Oil prices fall sharply after pause in US-Iran fighting
Global oil prices fell sharply Monday after a pause in fighting between the United States and Iran, marking their biggest decline since April 8, CNN reported Monday.
Brent crude futures closed 11.3% lower at $85.87 a barrel, while US crude fell about 7% to $82.61, according to the report.
US President Donald Trump said Washington halted strikes on Iran at the request of the Iranian government and warned attacks could resume if a new ceasefire deal was not reached.
Amirhossein Safari and cousins Alireza and Abolfazl Sepahi (right to left) have been sentenced to death following their arrest during the widespread protests in Iran in January
An iron scaffold erected Monday in the central Iranian city of Isfahan has raised fears that authorities are preparing to publicly execute more protesters arrested during January's nationwide unrest, sources told Iran International.
The scaffold was installed in Alikhani Square, where protests erupted on January 8.
Twelve young men convicted in what became known as the Alikhani Square case were sentenced to death. Two of them—Golmohammad Mohammadi and Erfan Esfandiari—were executed on July 19.
Witness accounts circulating on social media described Alikhani Square as being under heavy security on Monday night.
A source close to the family of Amirhossein Safari, another defendant in the case, told Iran International that relatives had been summoned to Isfahan Central Prison for what they believed could be a final visit.
The concerns were echoed by prominent Iranian activist Mehdi Mahmoudian, who wrote on X that several families of the ten remaining death-row prisoners in the Alikhani Square case had also been instructed to report to the prison for final visits.
Mahmoudian identified cousins Alireza Sepahi and Abolfazl Sepahi among those facing what he described as an imminent risk of execution. He also noted that two other defendants in the case had already been executed.
The visible deployment of security forces around the scaffold has further fuelled fears that additional executions could be carried out publicly.
Iranian authorities accuse the defendants of involvement in the killing of four security personnel, as well as arson and vandalism during the January protests. Officials say four members of the Basij militia and Special Unit forces were killed during clashes in the area.
UN condemns death sentences
Earlier on Monday, UN experts led by Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, urged the authorities to halt the executions of the ten remaining defendants.
"Sentencing 12 people to death in one hearing, in a closed courtroom and without clarity as to each defendant's individual responsibility violates established fair trial standards," the experts said.
They said the defendants, aged from their late teens to their early twenties, were reportedly subjected to arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and, in some cases, ill-treatment.
According to the experts, the convictions relied heavily on confessions broadcast on state television, while Revolutionary Court hearings were held behind closed doors and the judgments were never made public.
Among those still facing execution is Shervin Bagherian Jebeli, who turned 18 only days before his arrest.
Iran’s state television broadcast footage of Jebeli confessing to violence against security officers within a week of his detention and before any trial, the experts said.
They added that Jebeli appeared unaware of the meaning of the capital charge against him—moharebeh, or "enmity against God"—raising concerns that he had not had access to legal counsel of his own choosing.
"Confessions obtained under coercion must never be admitted as evidence, and broadcasting them before trial violates the presumption of innocence," the experts said.
Mahmoudian said the Alikhani Square case, like many other political and security prosecutions in Iran, had been marked by serious legal irregularities, denial of fair trial guarantees and widespread humanitarian concerns.
With a scaffold now standing in Alikhani Square and families reporting final prison visits, relatives fear the remaining death sentences could soon be carried out despite mounting international pressure.
Pedestrians walk beneath a state-sponsored billboard depicting Donald Trump in a coffin in downtown Tehran, Iran, July 23, 2026
The suspension of US and Iranian attacks has revived hopes for diplomacy, but in Tehran the military lull has exposed a widening divide over whether the Islamic Republic should negotiate with Washington or press what hardliners see as a battlefield advantage.
Deputy Parliament Speaker Hamidreza Haji Babai made that resistance explicit on Monday, telling lawmakers that Iran would "never reach an understanding with the United States."
"We should not allow America to wage war whenever it wants and declare a ceasefire whenever it wants," he said during a virtual parliamentary session.
Former vice president Mohsen Mansouri, who served under the late President Ebrahim Raisi, voiced similar opposition in a social media post, arguing that Iran was discussing negotiations precisely when its military position had strengthened.
