declared victory. 

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

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

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Many Georgian companies are also importing oil and petroleum products from Iran, a key economic lifeline for the regime and its regional war efforts, according to Georgian NGO Civic IDEA. In 2024, Iranian oil export revenue was approximately $43 billion, which accounts for roughly 57% of Iran’s total export revenue.

According to Civic IDEA, between 2022 and 2025, 72 companies registered in Georgia imported Iranian oil and petroleum, including eight inked to donors of the ruling Georgian Dream party, boosting Iran’s revenue stream even while heavily sanctioned by Western nations.

“Georgia has become Iran’s primary sanctions-evasion hub . . . funneling hard currency back to Tehran’s war machine and the IRGC through specific schemes in oil imports,” Nicholas Chkhaidze, national security and strategic communications analyst based in Tbilisi, told Fox News Digital.

Chkhaidze said these Georgian companies that import Iranian oil pay in cash and can bypass international banking sanctions. 

“The scale is massive, as Tehran uses the revenue from these schemes to fund its regional operations,” Chkhaidze claimed.

Telephone and email requests for comment sent to the government of Georgia were not returned. A spokesman for Iran’s mission to the United Nations would not comment on the relations between the two countries.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell dismissed concerns that San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had about playing in Australia in Week 1.

The 49ers are playing their first game of the 2026 season in Melbourne, Australia, against the Los Angeles Rams, and Shanahan told reporters during the league’s owners meetings last month he did not see any benefit to it. 

Shanahan jokingly said it was his goal to play a game 19 to 20 hours away to start the season.

Goodell said he will send Shanahan an app that will help with jet lag.

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“You know I have an app for him, which I’m going to send to him because my wife hooked me up with an app. And I got to tell you, I feel great. I have not felt any jet lag at all. I thought it was a relatively easy trip,” Goodell told reporters in Australia Friday.

Goodell called Shanahan an enthusiastic coach and mentioned that coaches’ priorities solely lie with winning football games. He said the NFL is focused on making it a great experience for everyone.

“Coaches have a focus on winning, that’s their No. 1 job. And so Coach Shanahan is enthusiastic and a great football coach but also someone who truly understands the importance of expanding our game globally. But his job is to win, his job is to play, and I always like to say coaches like to play at 1 and 4 and don’t get in the way of that,” Goodell said.

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“We’re going to make it a great experience for the team. That’s one of the things we focus on, everybody here and so many others have focused on, and make it a great experience for everyone, the team included. When they go back, they got to make sure they are able to continue the competitiveness because this game is real, this counts, and they’ll go on to Week 2 as soon as they leave here.”

Goodell also made it clear that the 49ers-Rams game in Australia is not a one-off event but the beginning of an investment into the market.

“There is no question that we are going to be playing here again. Our view is that we are coming here for the long term. We don’t come as a one-off. This isn’t a circus. This is an investment in this market, and we believe that this is long term and will be great for the NFL long term,” Goodell said.

Shanahan and the other 31 head coaches in the NFL might not love the idea of playing a game that requires a 19- to 20-hour flight, but they have little say in the matter. While Shanahan might not see a “pro” to having to play overseas, he does think it’s cool to see the NFL globally.

“I don’t see any pro,” Shanahan said. “It’s cool for the league to play globally. I think that’s awesome. But as far as the team doing it, no, there’s not much benefit to it. Sometimes it’s nice to get a bye week after, but doesn’t happen in Week 1.”

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Cameras caught Scottish golfer Robert MacIntyre making an obscene gesture Thursday. 

The Scottish news outlet The Scotsman reported Friday that MacIntyre had been “reprimanded” for it.

The incident unfolded on the par-5 15th hole. After sending his approach shot into the water guarding the green, MacIntyre appeared to raise a middle finger in visible frustration.

Augusta National officials are known for enforcing strict decorum standards. According to The Scotsman, MacIntyre was reminded of the code of conduct by one of the officials.

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The 27-year-old declined to speak with reporters after the round.

After a penalty drop, MacIntyre dunked another shot into the pond. After yet another drop, he blasted his next attempt over the green entirely. By the time the damage was done, he carded a quadruple-bogey nine.

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MacIntyre also slammed his club into the ground on the 17th hole after a poor second shot. Earlier in the round, he was heard cursing on the 12th and 13th holes.

Entering Augusta, MacIntyre was viewed by many as a potential contender after strong showings at The Players Championship and the Texas Open. But after Thursday’s performance, his chances of making the cut appear slim.

For a tournament steeped in tradition and composure, MacIntyre’s meltdown could end up being one of the defining storylines of the opening round.

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