German, British and French envoys must be expelled, Iran's Green Party chief says

Iran will not allow Western states to inspect its ships after the return of UN Security Council sanctions, a lawmaker said Tuesday.

“We will not permit our ships to be inspected,” said Salar Velayatmadar, a member of the parliament’s National Security Committee.

Tehran has measures to prevent such restrictions and can continue exports and arms shipments in various ways because destination countries need its weapons, Velayatmadar said.

Only financial transfers from arms sales “might face some trouble,” and both partner states and Iran have arrangements to resolve that problem, Velayatmadar added.

“Turning education into a commodity has deprived many working-class children of their right to study,” labor activist Maziar Gilaninejad told labor news outlet ILNA.

He cited official figures and media reports showing steep increases in school-related expenses, including a 30% rise in stationery prices, costs of about 3.5 million rials (about $35) for basic supplies for one elementary student, and reports of 750,000 children leaving school due to poverty.

He added that the result is “a direct link” between rising dropouts and the growth in child labor, with many minors pushed into hazardous workshops to support their families.

“The reality is families need their children’s wages as much as they cannot afford school fees,” he said.

• 

  Parents clean schools as payment burden hits low-income families in Iran

• 

  Parents lament hidden school fees in Iran

Parents have echoed the concerns. Earlier this month, Iran International reported that families are often asked to pay “voluntary” enrollment fees or provide unpaid labor, such as cleaning classrooms, to secure places for their children. In some cases, schools have withheld report cards until payments were made.

University tuition has also surged, with students reporting fees doubling at some institutions in recent semesters.

“Education is becoming an exclusive path for the wealthy,” Gilaninejad said, citing data that the top 3,000 scorers in this year’s university entrance exam came almost entirely from affluent families.

Article 30 of Iran’s constitution guarantees free education, but Iran spends just 2.93% of GDP on education, well below the global average of 4.4%, according to the Global Economy data service.

Gilaninejad said neglecting this obligation risks producing “a generation systematically sidelined from opportunity” and perpetuating cycles of poverty.

Concerns over the activation of the snapback mechanism are “a psychological issue in the market” and will not affect domestic production, Saeed Shojaei, deputy for planning at Iran’s Ministry of Industry, said Monday.

“With cooperation from the private sector, the supply and production chain in the country has been strengthened against various conditions, including the return of sanctions with the activation of the snapback mechanism,” Shojaei said.

Mohammad Eslami, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, arrived in Moscow on Monday for negotiations, Russian media reported, without specifying whom he would meet.

The visit comes after the UN Security Council decided not to permanently lift sanctions against Tehran. The decision followed a move last month by France, Germany and Britain to launch a 30-day process to reimpose measures, accusing Iran of failing to uphold the 2015 nuclear deal.

Tehran denies the charge, while Moscow has declared support for Iran’s right to pursue “peaceful nuclear energy.”

Tehran’s possible withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is not a mere threat but a prepared plan under review at different levels of government, an Iranian parliamentarian said on Monday.

The proposal is ready to be presented in the open session, Hosseinali Haji-Deligani, a member of the parliament’s Article 90 committee, said.

“Fortunately there is consensus among the country’s officials, and all decision-making bodies consider withdrawal from the NPT the best option to counter the European countries’ move,” he added.