US Treasury targets over 30 entities including airlines in new Iran sanctions
The US Treasury on Tuesday imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions on one individual and 35 entities, including 27 Iranian airlines.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added airlines including Iran Aseman Airlines, Iran Airtour, Kish Air, Qeshm Air, Taban Airlines, Sepehran Airlines, Zagros Airlines, Karun Airlines, Chabahar Airlines and Fly Persia to its Specially Designated Nationals list.
Newer carriers including Air Shiraz, Ava Airlines, Fly Kish, Mehr Airways, Raimon Airways and Soroush Air were also listed.
Saha Airlines, formally listed as the Armed Forces Air Transport Service, was among those targeted. OFAC describes it as providing both passenger and freight air transport. The Iranian airlines were designated under Executive Order 13902 and are subject to secondary sanctions, according to Treasury’s notice.
A mounted machine gun deployed in Khorramabad, western Iran, on Monday, September 7, ahead of a fuel price increase.
Iranian security forces deployed around fuel stations and on streets across the country as a gasoline price increase took effect, with people warning of further pressure on household budgets and rising prices for other goods and services.
Messages, videos and accounts sent to Iran International described deployments of police, special units and Basij forces in Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Karaj, Isfahan, Tabriz, Birjand, Khorramabad, Khomein, Abadan and Qeshm.
Reports of slower internet connections also emerged from several cities, including Tabriz and Babol.
Petrol prices doubled on Monday for drivers buying fuel outside their monthly subsidised quota, rising from 50,000 to 100,000 rials a litre, about 2.3 to 4.5 US cents. The government announced the increase two days earlier.
Monthly subsidized allocations remain unchanged. Motorists can buy 60 liters at 15,000 rials per liter, about 0.7 cents, and another 50 liters at 30,000 rials, about 1.3 cents.
The dollar figures are negligible. The wages are the point. Average monthly pay in Iran is around 250 million rials, about $113 at Tuesday's rate, and many workers earn closer to 200 million, or roughly $90 a month.
Security forces gather around fuel stations
Several residents of Mashhad told Iran International that security forces appeared around petrol stations on Sunday, hours before the new price took effect.
“On Monday evening, I passed three gas stations. Several police vehicles were stationed outside each one, and at one station there were large numbers of Basij motorcyclists and special unit forces,” one resident said.
Another Mashhad resident described police and special units positioned at fuel stations across the city.
Video sent to Iran International from Khorramabad in western Lorestan province showed security personnel, vehicles and motorcycles deployed around the city, including what appeared to be a mounted machine gun.
Fuel supplies had already faced disruptions over the previous three weeks in areas including Razavi Khorasan, South Khorasan, Tehran and Alborz provinces.
Citizens in early September reported station closures, long lines, restrictions on purchases and waits of about two hours to obtain 10 liters of gasoline.
A Birjand resident said some filling stations had closed and displayed notices blaming “technical problems,” while police were positioned at others.
Similar deployments were described in Shiraz, where a local reported a large security presence around Maali-Abad early Tuesday, and in Karaj, particularly Fardis, Gohardasht and Mehrshahr.
A resident of Khomein in Markazi province also described a long line and numerous police officers at a fuel station on Shohadaye Daneshjoo Street.
Special units deploy in Tehran
Several Tehran residents reported increased security deployments from Monday evening, including in Shahr-e Rey and Salsabil neighborhoods.
“The station was heavily secured. Special units and the Basij were constantly moving around, and the streets were crowded,” a resident who visited a fuel station near Ferdowsi Square in central Tehran around midnight said.
Another who went to a station on Pirouzi Street in the east described long vehicle lines with special units positioned nearby.
People in Isfahan and Abadan also reported armed police at filling stations. In Qeshm, a resident said armed personnel were deployed around major squares on Monday evening and that a confrontation occurred at the entrance to a filling station in Dargahan.
Two messages from Tabriz described a large security presence alongside deteriorating internet service.
