Iran welcomes death of Senator Graham, saying ‘Azrael is just’
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson said in response to the death of US Senator Lindsey Graham that “Azrael is just,” referring to the angel of death in Islamic tradition.
Esmaeil Baghaei accused the late senator of building his political life around war, violence and support for mass killings in the Middle East.
“The death of this hot-tempered and foul-mouthed senator will certainly not grieve any free human being,” Baghaei said.
Baghaei did not explain how his assertion that “Azrael is just” applied to the deaths of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior IRGC commanders killed in the conflict.
The remark appears to apply a theological standard selectively, celebrating the death of an adversary while portraying the deaths of Iranian leaders as crimes demanding vengeance.
A woman smokes a cannabis cigarette in Iran in this undated file photo.
Women’s drug use has increased in Iran over the past decade, with cannabis products now the most commonly used substances among female users, a senior anti-narcotics official said on Sunday.
“The use of drugs among women has unfortunately increased over the past seven to 10 years, and this trend often begins with cigarette smoking,” Soleiman Abbasi, Director General of Treatment at Iran’s Drug Control Headquarters, told the ILNA news agency.
“Hashish and cannabis are the most common drugs used by women in society, and there is not a significant tendency among women to use other specific narcotic substances,” he added.
Women, Abbasi said, still account for far fewer drug users than men, although no precise official figures are available. Even so, he warned that addiction among women carries wider social consequences because of their central role in family life.
“When the mother of a family becomes addicted, the family structure quickly falls apart,” Abbasi said, adding that women who do not use drugs often play a key role in maintaining family cohesion.
Iran faces one of the world's most severe drug-use challenges because of its proximity to Afghanistan, historically the world's largest producer of opium, and the long-standing availability of opiates. Official and expert estimates suggest around 2.8 million Iranians are regular drug users, with broader estimates including occasional users exceeding four million.
Cannabis use gaining ground among younger women
Available research indicates cannabis use among Iranian women remains substantially lower than among men but has been rising, particularly among younger women and university students.
An Iranian woman smokes in this undated file photo.
A 2021 systematic review covering 90 Iranian studies found that 0.2% of women in the general population reported cannabis use during the previous year, compared with 1.3% of men. However, researchers identified a statistically significant increase in cannabis use among female university students between 2000 and 2020, reflecting growing consumption among younger, urban women.
Researchers have linked the trend to urbanization, changing social attitudes, easier access through informal networks, and greater exposure to global youth culture through the internet, while cautioning that stigma and legal risks likely result in substantial underreporting.
Abbasi also warned about the dangers posed by increasingly contaminated drugs.
Laboratory testing has found many seized narcotics contain harmful chemical impurities, including lead, which can worsen users' health and may contribute to fatal poisonings beyond the effects of the drugs themselves, he said.
He also highlighted overdose as a growing concern.
A study using data from Iran's Forensic Medicine Organization by Britain's Lancaster University recorded 11,944 drug-related deaths between March 2022 and March 2024, with men accounting for the overwhelming majority of fatalities and the average age at death around 37. Earlier official figures put annual drug-related deaths at roughly 3,000, suggesting the toll has increased sharply in recent years.
Iran will pursue justice and vengeance for the killing of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and in US and Israeli attacks, foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.
Baghaei said seeking “justice and blood vengeance” was a serious public demand and a clear duty of the Iranian government.
The foreign ministry would use international legal channels to document the attacks and pursue those responsible, he added.
Iran will not carry out its commitments under a memorandum of understanding with the United States as long as Washington fails to meet its own obligations, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday.
Baghaei said the MoU had entered a crisis but argued that Iran had not initiated any breach. He accused the United States of violating several parts of the 14-clause document before a one-month period covering Iran’s Strait of Hormuz commitments had expired.
“As long as the other side remains committed to its obligations, we will carry out ours,” Baghaei said. “Wherever the other side violated its commitments, we also did not implement ours.”
He said Iran would continue withholding its obligations while US violations persisted.
Baghaei also said Iran was seeking a joint mechanism with Oman for the Strait of Hormuz, but US pressure on Muscat had obstructed the effort.
He added that Iran has not attacked and will not attack any regional country and that the strikes were directed only at US bases, facilities and positions used in attacks on Iran.
Baghaei said the targets included logistical and support infrastructure used by the United States.
Qatar, Oman and Pakistan continued mediation efforts between Iran and the United States in recent days, Baghaei said, adding that Tehran had remained in contact with all three countries and that the discussions were continuing.
France will not lift sanctions on Iran unless Tehran abandons its nuclear program, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Monday.
“There will be no lifting of sanctions as long as Iran does not renounce its nuclear program,” Barrot told BFM TV.
Barrot said neither Iran nor the United States had an interest in renewed fighting.
He said France was ready to help clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz once calm was restored, but the French Navy had not begun the operation because hostilities had resumed.
Barrot also said French military bases in the Middle East were secure.
A steady stream of ships has passed through the Strait of Hormuz with tracking systems switched off in recent days as visible traffic declined following renewed US-Iran fighting, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
All six commodity carriers that crossed the strait on Sunday had their transponders turned off, according to preliminary Kpler data analyzed by Bloomberg.
Such untracked crossings outnumbered observable passages during the previous three days, the report said.
