Iran says president’s letter to Saudi crown prince not about US mediation

Under the order, the Central Bank of Iran must prepare the shift within two years before managing a three-year phase in which old and new banknotes circulate together.

Once that cycle ends, all transactions will be settled in the new unit and existing notes will be withdrawn, according to Iranian state media.

Parliament earlier approved a law defining the “new rial” as equal to 10,000 current rials, with “gheran” designated as the subunit.

Economists remain divided over the effect of the redenomination. The policy is expected to require printing new notes, destroying old ones and modifying banking and accounting systems.

Critics argue that without wider reforms the move is mainly cosmetic, citing Argentina, Zimbabwe, Romania and the former Yugoslavia, where redenominations did little to restrain prices.

“This policy is largely cosmetic,” economist Ahmad Alavi told Iran International in August. “Without tackling the roots of inflation – from liquidity growth to systemic inefficiencies – removing zeros will not restore the rial’s value.”

Debate over deleting zeros began in the late 1990s and circulated through multiple administrations. Parliament first passed the plan in 2020, but the Guardian Council sent it back for revisions. The current version – retaining the name “rial” and introducing “gheran” – won final approval in October and has now entered execution with Pezeshkian’s signature.

Long path to implementation

Officials say the overhaul aims to simplify calculations, improve the legibility of Iran’s currency and prepare the ground for broader fiscal measures.

The abundance of zeros in the national currency had caused accounting and operational difficulties, Shamseddin Hosseini, head of parliament’s Economic Committee, said last month, adding that similar redenominations had been undertaken by countries such as Turkey in 2003 and 2005.

The reform comes amid persistent inflation of about 40%, a more than 90% loss in the rial’s value since US sanctions were reimposed in 2018, and widespread economic hardship.

With the formal order issued, the central bank begins one of the Islamic Republic’s most extensive monetary reforms, whose outcome still hinges on the government’s broader effort to control inflation.

"The Iranian regime not only represses its own people, it has also taken the air out of their lungs," the State Department said in a post on its Persian-language X account.

Air pollution caused about 58,975 deaths in Iran in the Iranian calendar year starting in March 2024, equivalent to 161 deaths per day and around seven every hour, the country’s deputy health minister said earlier this month.

"For citizens already struggling with water shortages, economic collapse and the constant fear of arbitrary arrest, air pollution adds yet another deadly threat to their lives," the State Department said.

"This is the price of the failure of those who are supposed to protect their own people."

Tehran’s air reached the unhealthy for sensitive groups range on Friday as pollutant concentrations climbed and meteorologists issued an orange alert for six major cities, warning that stagnant conditions could drive indices toward the dangerous threshold in the coming days.

Calls to ban old vehicles, invest in cleaner energy, and empower a central environmental authority have so far gone unanswered. Critics warn that without systemic change, major cities including Tehran will continue to suffer both in air quality and human lives.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain.

He said the pressure on water, land and infrastructure had left the government with “no option” but to act. “When we said we must move the capital, we did not even have enough budget. If we had, maybe it would have been done. The reality is that we no longer have a choice; it is an obligation."

Rape drugs are widely available in the market according to research by Iran International into online and plain view sales in the Islamic theocracy, where lack of official enforcement or public awareness campaigns mean the sordid practice continues with few impediments.

To understand how easy it is to obtain these substances, a trusted contact walked the central strip of Naser Khosrow Street posing as someone searching for a strong sedative, then asking for what dealers in Iran call “anesthesia drugs,” a euphemism for rape drugs. The response was immediate.

“This one is good for deep sleep,” a vendor said. “Put this pill in a drink. No taste. They won’t wake up properly for hours.”

A second seller offered a small container of clear liquid. “Three drops are enough for most people. They wake up confused. They don’t remember anything.”

None of the conversations involved hesitation, code words or even whispers. The men spoke as if selling ordinary medication.

Different forms of the same threat

A toxicologist who reviewed Iran International's findings, and requested anonymity for security reasons, said the substances on offer resemble well-known families of predator drugs.

The tablets likely mimic flunitrazepam – better known as Rohypnol or “roofies.”

“These drugs act on the same neural pathways,” she said. “They suppress reflexes and cause memory fragmentation. A person may appear awake and compliant but will have no reliable recollection later.”

They are often mixed with alcoholic drinks, which “makes them significantly more dangerous and, in some cases, life-threatening," she added.

One type, according to her, is Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), which is a central nervous system depressant with no smell and a faintly salty taste that’s easily disguised in drinks.

While the street trade is bold, online trade is nimble. Photos of blister packs and drops are displayed in social media adverts. Cryptocurrency is often encouraged as the preferred payment method.

A small container of liquid now costs less than a two-person meal at a restaurant.

Public outrage

Recent Iranian media reports of rape drugs circulating in the country triggered a wave of shock and anger on social media. “Nothing coming out of this Islamic Republic surprises me anymore. What you see is exactly what it produces,” one user wrote on X.

Another warned that even social gatherings feel unsafe now, saying, “When you have to watch your glass every second, maybe nowhere is truly secure.”

A third user put it more bluntly: “Predators don’t hide anymore. These drugs make it easier for them to act in the open.”

Some pointed to cases they believed had already happened. “I know people who woke up with no memory after just one drink,” one user wrote.

Another expressed disgust at the sellers. “How twisted do you have to be to sell something like this? It makes me sick."

A safety gap that leaves youth vulnerable

In Europe and North America, awareness campaigns around date-rape drugs are widely promoted.

Some consumer-grade wristbands can detect drugs by changing color when a drop of spiked liquid is applied – one example of the tools young people use to monitor their safety.

But Iran has no comparable infrastructure. No broad educational outreach. No drink-testing tools. No consistent data collection. As a result, self-protection has become the only available shield.