"We struck several ships, closed the strait and fought even harder than before. An arrow set Aramco ablaze, oil prices rose, and Iran's power became more evident than ever," he wrote.
"Why is it that just when our position is stronger and the enemy is more desperate, some immediately begin talking about negotiations, a ceasefire and reopening the strait?"
He added: "Do not restart this flawed cycle. The path to peace does not pass through negotiations and agreements. Struggle, jihad, vengeance and resistance are the road to peace."
The hardline pushback comes despite mounting signs that indirect diplomacy has resumed.
President Donald Trump said Monday that Washington was engaged in "very serious negotiations" with Iran while warning the United States would resume "very powerful military action" if diplomacy failed.
According to Turkey's Anadolu Agency, citing Pakistani sources, Pakistan and Qatar have intensified exchanges between Washington and Tehran.
The report said the mediators had proposed restoring the status quo that existed before July 9 through a two-week ceasefire, reopening maritime routes and resuming negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei confirmed in an interview with Austria's ORF television that Iran and the United States were exchanging messages through intermediaries.
At his weekly press briefing on Monday, however, he denied that Tehran had requested negotiations, insisting Iran had only been discussing shipping arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz with Oman.
Baghaei also rejected reports of a proposed ceasefire, saying Iran "has never allowed, and will never allow, the United States to determine the timing of war and peace."
Not everyone inside Iran shares the hardliners' view.
The reformist newspaper Etemad argued Monday that recent developments marked a turning point, with military confrontation giving way to deterrence and renewed diplomacy.
Former diplomat Abdolreza Faraji Rad wrote in Arman Emrooz that several developments—including the suspension of US attacks and Trump's latest remarks—suggested behind-the-scenes negotiations had either already produced results or were close to doing so.
He argued both sides still appeared to regard their earlier memorandum of understanding as valid.
Others dismissed that assessment.
Fada-Hossein Maleki, a member of parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) that the reduction in US military operations reflected the impact of Iranian attacks on American logistical and operational infrastructure rather than diplomatic contacts.
"Iran has entered the offensive phase," he said. "In the offensive phase, there is certainly no discussion of negotiations."
The United States halted its nightly strikes on Friday after nearly two weeks of attacks, while Iran has not launched further strikes on US bases in the region since shortly after Washington's final operation.
Whether the lull develops into renewed diplomacy or merely precedes another round of fighting remains uncertain.
What has become increasingly clear, however, is that the military pause has opened a new political battle inside Tehran over whether Iran should negotiate from what some see as a position of strength or continue pressing its advantage on the battlefield.
Iranian social media users and news outlets have praised archaeologist Hamideh Choubak after Alamut Castle was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, highlighting her 25 years of work excavating and protecting the historic site.
The UNESCO listing has drawn renewed attention to Choubak’s role in identifying, documenting and conserving the fortress complex, located 120 miles northwest of Tehran, and preparing it for World Heritage status.
Alamut Castle and Related Fortifications became Iran’s 30th UNESCO World Heritage property when it was inscribed on July 26 during the committee’s 48th session in Busan, South Korea.
Images of Choubak crying as the decision was announced were widely shared online, with users praising her decades-long commitment while criticizing the prominence given to government officials at the ceremony.
Zeinab Karimian, an Iranian journalist who formerly worked for the official news agency IRNA, said the inscription was the result of Choubak’s 25 years of “perseverance, yet once again, the front row was filled by male officials who will serve as ministers or deputy ministers for only a few years, while she remained in a corner.”
“History forgets the names of those who occupy the seats, but not those who devoted their lives to this land.”
Many social media users also praised Choubak as a symbol of professional dedication, saying the UNESCO listing had finally brought overdue recognition to decades of largely unseen work.
“I wish people like Dr. Hamideh Choubak could be multiplied—people who love this country’s land and heritage,” communications specialist Negar Arab wrote on X.
The Asr-e Iran news website also published a tribute to Choubak titled “25 years of effort and love for Iran’s cultural heritage.”
The outlet said she had devoted much of her career to researching and protecting Alamut, describing the UNESCO decision as the culmination of years of work.
“Alamut’s inscription may be only a piece of news, but for a woman who devoted more than a quarter of a century of her life to this mountain and fortress, this moment marks the end of a long journey and the beginning of Alamut’s lasting place in global memory,” it wrote.
