Iran MP calls for release of people’s frozen funds inside country

Hardline influencer Davood Modaresian said on Saturday more than 60 Iranian lawmakers had canceled a planned protest outside parliament on Sunday after the parliament's presiding board promised to resume open sessions following funeral ceremonies for senior officials killed in the recent conflict. Modaresian said the lawmakers were wrong to call off the demonstration.

Iranian lawmaker Amirhossein Sabeti on Saturday called on parliament's presiding board to disclose how its members voted on delaying the resumption of open parliamentary sessions until mid-July, saying security agencies had already approved holding the sessions.

Sabeti also said a planned protest outside parliament on Sunday had been canceled, with organizers giving lawmakers two more weeks to fulfill their promise to resume sessions after a five-month hiatus.

Iran's Assembly of Experts on Saturday urged officials negotiating with the United States to strictly follow Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei's red lines, warning against repeating what it described as the mistakes of previous negotiations and insisting Iran's nuclear program remain outside the talks.

"Observing the Supreme Leader's red lines is a religious obligation, and violating them is not permissible under any circumstances," the clerical body said in a statement.

The Assembly thanked Iranian negotiators for pursuing what it described as the country's rights but warned them to remain vigilant against "the deceptive and ill-intentioned enemy" and not repeat what it called the costly experience of past negotiations.

It also urged officials to respond immediately to any breach of the agreement, saying, "Any violation of the memorandum of understanding must be answered without delay."

The statement said Iran's nuclear rights "must not be subject to discussion or dispute and must remain outside the scope of negotiations."

The Assembly demanded compensation for war damages, the return of frozen Iranian assets, the lifting of sanctions and the withdrawal of US forces from the region, describing them as demands that must be pursued.

It also called for those it held responsible for the recent war, including the US president and Israel's prime minister, to be punished. "Anyone who gains access to these criminals has a religious duty to bring them to justice," the statement said.

The body urged officials to avoid remarks that could be interpreted as weakness and called on Iranians to maintain unity and continue supporting Khamenei throughout the negotiating process.

The Iranian rial weakened again on Saturday after a brief rebound following Tehran’s agreement with Washington, with the US dollar trading at 1.68 million rials on the open market.

The euro traded above 1.9 million rials, while the British pound rose above 2.2 million rials.

The dollar had fallen to 1.53 million rials on June 16 after the United States and Iran announced an agreement to end the war, which was signed on June 18. It hit a record 1.9 million rials on May 4.

Judicial officers must enforce the law against women appearing "without hijab or partially nude" in public, Mazandaran Province Prosecutor Ali Akbar Alishah said on Saturday, describing the issue as the province's most important public demand.

"All judicial officers are required to take legal action against cases of public nudity and any act that insults religious values or undermines the system," Alishah said during a Judiciary Week ceremony.

Alishah called on all judicial officers to seriously enforce the directive and said further orders would be issued if necessary.