“The city of Tabriz is full of special units. The forces are armed, and heavy equipment can also be seen,” one said.
A Babol citizen also reported slower mobile and fixed internet connections, though the reason for the disruption could not be established.
Gasoline prices carry particular political sensitivity in Iran. A sudden increase and rationing in November 2019 triggered demonstrations across dozens of cities that quickly expanded into nationwide anti-government protests.
Security forces killed around 1,500 people during the crackdown, according to a Reuters tally at the time. Thousands were arrested and authorities imposed a nationwide internet shutdown.
Government defends higher gasoline price
First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref defended the new rate, arguing that even 100,000 rials per liter remains far below the government's cost of importing gasoline.
Imported gasoline costs the government more than 700,000 rials per liter, equivalent to about 30 cents, Aref said. Imported fuel would gradually be sold at prices closer to its cost, he added.
The government's figures for what petrol costs to produce have not held up well to examination. In November 2025, after officials put the cost at 340,000 rials a litre, about 15 cents at current rates, Iran International went through the refineries' own financial statements. They showed operating costs, excluding the value of the crude going in, of around 35,000 rials a litre, roughly 1.6 cents, a tenth of the official figure.
A general view of a gas station in Iran
Economist Mousa Ghaninejad has estimated actual gasoline consumption inside Iran at about 70 million liters a day and argued that much of the remainder recorded as consumption is smuggled out of the country.
Iranians warn of knock-on price increases
Thousands of people responding to an Iran International question about the fuel increase focused on its potential impact beyond filling stations, warning that transportation costs could push up food prices, fares and other everyday expenses.
“100,000 rials for a liter of gasoline may just be a number for some people, but for people it means another step toward making life harder,” one respondent wrote.
Another said petrol was not the problem on its own, and pointed to food. A five-liter container of cooking oil that used to cost 22 million rials, about $9.90, now sells for 40 million, roughly $18.
On a monthly wage of 200 million rials, that is a fifth of a month's pay for one container of oil.
“We buy everything at expensive dollar-linked prices, but our base salary is only $100. Where in the world can you see something like this?” one person wrote.
Another said wages would have to rise alongside prices, since households could not absorb repeated increases on incomes that had barely moved.
For younger respondents the loss was smaller and more particular. "The feeling of going on a trip is gone. Going out for a 10-minute drive is gone. We young people said goodbye to small pleasures a long time ago," one wrote.
A general view of the Houses of Parliament at sunrise, in London, Britain.
Britain said on Tuesday it was expanding sanctions on Iran, targeting key sectors including energy, metals, banking, insurance and shipping as part of efforts to restrict Tehran's nuclear program and other hostile activity.
Minister of State Stephen Doughty said the government was introducing legislation to tighten financial and trade restrictions, widen powers to sanction ships linked to Iran and bar Iranian aircraft from landing in the UK unless exemptions apply.
“Today we are laying legislation which will tackle Iranian nuclear activity and other hostile Iranian activity,” Doughty said in a written statement to parliament.
Focus on nuclear program
Doughty said Iran had expanded its nuclear program in ways that had no credible civilian justification and pointed to its stockpile of more than 400 kg of uranium enriched to 60%.
“Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to this level,” he said.
Britain restored UN sanctions on Iran in October 2025 after the snapback mechanism was triggered and also designated 71 people and entities linked to Iran's nuclear program, including financial institutions and energy companies.
Wider trade and financial restrictions
The new rules expand restrictions on goods, technology and services tied to sectors including energy, software, metals and gold, as well as shipping, insurance and banking.
They also ban exports of additional goods and technology that Britain says could support Iran's conventional weapons and nuclear capabilities.
Doughty said the financial measures would “further reduce the Government of Iran’s ability to access the UK financial system and raise funds in support of its nuclear programme.”
Britain will also gain broader powers to sanction ships that it says enable or facilitate Iran's nuclear program or other destabilizing activity.
Iranian aircraft will be barred from landing in the UK unless exemptions apply, following Britain's termination of bilateral air service arrangements with Iran in 2024.
