The directive came a week after the collapse of a ceasefire with the United States and the resumption of fighting in southern Iran and the Strait of Hormuz.

It told media outlets covering attacks on civilian facilities and infrastructure to “refrain from publishing vital information,” avoid creating “fear and alarm among the public,” and withhold details about the extent of destruction or its impact on the delivery of public services.

The council said such information could be used “by the enemy to assess the effectiveness of its attacks.” It instructed media outlets to obtain information through the most senior provincial official responsible for any institution or facility that had been hit.

The directive also ordered media outlets to describe disruptions to public services using phrases such as “the issue is under review and being resolved,” rather than report the extent of the damage or provide specific details about its effect on services.

It said the Health Ministry and emergency services remained the only official and authoritative sources for civilian casualty figures.

The order followed a sixth consecutive night of US strikes on Iran. US Central Command said fighter jets, drones and warships had used precision weapons against dozens of military targets, including coastal surveillance and air-defense sites, military logistics infrastructure and maritime capabilities on Qeshm Island and near Bandar Abbas.

The strikes could expand further. Axios reported on Friday that the Trump administration plans to send dozens more aerial refueling planes to Israel as the US president considers a broader offensive against Iran, potentially targeting power plants, other infrastructure and additional nuclear facilities.

Iranian media reported that five bridges in Hormozgan province were hit, along with the railway station in the coastal city of Bandar Khamir and Iranshahr airport in southeastern Iran.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said seven people were killed in strikes on bridges in Bandar Khamir.

The attacks also damaged power lines in Bandar Abbas and surrounding areas, causing outages, while a tower at the port of Chabahar was brought down. Iran said the tower monitored commercial traffic, while the United States described it as part of an IRGC surveillance network used to target vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

With major international news organizations lacking permanent bureaus inside Iran, the directive further concentrates wartime reporting in the hands of state-controlled institutions and makes independent verification of attacks, casualties and infrastructure damage more difficult.

The US State Department on Wednesday welcomed Iraq's and Syria's decision to prioritize reconstruction of the Iraq-Syria crude oil pipeline, describing it as a strategically important regional infrastructure project and backing a US-led international consortium to carry out the technical and financial work.

The department said the rehabilitated pipeline would initially be capable of transporting 2 million barrels of crude per day from Iraq to Mediterranean export markets, calling the announcement "an important milestone" for the region and for relations between Baghdad and Damascus.

The renewed push comes during the US-Iran war, which has sharply reduced traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that carried about one-fifth of global oil supplies before the conflict.

US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack said Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's plans to develop alternative export corridors were aligned with broader regional efforts involving Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt.

He said the projects could make Hormuz "an afterthought" for Iraq within two years.

Chevron is in advanced discussions with Los Angeles-based TI Capital and Qatar's UCC Holding to form a consortium for a pipeline network linking southern Iraqi oilfields to the Mediterranean through Syria, the Financial Times reported.

The proposed system would include one line running north from southern Iraq toward Kirkuk and another extending west to the Syrian port of Baniyas.

In parallel, Iraq's cabinet has approved preliminary studies of routes from Basra through Haditha to either Baniyas or Turkey's Mediterranean export terminal at Ceyhan. The approvals do not create binding financial or contractual obligations for Iraq's Oil Ministry.

US Representative Joe Wilson, a Republican from South Carolina, praised Barrack's efforts, saying pipelines through Syria and Turkey could help replace export capacity threatened by Iran's actions around Hormuz.

He estimated the broader network could eventually transport 2.5 million barrels per day to the Mediterranean or Turkey and reduce Baghdad's dependence on Tehran.

Oil prices have climbed during the renewed fighting, with Brent crude settling at $88 a barrel on Friday, its highest level in a month.

The proposed routes remain subject to feasibility studies and would face significant financing, construction and security challenges before becoming operational.

The debate has intensified since Iran targeted a vessel near the Strait of Hormuz last week, prompting a renewed US military campaign that has included days of strikes on ports, bridges, airports and military facilities across Iran’s southern provinces.

Even as US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf have continued to defend diplomacy backed by military preparedness, the fighting has persisted and the prospect of a wider conflict has grown.

The criticism has been directed in part at ultrahardline figures such as Qom Seminary Chancellor Alireza Arafi, who has called for further war against the United States and an end to negotiations.

Two recent commentaries—one by former lawmaker and former National Security Committee chairman Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the other by political analyst Abdolrahman Fathollahi—reflect the growing push to hold hardliners accountable for the costs of confrontation.

While one focuses on political responsibility for failed diplomacy, the other highlights the burden borne by communities on Iran’s southern frontier.

‘Defeating diplomacy’

Writing in the moderate daily Toseh Irani, Falahatpisheh accused hardline factions of using what he called a distorted interpretation of religion to obstruct diplomatic opportunities.

“I believe part of these two major wars against Iran was the result of this very definition of religious beliefs by extremists, who are now turning to distorting religion to defeat diplomacy,” he wrote.

He argued that the same factions had repeatedly promised better outcomes while blocking agreements that could have reduced tensions.

“They are the exact same people who blocked two good agreements during the major periods of 2021 and 2022, claiming they would forge a better deal,” he wrote. “But in practice, not only was no agreement achieved, but two major wars were imposed on Iran.”

Falahatpisheh called for the prosecution of those he said had turned diplomatic opportunities into military conflict.

‘Patriotism from a safe distance’

A second commentary, published Thursday in Shargh, shifted the focus from political responsibility to the human cost of confrontation.

Under the title The Country’s Future and the Triangle of Extremism, Costs, and Responsibility, Fathollahi warned about the toll of intensifying US airstrikes on Iran’s southern coastal provinces.

