Iran warily backs Hamas response to Trump’s Gaza peace plan

The defendants were identified as Nasimeh Eslamzahi, a woman from Iran’s Baluch minority; her husband, Arsalan Sheikhi, from a Kurdish minority community in the northwest; and a third man identified only as Hassan.

Eslamzahi is being held in Gharchak prison near Tehran, while Sheikhi and Hassan are detained in Evin Prison in northern Tehran, Hengaw said.

The case was overseen by Judge Abolghasem Salavati, who is known for issuing harsh sentences in political cases and was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 for his role in what Washington described as “unfair trials” and multiple death sentences.

Hengaw said the defendants were accused of involvement in a 2023 bus bombing that killed an infant but denied the charges during their trial.

Eslamzahi was pregnant at the time of her arrest and gave birth to her daughter in prison. Hengaw said she and the baby were held for 40 days in solitary confinement in a cell with poor ventilation and inadequate lighting before being transferred to another ward.

The report comes a day after Iran executed seven political prisoners from ethnic minorities, including six Arabs and one Kurd, in what rights groups called a “grave violation” of international human rights and due process standards following torture and unfair trials.

According to Amnesty International, Iranian authorities have executed more than 1,000 people so far this year, the highest annual figure recorded by the group in at least 15 years.

The gym operating in the city of Yazd was sealed by local authorities and a case was opened against its manager, head of the provincial Public Places Surveillance Police said.

"Judicial officials, police officers, and a representative from the local sports and youth department visited the venue and found young men and women working out together," Colonel Ali-Akbar Tabaei said.

The Public Places Surveillance Police, a branch of Iran’s Law Enforcement, monitors businesses and public spaces to enforce Islamic social norms, including gender segregation and dress codes, and can refer violations to judicial authorities.

In a separate incident on Sunday, authorities arrested the organizers of a mixed-gender “coffee party” on Kish Island, a resort island in southern Iran, after videos of the celebration surfaced on social media.

The local prosecutor described the event as “a norm-breaking and illegal act.”

According to US-based rights group HRANA, at least 536 commercial venues were shut down across Iran in 2024, mostly for non-commercial reasons such as violating hijab rules, operating during Ramadan, or opening on religious mourning days.

Hossein Pourfarzaneh, the organization’s chief, said during a ceremony in Tehran that the newly inducted aircraft-- along with one helicopter and five small passenger planes -- would add more than 2,500 seats to the country’s aviation network.

“These projects are aimed at improving service quality and expanding air connectivity across the country, including to the islands and remote provinces,” Pourfarzaneh was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

He said 13 transportation projects worth about $125 million had been launched to strengthen Iran’s air infrastructure.

According to Pourfarzaneh, Iran has added over 5,100 passenger seats since 2021.

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  Iran receives Russian MiG-29 jets, expects more advanced systems, lawmaker says

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  Iran Air receives two used Airbus A330s in oil-for-planes deal with China

Iran has struggled for decades to modernize its aging fleet due to international sanctions restricting aircraft sales and access to spare parts.

More than half of its estimated 330 commercial planes are grounded, forcing Tehran to rely on leased or secondhand aircraft.

Earlier this year, Iran took delivery of several used Airbus A330s from China under barter deals involving oil, according to domestic media reports.

Late in September, an Iranian lawmaker said Russian MiG-29 fighter jets have arrived in Iran and officials also discussed acquiring additional Russian-built jets, including Sukhoi Su-35s, as part of broader defense and transport cooperation with Moscow.

After five consecutive years of drought, the country began the new water year with severely depleted reserves. Nationwide, reservoirs are only 35% full, and inflows to major dams have fallen by half compared with last year.

Dams in Tehran, Khorasan, Kerman, Hormozgan, and Zanjan provinces are among those at critical levels, while the Shamil, Niyan, Voshmgir, Golestan, and Roudbal dams have reached zero storage.

Officials warn that the persistent decline poses growing risks for drinking water, agriculture, and industry across much of the country.

At least 54 dead seals have been found on the shores of Mazandaran Province since March, according to environmental officials quoted by Tasnim News Agency.

The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica), the sea’s only native mammal, faces growing threats from pollution, overfishing, shrinking freshwater inflows and rising water salinity.

Environmental experts said entanglement in fishing gear, motorboat strikes and disease are also contributing to the deaths.

They warned that the decline of the species -- a key predator in the marine food chain -- could disrupt the ecological balance of the world’s largest enclosed body of water.

Conservation groups have called for tighter controls on fishing, pollution reduction and regional cooperation among Caspian littoral states to protect the endangered species.