Mysterious tunnels beneath Tehran’s Grand Bazaar raise eyebrows
An underground area beneath Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, December 22, 2025.
A network of tunnels formed by illegal underground excavations beneath Tehran’s Grand Bazaar has triggered official warnings over serious safety risks, while raising questions about their purpose and those behind the digging.
The Grand Bazaar, one of Tehran’s most important commercial and historic areas, is facing a crisis that has developed below ground rather than at street level.
Iranian media reported the discovery of excavations beneath the Azadi (Dastmalchi), Ziba and Naderi caravanserais within Tehran’s Grand Bazaar in the capital city's downtown.
Given that the buildings are physically interconnected, damage to one structure can affect the others.
Size and extent of excavations
No official measurements have been released on the length or size of the underground spaces.
Tehran-based Payam-e Ma reported that unknown excavators had dug a deep and narrow tunnel covering about 5,000 square meters beneath the Grand Bazaar, close to the historic core of central Tehran. The report did not cite a source for the figure.
The estimate was attributed elsewhere to a bazaar shopkeeper identified as Mr. Fili, who was quoted by the semi-official ISNA as saying the operation included around 5,000 underground spaces and nearly 12 exit points, making the work easier to conceal.
When did the work begin?
Mohammad Amini, mayor of Tehran’s District 12, said the illegal construction likely began in the mid-2010s and continued until the end of last year.
If accurate, the timeline raises questions about how such large-scale activity could have gone undetected by municipal and oversight bodies for years.
Some Tehran bazaar traders have disputed that assessment.
One long-time shopkeeper told Iran International that continuous police monitoring makes any nighttime activity in the bazaar without official permits effectively impossible.
Another shopkeeper said that due to oversight by municipal authorities, police and cultural heritage bodies, bringing any construction materials into the bazaar — even a single bag of cement — requires official approval.
Amini said no new violations have been reported since the issue was identified sometime between late March and mid-April this year.
It remains unclear why the municipality did not publicly address the issue earlier, despite being aware of the violations since then.
Purpose of the excavations
Officials say the main aim of the excavations was to create a new underground level, likely intended for storage or commercial use outside formal oversight.
Ali Nasiri, head of Tehran’s Crisis Management Organization, said a new level had been created within part of the building foundation without technical feasibility or structural resistance.
The Research Center of the Ministry of Roads, Housing and Urban Development, the body responsible for assessing building safety, said technical inspections showed the caravanserais had become structurally unstable.
Official reports cite damage including distorted ceilings and weakened or warped columns.
The Fire Department and the Crisis Management Organization said about 1,000 shops operate in the affected area, employing roughly 3,000 people on a permanent basis.
Authorities estimate that 5,000 to 6,000 people pass through the area daily and have warned that any incident could lead to a major human disaster.
Who is responsible?
Despite judicial orders and confirmation that violations occurred, authorities have not disclosed the identities of those responsible for the excavations.
City officials say individuals seeking to profit from the project have been identified and the case is under investigation, but no further details have been made public.
Some shopkeepers and experts continue to question how a project of this scale could have continued for months or years in one of Tehran’s busiest areas.
An Iranian photographer who travelled to Russia in search of work says he was coerced into joining the Russian army and sent to fight in Ukraine, pro-Kyiv media outlet UNITED24 Media reported, citing an interview with the 34-year-old man.
Arash Darbandi, a photographer from Ahvaz in southwestern Iran, told the Ukrainian outlet that he arrived in St. Petersburg on a tourist visa and supported himself by taking photographs of passersby.
“I took photos of anyone who was dressed in colorful clothes. If they liked the photo, they paid me 1,000 rubles ($10-11),” he said.
Although trained as a petroleum engineer, Darbandi said photography had been his main livelihood.
He acknowledged knowing that Russia was at war with Ukraine but said the conflict initially felt distant. That changed after an encounter with police that led to his detention.
According to Darbandi, he was arrested following an altercation with a police officer and taken to a military facility on Ligovsky Prospekt.
He said authorities gave him a stark ultimatum: prison or the battlefield.
“They told me that I either had to go to prison for three to five years, or go to the war for one year,” he said.
When he objected and argued that deportation should be the maximum punishment for a foreigner, he said officers replied: “This is Russia, and you must go to war.”
Iran emerged as one of Russia’s key military backers since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Tehran has been accused of supplying Russia with hundreds of Shahed-series attack drones, which have been widely used against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
Western governments and Kyiv say Iranian-made drones have played a central role in Russia’s aerial campaign, a charge Iran has repeatedly denied or downplayed.
Self-harm to avoid war
Darbandi said he was held in barracks for months before being sent to a training center near Belgorod.
Fearing deployment, he said he deliberately injured himself, breaking his arm, but was still not exempted from service despite Russian law.
“I had never even held a knife,” he said, stressing he had no military background.
He described training as minimal and coercive, saying recruits were treated as expendable.
“They didn’t treat us as humans; they only saw us as expendable and just wanted to send us to the front so that the Russians could live safely,” he said.
