Ghalibaf hails Iran's resilience 100 days after war
Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf marked 100 days since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran, praising what he described as the Iranian nation's resistance in defending the country.
"One hundred days have passed since the struggle of a nation that rose up to protect beloved Iran," Ghalibaf said in a post on X.
He praised Iranians for standing behind the country, thwarting their enemies and preventing what he described as efforts to force Iran into submission.
Hezbollah praised Iran’s missile attacks against Israel as an act carried out “in defense of the Lebanese people” and described them as a message of Tehran’s commitment to Lebanon.
“The Iranian response came to emphasize that the interest of the stability of the region and its countries lies in exerting every effort to ensure that the agreements are upheld and that the Zionist enemy, before anyone else, adheres to them,” Hezbollah said.
“This is the message that Iran wanted to send clearly and forcefully to all those concerned.”
The group also praised Yemen’s Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah.
“This coincided with the appreciated support from the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen, within the framework of joint action to deter the Zionist entity,” it said, using the formal name for the movement.
An investigation is under way into whether Iranian forces shot down a US Apache helicopter that crashed near the Strait of Hormuz, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.
The AH-64 Apache went down near the coast of Oman on Monday evening. The helicopter's two crew members were rescued after a US unmanned surface vessel located them in the water and brought them to shore in what the military described as a first-of-its-kind rescue operation at sea.
US Central Command said earlier that the crew members were rescued within about two hours and were in stable condition.
Israel will strike Beirut’s Dahieh district for any Hezbollah fire aimed at Israeli communities and test Iran’s response, Ynet reported, citing senior political-security cabinet officials.
"We have ordered the military to maintain the equation we set for Hezbollah, and this will be the test. For any fire intended to cross the fence, toward our communities – we will fire at Dahieh, and we'll see what Iran does," a senior cabinet official was quoted as saying.
Ynet said Israeli officials pointed out that Iran had not responded or intervened on Hezbollah's behalf despite continued Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon, particularly in Tyre.
Tourism businesses report empty rooms, mounting losses and growing pressure to cut jobs as rising living costs push travel out of reach for many households.
Tourism businesses in Iran are struggling to survive as economic hardship and a sharp decline in travel leave eco-lodges empty, operators facing bankruptcy and workers at risk of losing their jobs, according to a report by Shargh newspaper.
Once promoted as a way to boost local economies and preserve traditional lifestyles, eco-lodges across Iran are now grappling with falling visitor numbers, rising costs and mounting financial pressure.
"The damage caused by the war will take months to repair, and tourism will need a long time to return to previous levels," Yavar Abiri, head of Iran's Association of Eco-Lodge Professional Societies, told Shargh.
Abiri said many Iranians have shifted their priorities from travel to basic survival as economic uncertainty deepens.
"People are saving whatever money they have for essential needs in case another war breaks out," he said.
Travel slips down household priorities
Tourism operators say domestic travel had already been weakening before the latest economic shocks.
Official statistics cited by Shargh showed that nearly half of Iranian households did not take a single trip during the spring of 2024. Industry representatives say rising prices have forced many families to either cancel travel altogether or cut costs by camping, avoiding restaurants and reducing leisure spending.
Officials have also questioned whether travel remains a priority for many households.
Traditional Iranian rice dishes served at an eco-lodge restaurant
Hani Rastegaran, secretary of the National Travel Services Coordination Headquarters, previously described declining domestic travel as a warning sign for the tourism sector and called for an assessment of whether economic pressure had pushed travel out of family budgets.
Eco-lodges face closures
Mahlagha Mahdavi, who operates an eco-lodge in Shiraz and has worked in the sector for a decade, said the downturn has intensified over the past year.
"We faced a sharp drop in visitors and had to offer significant discounts because people simply could not afford to travel," Mahdavi told Shargh.
She said many eco-lodge employees are women and heads of households, prompting operators to avoid layoffs despite worsening finances.
"We do not know how long we can continue without reducing staff," she said.
Many former tourism operators, according to Mahdavi, have already left the industry, while the profile of travelers has changed. Visitors who once belonged largely to the middle class have been replaced by wealthier Iranians who can no longer justify foreign trips but continue to travel domestically.
Revenue collapses, costs soar
Operators in other provinces described similar challenges. Abas'ad Sharafkhani, who runs an eco-lodge in Hamedan province, said revenue between January and April amounted to only a fraction of what he had expected.
"Out of the income I had projected, I earned only about 10 percent, and even that barely covered operating costs," he told Shargh.
Sharafkhani said many eco-lodges are nearing complete bankruptcy and that some properties sustained physical damage during the conflict.
He criticized authorities for failing to provide meaningful support or compensation.
Rising prices force cutbacks
Ahmad Kazemi, an eco-lodge operator in Khorasan Razavi province, said inflation has transformed the economics of the business.
"When we started in 2019, a sack of high-quality Iranian rice cost three million rials ($1.8). Now it costs 64 million rials (about $36)," Kazemi told Shargh.
He said accommodation packages that once cost 4000,000 rials ($2.2) now cost between forty and fifty million rials ($22-28), even after operators reduce their profit margins.
To cope with rising expenses, Kazemi said his lodge has removed lunch and dinner services and now offers only accommodation and breakfast.
A traditional courtyard at an eco-lodge in central Iran
"People are not traveling for leisure the way they used to," he said. "Many now choose short local trips because they are cheaper."
Iran's minimum monthly wage is currently equivalent to about $90–$110, depending on exchange-rate movements, while labor experts estimate that many workers earn around $150 per month on average.
Industry operators told Shargh that without financial support and an improvement in household purchasing power, many of Iran's eco-lodges may be unable to continue operating, threatening jobs and a sector that was once viewed as a growing part of the country's tourism economy.
Two US Army crew members were rescued after their AH-64 Apache helicopter went down near the coast of Oman while patrolling regional waters, US Central Command said on Tuesday.
CENTCOM said the crew members were rescued by American forces within about two hours and were in stable condition.
The cause of the incident was under investigation, it said.
"Rescue efforts were led by US Naval Forces Central Command and the 82nd Airborne Division, with support from US Air Force and Navy units including US 5th Fleet’s Task Force 59," CENTCOM said.
