New strikes on Iran being discussed in practical terms, Lavrov says

Israel may launch a new attack on Iran within three months if the current trends continue, defense and security analyst Farzin Nadimi told Iran International.

“I think that within a maximum of three months, if such a decision is made, it will be carried out. If things continue on this path,” said Nadimi, a Senior Fellow at the Washington Institute.

Both sides had drawn lessons from the 12-day conflict in June and neither sought a prolonged or costly war, he added.

Any Israeli decision, he said, would rest on advance planning and readiness of defenses. “If Israel makes such a decision, it must prepare a set of assumptions, and its defensive capabilities must be more ready.”

Nadimi pointed to recent US military deployments as evidence of enhanced preparation.

“Reports have indicated that the THAAD battery, which the United States had deployed in Israel, has now been increased. In other words, four launchers have been added to the existing six,” he said.

“All Iranian officials have been ordered by the National Security Council to designate successors a few ranks after themselves so that if something happens, the country will not be left in uncertainty," the NSC secretary said on Saturday, three months after Israeli strikes killed many high-ranking Iranian authorities.

The Iranian parliament will debate withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on Sunday and decide on it, a senior lawmaker said.

"The issue of building a nuclear bomb will be considered separately at a later stage, and we can place it on the agenda," the IRGC general-turned-lawmaker Esmail Kowsari told the state-run YJC.

The decision, adopted during the Central Bank’s High Council session this week, applies to all traders and users on licensed digital platforms and must be implemented within a one-month transition period, according to Asghar Abolhasani, secretary of the High Council.

“From now on, the ceiling for purchasing stablecoins is set at $5,000 per user annually, and holdings cannot exceed $10,000,” Abolhasani told Iran's state TV.

He said those already holding stablecoins will have only a brief period to comply.

“The important point is that in regard to stablecoins currently in possession, a maximum one-month transition period has been set, during which the authorized ceiling for holdings must be observed.”

Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to traditional currencies, with Tether (US dollar) being the most widely used.

In Iran, Tether has become a lifeline for households and traders seeking to protect savings from inflation or to move money abroad, offering the stability of the US dollar without the barriers of the formal banking system.

The new restrictions come as the rial continues to collapse, hitting an all-time low of 1,136,500 per US dollar on Saturday. The national currency is likely to lose further value amid the looming renewal of UN sanctions and worsening public confidence in government controls.

Stablecoins such as Tether have surged in popularity among Iranians since the war with Israel and US earlier this year. For many, converting rials into digital dollars has been the only way to preserve value.

The new cap is expected to affect thousands of small traders who have been making a living in crypto and could now face penalties for exceeding the legal ceiling.

The Central Bank’s move mirrors past efforts to curb demand for foreign currency during sharp market downturns. In earlier crises, authorities restricted access to dollars and gold in hopes of stabilizing the rial, but the measures had little long-term impact and often pushed transactions into black markets.

Iran’s currency has steadily depreciated over the past decade, battered by sanctions, inflation, and mismanagement.

"The three European countries and the United States expected Iran to give up all its nuclear material or hand it over to them, in exchange for delaying the activation of the snapback mechanism by three or six months, Iran's foreign minister said on Saturday.

"This is the height of a “brazen” approach toward us, and we will not submit to such humiliation," Abbas Araghchi told Iran's state TV.

"Iran will not accept the humiliating pressure over snapback. The European countries and the United States tried to extort concessions from Iran by creating fear of activating the snapback mechanism," he said.

"We have no doubt about the peaceful nature of our nuclear program, and we are ready to build trust, provided that the Iranian people’s inalienable right to enrich uranium is respected," the Iranian foreign minister said.

Legal battle at Security Council

Iran's foreign minister said Tehran will start a legal battle at the UN Security Council next month as it believes the snapback mechanism has not been activated and once Resolution 2231 expires on Oct. 18, all sanctions will be terminated.

"China and Russia also believe that the activation of the snapback is illegal, and on October 18 all sanctions on Iran will end as per UNSC Resolution 2231," Araghchi said.