Twenty-five years at Alamut
Choubak began archaeological excavations at Alamut Castle in 2001.
Her research continued over 25 years and included 16 excavation seasons at the main fortress, surrounding areas and several associated castles.
Her team uncovered buried sections of the complex and identified the functions of different structures.
The excavations revealed the castle’s prison, main entrance, observatory and central courtyard.
Researchers also identified Molasara, believed to have been used by Hassan-i Sabbah and other Ismaili leaders, as well as storage facilities, irrigation systems and communication routes.
Studies of six neighboring castles indicated that the fortifications had operated as an integrated network.
Botanical research conducted during the excavations also challenged some common accounts about the use of hashish during Hassan-i Sabbah’s era.
Choubak said the site had been reduced to little more than a mound of earth after years of erosion and neglect when excavations began.
Only parts of its walls remained visible.
Over the following decades, the main structures were identified, documented, conserved and restored as part of efforts to prepare Alamut for UNESCO recognition.
Protecting Alamut from development
Choubak was also praised for opposing projects that could have damaged the site and its surrounding historical landscape.
She resisted plans to construct a road, a cable car and other developments within the protected area, and sought to prevent unauthorized land occupation and construction.
Choubak, who serves as director of the Alamut World Heritage base, has said the complex was more than a military fortress.
It was also a center of government, science and culture during the Ismaili period, she said.
She pointed to the presence of scholars including Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, as well as the castle’s library and scientific activities, as evidence of its broader cultural importance.
Asr-e Iran also highlighted Choubak’s archaeological work in the ancient city of Jiroft and the Jazmourian region.
Those excavations led to the identification of a mosque, bazaar, public square, cemetery, water-distribution network and industrial workshops.
Choubak, born in 1952 in Bushehr in southern Iran, is an archaeologist specializing in the Islamic period. She studied archaeology at the University of Tehran, completing her master’s degree in 1983 with a thesis on Islamic ceramics, before earning a PhD in Islamic archaeology from Tarbiat Modares University.
Her career has included work at Iran’s Archaeological Center, the Glassware and Ceramic Museum, the Tehran Cultural Heritage Center and the Research Institute of Archaeology.
Choubak has participated in and led numerous excavations across Iran, including at Rey, Tepe Hissar, Hormuz, Jiroft and Kish.
A group of Iranians living in Australia planted a Persian Cypress to mark the 47th anniversary of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and his father Reza Shah on July 26, 2026.
Iranians gathered in dozens of cities worldwide over the weekend to mark the anniversaries of the deaths of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, voicing support for exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi and calling for an end to the Islamic Republic.
Rallies were held on July 25-27 in cities across Germany, the United States, Britain, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Finland, Greece and New Zealand. Participants commemorated the Pahlavi dynasty, waved Iran's pre-1979 lion-and-sun flag and chanted slogans against the Islamic Republic.
In Berlin, demonstrators endorsed Prince Reza Pahlavi as a leader for a political transition and called on the international community to support Iranians' demands for freedom, democracy and change.
Similar gatherings took place in Frankfurt, Cologne, Hamburg and Hanover, where participants chanted "King Reza Pahlavi" and "The lion-and-sun flag shines across the world."
Rallies across Europe and North America
In London, Iranians held a memorial in the city center, highlighting what participants described as the legacy of Reza Shah and Mohammad Reza Shah.
Events were also held in several US cities. Los Angeles hosted a ceremony honoring the Pahlavi monarchs, while New York held a gathering attended by Iranian cultural, political and social figures to commemorate the last Shah of Iran.
In Sweden, demonstrators marched through central Stockholm chanting "No to the Islamic Republic" and expressing support for a democratic transition. Similar events took place in Malmö and Gothenburg, where participants sang the patriotic song Ey Iran.
Events span
In Melbourne, Iranians marked the 47th anniversary of Mohammad Reza Shah's death by planting a Persian cypress tree, which organizers described as a symbol of resilience. Similar commemorations were held in Perth.
In Canada, participants in Calgary praised the Pahlavi dynasty's role in Iran's modernization and expressed support for Prince Reza Pahlavi during a transition from the Islamic Republic.
Additional gatherings were reported in Bern, Helsinki, Lisbon, Athens, Madrid and Auckland, underscoring the continued visibility of monarchist supporters within the Iranian diaspora.
