Lebanon refused a $60 million aid offer from Iran, citing concerns over international sanctions, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Beirut Mojtaba Amani said on Saturday, amid tension over Hezbollah’s arms and Tehran's role in Beirut's politics.
"The Iranian nation sent aid to the Lebanese people, including $60 million and oil supplies, but the Lebanese government refused to accept it because Iran is under sanctions," Amani said in an interview with Lebanon's LBCI TV.
He said the aid could have helped address part of the Lebanese people’s problems at a time when the country is struggling with economic and social crises.
"The Americans have been promising assistance to Lebanon for three years but have failed to deliver on their promise," the envoy said.
Given the tightening of US and UN sanctions against Iran, any financial dealings or aid from Tehran face international restrictions and sensitivities.
Earlier, Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said during a visit to Lebanon that Iran was ready to cooperate in the country’s reconstruction following Israeli attacks.
Hezbollah disarmament
Iran has no information regarding weapons held by Hezbollah, the Iranian ambassador in Beirut said, amid mounting calls by the US and the international community for the Tehran-backed group's disarmament.
Amani said he did not have precise information on whether Hezbollah would again use its weapons against Israel, but said that Sheikh Naim Qassem, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, has said the group is ready to confront any war or attack.
Amani said resistance "is not limited to weapons but stems from willpower — a will that can expel the occupier."
Lebanon’s president Joseph Aoun told Larijani in August that no group may bear arms or depend on foreign support, stressing that cooperation must remain within “national sovereignty and mutual respect.”
The issue has gained urgency as the United States pushes a new plan for Hezbollah’s disarmament, delivered by President Donald Trump’s regional envoy Tom Barrack. The proposal lays out Washington’s most detailed steps yet to remove the group’s weapons after its war with Israel last year.
Founded in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah has grown into Lebanon’s most powerful military and political organization, with capabilities surpassing the national army. The group has fought multiple wars with Israel and repeatedly rejected demands to dismantle its military wing.
In August, the Lebanese cabinet ordered the army to draw up plans to disarm Hezbollah as part of a broader effort to consolidate state control over weapons under a US-backed truce with Israel. Tehran condemned the move, accusing Western powers of seeking to weaken Lebanon’s defenses.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem warned in August that any attempt to seize the group’s arsenal “would plunge Lebanon into war,” vowing the Iran-backed movement would not give up its arms.
The event, held in a café where participants appeared in what officials described as “unorthodox attire,” has renewed debate over the government’s role in regulating how citizens dress in public, Mehr News reported on Saturday.
“Authorities had effectively distanced themselves from responsibility, preferring inaction to a defined policy, even as disagreements over personal freedoms and appearance grow more visible across society,” wrote Mehr.
According to Iranian law, the national Working Group for the Regulation of Fashion and Clothing — established under a 2006 act of parliament — is charged with promoting clothing designs “reflecting Iranian-Islamic culture” and guiding the domestic market toward local styles while discouraging “foreign or unfamiliar models.”
The body has failed to meet those goals, Mehr reported. “The current state of fashion shows the neglect of this working group,” the outlet wrote, adding that “there is no sign of guidance in production or marketing.”
According to a 2022 survey by independent Netherlands-based research group GAMAAN, over 70 percent of men and women in Iran opposed mandatory hijab laws.
In Iran, the mandatory hijab serves not only as a religious practice but also as a political emblem woven into the state’s identity. Since 1979, its mandatory observance has been portrayed as a sign of revolutionary integrity and defiance toward Western cultural influence.
For hardliners, enforcing the hijab affirms the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy, while resistance to it is seen as defiance of state authority. As a result, women’s clothing has become a persistent political fault line.
Since the death in morality police custody of Mahsa "Jina" Amini in September 2022, many Iranian women have continued to reject compulsory hijab laws, turning individual gestures of dissent into a broader collective challenge. In Tehran and other major cities, appearing unveiled in public has increasingly become an everyday act of resistance.
Broader debate over hijab enforcement
The controversy unfolded as senior clerics and lawmakers renewed calls for strict hijab enforcement, despite the visible defiance of women and girls across Iran.
At a joint session of the Assembly of Experts, member Hashem Hosseini-Bushehri said “both cultural and economic neglect had caused distress among religious authorities and the public.”
“If the issue of hijab is not managed properly, it will worsen like a cracked dam,” Mojtaba Zolnour, a parliament member from Qom, warned Friday. He accused parliament’s leadership of inaction.
Friday prayer leaders nationwide echoed similar messages in coordinated sermons. Tehran’s temporary prayer leader Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari urged “observance of modesty in public,” while Shahrekord’s cleric Mostafa Hashemi said hijab was “a divine obligation, not a personal right,” and that neglecting it “disturbs the community’s psychological peace.”
Despite such rhetoric, the government has quietly suspended enforcement of a strict hijab bill amid fears of renewed protests.
Conservative figure Mohammad-Reza Bahonar said in a recent interview that “the era of ruling the country by forcing hijab through law is over,” adding that the Supreme National Security Council had cut the bill.
Yet in recent weeks, authorities have sealed cafés and restaurants across cities for noncompliance after outcry by hardliners. Police warned that all businesses “must observe current laws,” signaling that Iran’s long-running struggle over dress and personal freedom remains unresolved.
Bakhtegan, once the province’s largest wetland, has been dry for over 14 years, ILNA said in its report. “Except for a very small area, no water is visible.”
An environmental activist described the situation of Iran’s wetlands as deeply alarming. “The condition of wetlands is now very dire, and it seems that no specific body has taken responsibility for them,” Sirus Zare said in remarks cited by ILNA.
Dried wetlands have become new sources of dust storms, he warned. “Wetlands are naturally low-lying areas that have accumulated pollutants over thousands of years. Once dry, they turn into active dust centers that spread toxic particles,” he said.
Nationwide ecological collapse
The report linked the crisis to Iran’s overuse of groundwater and mismanaged water projects that have reduced the natural flow to lakes and wetlands nationwide. As a result, nine major wetlands dried up by the end of the last water year.
The Karun River, Iran’s longest waterway at more than 950 kilometers, is also nearing an environmental disaster, according to the report.
Further north, Lake Urmia has nearly disappeared after years of warnings from environmentalists. The lake now holds only about 100 million cubic meters of saline water spread over 200 square kilometers, with an average depth of less than half a meter. Experts say the lake is “practically dead” and may evaporate completely within days.
Expanding water crisis
Even Gilan province, one of Iran’s rainiest regions, faces shrinking wetlands. Gilan’s governor, Hadi Heghshenas, said in September that “If no solution is found, Anzali Wetland — an international ecosystem — will fall silent completely.”
On October 10, coinciding with the annual Zayandeh-Roud River Day, concerns mounted over the critical state of the river in the central Isfahan province. Lawmaker Abbas Moghtadaei blamed the Energy Ministry for failures in managing the crisis, saying land subsidence, dust storms, and shortages of drinking and irrigation water stem from mismanagement.
Environmentalists warned that ignoring water rights reflects systemic neglect of national water laws and deepening inequities in resource management.