Experts say young people – especially women – should avoid leaving drinks unattended, bring sealed beverages to gatherings and steer clear of parties where they do not know every guest.

The prevention habits are taught widely in the West: always keep your drink with you, use bottles with caps, never accept open drinks, stay with trusted friends, stay alert to unusual tastes or smells and discard anything suspicious.

A market thriving in silence

Back on Naser Khosrow Street, the sellers continue their work unbothered.

The flow of pills and drops moves through daylight crowds as if it were just another line of commerce. For now, predator drugs remain a growing trade in Iran – not because they are hidden, but because no one is stopping them.

The dealers show no sign of caution. Transactions happen in daylight, in the open, with the rhythm of routine business.

Their confidence reflects a reality many in Tehran quietly acknowledge: this market does not survive by hiding in shadows – it survives because no authority is actively interrupting it.

Tehran’s main dams have fallen to volumes that must be preserved for safety and contingency, said Rama Habibi, deputy head of the city’s regional water authority, on Saturday.

“I cannot say Tehran’s dams have reached dead storage, but they are almost at a level below which the remaining volume is considered strategic and must stay in place,” Habibi said.

While none of the capital’s dams has been taken offline, he said some have dropped so low that water can no longer be pumped out efficiently.

Tehran is now in its sixth straight year of drought. Official data show the capital’s Latian dam at its lowest point in six decades, while the Karaj dam holds less than one-tenth of its capacity. As a result, about 70 percent of Tehran’s water is now pumped from underground sources that are under severe strain and at risk of subsidence.

Pressure management and looming restrictions

Pressure management remains one of the ministry’s key tools to delay wider shortages, said Isa Bozorgzadeh, spokesman for Iran’s water sector. Pressure reductions, he added, are imposed from midnight until early morning when consumption is lower, with milder reductions continuing during the day.

Bozorgzadeh warned that if households fail to meet the ministry’s request for a 10-percent cut in use, pressure limits may be expanded to other hours.

Nationwide drought deepens

Only 3.5 millimeters of rainfall were recorded nationwide over the past 50 days, amounting to just 18 percent of normal levels, Mohammad Javanbakht, head of Iran’s water resources management company said.

20 provinces, according to him, saw no rainfall at all and last year marked Iran’s fifth consecutive dry year. “Tehran and Bandar Abbas experienced the lowest water levels in their operational history last year,” Javanbakht said.

Rainfall, he noted, has fallen roughly 40 percent below long-term averages, leaving the country’s dams with their lowest combined storage in more than a decade.

Mashhad and Kerman reach breaking point

The religious city of Mashhad has entered full rationing, Nasrollah Pejmanfar, a lawmaker, said on Friday.

The city’s Dousti dam, he added, “has no water left to transfer, and the reservoirs supplying Mashhad have reached zero,” attributing the crisis to inadequate watershed management.

In Kerman, south of Iran, field accounts describe collapsing aquifers, abandoned orchards and shrinking wildlife habitats. Local pumping systems are deteriorating, while flood irrigation and unsuited crop patterns continue to drain groundwater.

Water specialists warn that unchecked extraction, losses in distribution networks, rapid urban expansion and limited adoption of modern conservation technologies could make reliable supply unattainable for 30 to 50 percent of Tehran’s population within five to ten years.

They caution that without effective winter precipitation, Iran may face broader rationing and possible localized evacuations in the months ahead.

Amir Hayat-Moghaddam, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Rokna news agency that the option is “on the table” and under expert review. “Several meetings have been held since the IAEA Board of Governors adopted its anti-Iran resolution,” he said. “Withdrawal from the NPT is one of the preliminary options, but no final decision has been made. The review of all dimensions and possible consequences is still underway.”

He said a final decision could be announced by Tuesday, adding that any such move would be coordinated between parliament and the Supreme National Security Council. “There is no structural conflict between these institutions. Issues related to national interests are decided jointly,” he said. “Legally, however, withdrawal from international treaties falls within parliament’s authority.”

Separately, the spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said on Saturday that Iran’s parliament has begun drafting a bill on countermeasures in response to the recent International Atomic Energy Agency resolution.

Ebrahim Rezaei said the proposal aims to boost “nuclear and sanctions-related deterrence” and strengthen Iran’s defensive and legal capabilities. “A six-article draft has been prepared covering nuclear and sanctions counteractions as well as strategic, defense and judicial measures,” he told reporters.

Backdrop of renewed nuclear tensions

The discussions come days after the IAEA’s 35-member Board of Governors adopted a resolution urging Iran to provide full access to its nuclear sites and enriched uranium stockpiles. The measure, submitted by the United States, Britain, France and Germany, passed with 19 votes in favor, three against and 12 abstentions.

Iran condemned the vote as “illegal and unjustified” and said it has nullified the inspection accord reached in Cairo in September with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi and Egyptian mediation. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the resolution “killed” the Cairo accord and reflected a pattern of Western escalation.

“The US and the E3 attacked diplomacy just as they attacked our nuclear facilities,” Araghchi wrote on X on Thursday. “Iran is not the party seeking another crisis.”

Tehran says its cooperation with the agency remains within the framework of the NPT but insists that access to bombed facilities cannot resume until safety and legal questions are resolved.

Iran’s long-held position on the NPT

Iran has been a party to the NPT since 1970 and has repeatedly said it does not seek nuclear weapons. Officials in Tehran have described NPT membership as a sign of Iran’s commitment to peaceful nuclear energy, but they have also warned that continued political pressure could force a policy review.

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Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on Friday that Western powers were “misusing an international body” and that their actions “undermine the credibility and independence of the Agency.”

In Vienna, Russia’s envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said the situation had reached a “complete deadlock,” blaming the Western sponsors of the resolution for “stalling diplomacy.”