An elderly patient sits in a hospital ward in Iran.
A growing number of Iranians are financing healthcare with debt as medical costs rise beyond household incomes, a new Eghtesad Online report found, while authorities prioritize medical preparations for the Shiite pilgrimage, Arbaeen.
Iranians are increasingly borrowing money, delaying treatment and bargaining over medical bills as healthcare costs outpace household incomes, according to a new report by Eghtesad Online, while authorities say medicines and medical supplies are fully secured for Arbaeen, the annual pilgrimage commemorating the 40th day after the death of third Shiite imam.
The report describes a healthcare system where treatment increasingly begins not with a doctor's diagnosis but with offers to activate credit, pay in installments or use discount codes. From dental care and physiotherapy to psychotherapy, prescription drugs and online consultations, households are increasingly financing healthcare with future income.
"The issue is not just the growth of a few startups or advertisements by a few clinics; the issue is the shrinking liquidity of households, where a patient is forced to borrow from next month's income to pay for today's pain," the report said.
When treatment depends on payday
Conversations in doctors' offices, the report said, increasingly focus on affordability rather than treatment. Patients ask whether insurance will cover consultation fees or whether doctors can charge less, while physicians report seeing people who postpone laboratory tests, imaging scans and prescriptions after paying for the initial visit.
"Is this charged at the private rate? Doesn't insurance cover it? Can't you charge a little less?" are now common questions at reception desks, according to the report, which said patients bargain "not out of habit, but out of necessity."
Long-term treatment is particularly vulnerable. Patients stop physiotherapy midway, discontinue psychotherapy after only a few sessions or ration medication so it lasts longer, turning what the report called "a shortage of cash into a shortage of treatment."
Official figures for the current Iranian year have not yet been released, but the latest available data showed healthcare accounted for 8.7% of urban household spending and 9.8% of rural household spending in 2024.
Mental health becomes a luxury
Financial pressures are especially visible in mental healthcare, where patients increasingly align appointments with payday.
A therapist meets with a patient in Iran, where rising treatment costs are making mental healthcare less affordable.
"Can I pay for this session at the end of the month?" is among the requests therapists now hear regularly, according to the report. Others ask, "My salary is deposited on the 10th. Can I pay for two sessions together?" or explain, "I can't come every week for now. I'll come twice a month."
The report said psychotherapy is intended to help people cope with anxiety, exhaustion and the pressures of daily life, yet "the cost of the session itself has become one of those anxieties." Social media users quoted in the report described calculating rent, loan payments, medicine and food costs before deciding whether they could afford therapy.
Dental care has become another symbol of the trend. Clinics increasingly advertise installment plans for implants, orthodontics and root canals, while online pharmacies and health platforms now offer credit for medicines and health-related products.
"Toothache does not wait for next month's paycheck," the report said, describing installment payments as both an opportunity to obtain treatment and a warning that essential healthcare costs are increasingly becoming future debt.
Officials warn of shortages
The financial pressures coincide with warnings from lawmakers about Iran's pharmaceutical sector.
Salman Es’haqi, spokesperson for parliament's Health and Treatment Committee, described medicine shortages as a "serious and critical" issue, citing sanctions, the recent war and disruptions to imports of pharmaceutical raw materials. He warned that unstable access to medicines could cost lives.
Other lawmakers have linked shortages to delays in foreign currency allocations and cash shortages affecting imports, while pharmacists have said weak oversight has allowed some medicines to be diverted from official distribution channels into the unofficial market.
Medical support for Arbaeen
Despite those concerns, officials have repeatedly emphasized that healthcare resources for Arbaeen will be fully available.
Medical supplies and pharmaceuticals are loaded for shipment from Iran to Iraq ahead of the Arbaeen pilgrimage in 2019.
Jafar Miadfar, head of Iran's Emergency Organization, said authorities had no concerns about supplying medicines and intravenous fluids for pilgrims. He said around 300,000 units of intravenous fluids had been allocated and medicine stocks positioned at six border crossings ahead of the pilgrimage.
Earlier, Iranian Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Kolivand said medicines and medical equipment had been dispatched for Arbaeen and that five hospitals in Iraq along the Najaf-Karbala route would provide care for Iranian pilgrims.