Darbandi said foreign nationals—including Iranians, Africans, Arabs, Kenyans, and Colombians—were segregated from Russian soldiers.
“Foreigners have no rights at all; at any moment, they can take whatever they have,” he said.
He said he was later wounded during a Ukrainian drone strike and captured after being left without assistance for days.
Reflecting on his situation, Darbandi said he feels guilt over his forced participation and urged others not to cooperate with governments he accused of exploitation.
“Never help countries like Russia, Iran, and countries that support terrorists. Please stop the war.”
The account has not been independently verified. Iranian, Russian, and Ukrainian officials have not publicly commented on the case.
Recruitment drive in Tehran
Earlier this month, flyers circulated near the Russian Embassy in Tehran that invited men to enlist in the Russian army for promises of dollar payments and contracts “directly under the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.”
The Russian embassy denied any connection to the leaflets.
The flyers targeted men aged 18 to 45 and offered starting bonuses of $15,000 to $18,000 and monthly salaries of $2,500 to $2,800, along with free housing, medical care, and military uniforms.
Tehran-based outlet Rouydad24 said the leaflets directed readers to a Telegram channel that had published multilingual posts in Persian, Russian, Arabic, and English, describing the campaign as a “state-supported initiative.”
The Iranian report compared the flyers to similar alleged recruitment efforts in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and several African countries, which foreign media have described as part of Moscow’s drive to attract foreign fighters amid heavy losses in Ukraine.
Sweden is investigating suspected aggravated corporate espionage at a sensitive healthcare-related company involving two brothers of Iranian origin, with TV4 reporting police are examining whether unique medical technology was intended to be taken to Iran.
Police arrested the two brothers in early October after suspicions intensified, and both were later remanded in custody. The younger brother was released on bail on December 19, according to TV4.
The older brother is suspected of aggravated corporate espionage dating back to January this year, while the other is under investigation for aggravated theft linked to the same company since the summer.
The case has been under investigation for months under strict secrecy rules.
TV4 Nyheterna said, citing information it obtained, that police are investigating whether one of the brothers attempted to steal unique medical technology developed by the company and planned to take company secrets to Iran.
Prosecutor Jenna Sourander said the company manufactures products linked to healthcare but declined to identify it or provide further details because of the sensitivity of the case, the report said.
“Corporate espionage concerns company secrets and the like. The theft is linked to the corporate espionage. It is theft of items belonging to the company,” Sourander said, declining to elaborate further.
The case has been transferred to Sweden’s National Unit against International and Organized Crime. Sourander said the suspects had “to some extent” links to Iran, adding that the nature of the alleged crimes and information about the activity involved prompted the case transfer.
TV4 said Sourander declined to say whether the company suffered damage or only faced a risk of harm, adding that either could meet the threshold for suspicion. TV4 said documents it reviewed showed the detained engineer cited financial difficulties.
“There is a great deal of technical investigation under way now and witness interviews,” Sourander said.
The report said Sweden’s domestic security service SAPO confirmed it was aware of the case and was cooperating with police.
“The Security Service generally has ongoing cooperation with the Police Authority, shares information and supports our various tasks,” TV4 quoted SAPO spokesperson Gabriel Wernstedt as saying, referring questions about the investigation itself to police.
Both brothers deny any wrongdoing, according to the prosecutor.
TV4 said, in an email to the broadcaster, Iran’s embassy in Sweden rejected any suggestion of Iranian involvement, saying it “rejects all allegations of involvement in hostile or disruptive activities against Sweden” and describing relations between Iran and Sweden as longstanding and friendly.
Earlier this year in March, SAPO warned that Sweden faces an escalating security threat from Iran, which has intensified its intelligence activities and use of criminal networks within the country.
The Israeli military said on Thursday it killed a senior operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Quds Force (IRGC-QF) in a joint operation with the country's intelligence agency in northeast Lebanon.
“In a joint operation by the IDF and the Shin Bet, Hussein Mahmoud Marshad al-Jawhari, a key operative in the Operations Unit of the Iranian Quds Force, was eliminated,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement posted on X.
"(al-Jawhari) operated under the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and was involved in terror activities directed by Iran against the State of Israel and security forces," the statement added.
The IDF said he was involved in “advancing terrorist attack plans against the State of Israel in the Syria–Lebanon arena.”
It added that al-Jawhari was a key operative in Quds Force’s Unit 840, which the IDF described as “the unit that directs and is responsible for Iranian terrorist activity against the State of Israel.”
The Quds Force, the external arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, conducts overseas operations to support allied groups and advance Tehran’s strategic interests.
Lebanon’s state news agency had earlier reported that two people were killed when an Israeli drone struck a vehicle near the Syrian border.
A report by Israel Hayom, citing Israeli officials, said al-Jawhari was killed alongside another operative, identified as Majed Qansoua.
A US-backed ceasefire agreed last November halted more than a year of fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and called for the group to disarm.
Both Israel and Hezbollah have since accused each other of violating the ceasefire.
Israel has been carrying out strikes in Lebanon on an almost daily basis, which it says are aimed at preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding.