He pointed to public campaigns calling for outspoken opponents of negotiations to be sent to the front lines, accusing them of practising what he described as “patriotism from a safe distance.”

“One certainly cannot beat the drums of war from the safe margins of the capital behind podiums, while dumping the costs of those decisions onto the people living in the front lines,” Fathollahi wrote, highlighting the plight of communities bearing the brunt of the fighting over the Strait of Hormuz.

The comments come after a week of US strikes on infrastructure across Iran’s Persian Gulf provinces, where dozens have been killed or injured and many more affected by transport disruption, electricity blackouts and water shortages during the height of summer.

For Fathollahi, the question is no longer simply one of military strategy but whether Iran’s leaders are willing to change course before the costs grow even higher.

“Rethinking certain political approaches and utilizing all expert and diplomatic capacities is not a choice,” he concluded, “but a necessity to safeguard national interests and reduce the costs imposed on society.”

The IRGC was designated alongside the Iran-linked Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right and Russia’s GRU Volunteer Corps, the first organizations placed under powers created by the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026.

The designations took effect on July 17 after Parliament approved an order submitted by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood four days earlier.

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  UK says support for Iran's IRGC outlawed under new state threats law

Under the new law, it is now a criminal offence to express support for the groups, including by glorifying or encouraging activity that threatens the safety of the United Kingdom.

Providing assistance or accepting money or another material benefit from a designated organization can also lead to prosecution. Those convicted could face prison sentences of up to 14 years.

People who commit sabotage, arson or other hostile acts on behalf of the groups could be charged separately under the National Security Act 2023 and face life imprisonment.

The designation is distinct from banning an organization under Britain’s terrorism legislation. It is designed specifically to address hostile activity linked to foreign governments, including espionage, political interference, intimidation, sabotage and physical attacks.

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  Wave of Iran plots drove UK action against IRGC, terror law tsar says

The government says the new framework will make it easier to prosecute people working for foreign organizations because prosecutors will not always have to establish a direct connection between an individual act and a foreign government.

Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer said when the measures were announced that Britain would not be allowed to become “a playground for states who want to spread fear, division and violence on our streets.”

“We have already taken tough action against the Iranian regime and those linked to it, and against Russian operatives and networks targeting our country,” he said. “These new powers will make it easier to prosecute and lock up anyone carrying out their dirty work here in Britain.”

The IRGC is one of the Islamic Republic’s most powerful military and political institutions. Its overseas Quds Force oversees Tehran’s relationships with allied armed groups and has been accused by British authorities of directing operations against dissidents, journalists and Jewish or Israeli-linked targets in Europe.

The British government said the Islamic Movement of Companions of the Right had claimed responsibility for seven attacks this year against Persian-language media and locations linked to Jewish and Israeli communities in Britain.

Those incidents included an antisemitic arson attack that damaged four ambulances belonging to the Jewish emergency service Hatzola in Golders Green, north London, on March 23.

British authorities said Quds Force members were behind the organization and had “almost certainly” directed its attacks across Europe. The allegations have not been tested in court.

The government has also cited at least 20 potentially lethal Iranian-backed plots identified by the domestic intelligence agency MI5 over a one-year period.

“Iran and Russia are using proxies and thugs to do their dirty work on our shores,” Mahmood said when she announced the intended designations. “We will find you, and we will lock you up.”

The third designated organization, the GRU Volunteer Corps, is described by Britain as a network controlled by Russian military intelligence that recruits people online to carry out arson, sabotage, harassment and other hostile activity.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said the use of proxies by Iran and Russia to conduct operations on British soil was “reprehensible.”

The designation marks a significant escalation in Britain’s response to the IRGC. Rather than banning the organization as a terrorist group, the government has created a separate route to prosecute support, recruitment, financing and operational assistance linked to hostile foreign-state activity.

“All visa applicants, regardless of nationality, must meet the eligibility requirements set out in Australia’s migration legislation before a visa can be granted,” a Department of Home Affairs spokesperson told Iran International on Friday.

The processing times, the spokesperson said, depend on factors including application complexity, completeness, demand, ministerial priorities and migration planning levels.

“Processing times can also be affected by application processing requirements, including verification of applicant information ... and the time taken to receive clearances from external agencies, particularly for health, character and national security assessments,” the spokesperson said.

The department did not directly address the question on whether Iranian citizens undergo broader or different security screening than applicants from other countries.

The response came after images emerged of protests by Iranian applicants outside the Australian embassy in Tehran, alongside letters, official correspondence with the Department of Home Affairs, documents related to pending cases and messages from applicants inside and outside Australia.

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Documents and correspondence show some applications have remained unresolved for more than two years, and in some cases more than 30 months, despite applicants completing key requirements including skills assessments, medical examinations and biometric checks.

Protests and travel restrictions

The department also did not provide a specific explanation for delays affecting Iranian skilled visa applicants who were already inside Australia when they lodged their applications.

Officials said some applicants have faced conflict-related obstacles inside Iran, including internet disruptions that hinder access to biometric appointments, medical examinations and documents such as police certificates and passports. The extensions, the department said, may be granted in such cases but applicants must still satisfy all legal visa requirements.

In recent months, groups of Iranian applicants have staged two protests outside the Australian embassy in Tehran, calling for greater transparency over prolonged processing delays and requesting decisions on their applications.

The department also referred to temporary travel restrictions affecting holders of Australian Visitor visas linked to Iranian passports. It said the Arrival Control Determination, introduced on March 26, 2026, remains in force for six months and prevents affected visa holders outside Australia from entering the country.

Any extension beyond the initial six-month period, according to the department, would require a new legal determination and a finding that continuing the restrictions serves Australia’s national interest. The government has said the measure is intended to provide time to assess conditions in Iran and associated migration risks, leaving the future of both the travel restrictions and many pending visa applications uncert