Iran, a longtime sponsor of Hezbollah, has rejected international and domestic calls for the group to disarm, arguing that continued Israeli actions justify its armed presence.
Iran on Thursday began pilot sales of imported super gasoline through mobile fuel trucks, offering the high-octane fuel at market prices far above the country’s newly introduced three-tier subsidized system, state media reported.
Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said the rollout was designed to test consumer demand and price acceptance, with initial distribution carried out by five mobile fuel vehicles in Tehran. The imports are being handled by private, non-state firms, he said.
The price of the imported super gasoline was set at 800,000 rials per liter, equivalent to about $0.59 at the current market exchange rate of 1,350,000 rials to the dollar. An additional distribution fee of 2,500 rials per liter (about $0.002) applies, according to local reports.
Paknejad said more than 17 companies had already received permits to import super gasoline, but their entry into the market would depend on the outcome of the pilot phase and consumer response to the final price.
“The price is based on the full cost,” he said, citing procurement, transport, distribution and a regulated profit margin. He added that the process was being monitored to prevent misuse.
The imported fuel is being sold outside Iran’s quota system and does not affect existing allocations, Paknejad said.
Iran recently introduced a three-tier gasoline pricing system, under which subsidized fuel remains available at much lower prices. Monthly quota gasoline is priced at 15,000 rials per liter (about $0.01), non-quota purchases with personal smart fuel cards at 30,000 rials (about $0.02), and a higher tier for non-card or excess consumption at 50,000 rials per liter (about $0.04).
The imported super gasoline price is therefore roughly 16 times higher than the highest domestic tier and more than 50 times the subsidized quota rate, showing the gap between state-controlled pricing and market-based fuel costs.
Officials have said the imported fuel is intended for drivers of high-performance and imported vehicles that require higher octane gasoline, which has been largely unavailable domestically in recent years.
The pilot follows the sale of an initial 300,000-liter cargo of imported super gasoline on Iran’s energy exchange in November at 658,000 rials per liter (about $0.49), signaling a gradual shift toward market-priced fuel for specific consumer segments.
Iran’s government has sought to curb fuel subsidies while avoiding social unrest, after a nationwide gasoline price hike in 2019 triggered widespread protests. Demand for gasoline has continued to exceed domestic production, driven by inefficient vehicles, smuggling and rising consumption, according to officials.
Paknejad said the current trial would help determine whether broader distribution of imported super gasoline is commercially viable, adding that supply could be expanded if demand proves sustainable.
A second former Afghan security commander opposed to the Taliban has been killed in Iran in under four months, raising concerns among Afghan ex-military figures living in the country.
On Wednesday, former Afghan police general Ikramuddin Sari was shot dead by masked assailants near his home in Tehran, according to sources close to him.
He was attacked alongside an associate near their residence in southern Tehran and died while being transferred to hospital, the sources told Afghanistan International.
Sari, a former police commander in Baghlan and Takhar provinces, fled to Iran after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Reports in recent months had suggested Iranian police had detained and questioned him, though no official explanation was given.
Former Afghan police general Ikramuddin Sari
Taliban's 'extraterritorial assassinations'
The killing follows the September shooting of Maroof Ghulami, a political and military figure close to veteran anti-Taliban leader Ismail Khan. He was killed by gunfire in the religious city of Mashhad.
People close to both men have blamed the Taliban for their deaths, according to Afghanistan International.
The attacks, an Afghan military source said, signal the start of what he described as Taliban “extraterritorial assassinations,” adding that the group has repeatedly threatened to target opponents abroad.
Senior Taliban official Mohammad Nabi Omari has previously said the group could kill opponents outside Afghanistan “with as little as 500 Pakistani rupees,” while Saeed Khosti, a former spokesperson for the de facto Taliban Ministry of Interior, warned two years ago that hundreds of volunteers were ready to target critics overseas.
Iranian authorities have remained publicly silent on Sari’s killing. Tehran has also provided no detailed update on the investigation into Ghulami’s death.
Iranian police said in September they arrested three suspects in that case but later released two, offering no clarity on affiliations.
A source familiar with the investigation told Afghanistan International that the remaining suspect was a Taliban operative, a comment not confirmed by Iranian authorities.
Calls for accountability
Sari, originally from Kapisa province, was regarded as a professional officer who served as police commander in Nuristan, Baghlan and Takhar, and as an adviser to Afghanistan’s interior ministry.
In Iran, he acted as an informal representative for former Afghan soldiers, advocating for their rights, opposing deportations and openly criticizing the Taliban.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), led by Ahmad Massoud, called on Iran to conduct a “transparent, serious and independent” investigation, describing Sari’s killing as a “targeted terrorist act.”
Former Afghan police general Ikramuddin Sari
The Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan, led by Salahuddin Rabbani, also condemned the killing and urged Iranian authorities to identify those responsible.
Iran, which has handed Afghanistan’s embassy in Tehran and the consulate in Mashhad to the Taliban, has faced growing criticism for failing to protect Afghan dissidents on its soil even as it seeks closer ties with the Taliban-led administration.