The legislation includes exemptions to allow continued operations at the Shah Deniz gas field in Azerbaijan, which supplies energy to European countries.
Doughty said Britain remained committed to diplomacy, saying a negotiated outcome was “the only long-term solution” to the dispute over Iran's nuclear program.
A general view of the Australian Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra.
Four senior Australian opposition politicians have backed a role for Reza Pahlavi in a political transition in Iran and urged closer engagement with the exiled prince, telling Iran International they have invited him to visit Australia.
The Coalition politicians said they supported peaceful political change in Iran and planned to meet Pahlavi virtually. No date has been announced for the meeting or a possible visit.
“We want to see peaceful political change in Iran. We don't support the current regime,” Senator Dave Sharma, Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, told Iran International.
“We think it's done immense harm not only to its own people, but to the neighbourhood, the region, and even to the world here in Australia.”
Iran International also spoke to Senator Andrew Bragg, Shadow Minister for Environment; Senator Jessica Collins, Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee; and Julian Leeser, Shadow Minister for Education.
Coalition seeks engagement with Pahlavi
Engagement with Pahlavi is one of the Coalition's most important foreign policy objectives because of the role it believes he could play during a transition, Bragg said.
Senator Andrew Bragg, Australian Shadow Minister for Environment
“For the coalition, having a meeting with the Crown Prince is one of the most important foreign policy objectives that we have, because we believe that meeting with this key transitional figure is the best way to move the conversation on to a new government for Iran,” Bragg told Iran International.
Bragg described the Islamic Republic as “probably the worst government and the worst regime on the planet” and accused it of crimes against Iranians and sponsoring terrorism abroad, including in Australia.
The senator argued that political change would be difficult without serious international engagement with an alternative.
“This government will never be moved on unless we engage seriously with an alternative, and the alternative that we have as a transitional figure is the Crown Prince,” Bragg said.
Collins also described Pahlavi as “an important symbol of anti-regime and pro-democracy” and said the Coalition would continue engaging with him and hearing about the challenges facing Iranians.
The four lawmakers plan to hold a virtual meeting with Pahlavi ahead of a possible visit to Australia. The Coalition has extended an invitation for the visit, but no date has been announced for either the talks or the trip.
Peaceful political change
Pahlavi is an influential voice in Iranian politics, with many Iranians around the world looking to him for leadership, Sharma said.
The Coalition’s outreach aims to build a clearer picture of events inside Iran and support political forces seeking change, said Sharma, a former Australian ambassador to Israel.
“I think having the Crown Prince visit Australia will help show the Australian people that there are prospects for a brighter political future in Iran,” Sharma said.
“There are many Iranian people who want this to happen, and that he will play an important part in any transition.”
Senator Dave Sharma, Australian Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs
A visit could also renew Australian public attention on Iran following the authorities' deadly suppression of nationwide protests in January, Sharma said.
Leeser said the invitation was intended to give Australian politicians an opportunity to hear Pahlavi's assessment of conditions inside Iran and his vision for the country's future.
“The coalition has decided to invite Reza Pahlavi to Australia at this time because Reza Pahlavi has been advocating for freedom and democracy for the people of Iran, and we want to hear his perspective of what's happening on the ground and his hopes for the future of Iran,” Leeser told Iran International.
Leeser drew parallels between the invitation and Australia’s past engagement with figures in overseas political struggles, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Winnie Mandela during South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, and Xanana Gusmão and José Ramos-Horta during East Timor’s campaign for independence.
Julian Leeser, Australian MP and Shadow Minister for Education
“Reza Pahlavi would come to Australia in that tradition to provide us with his perspective and to provide us with important information that will help us develop our foreign policy in this area,” Leeser said.
Support for Iranians
All four politicians used the interviews to express support for Iranians seeking political change.
Collins said the Coalition shared what she described as the fundamental values sought by protesters, including “freedom, liberty and security.”
“We stand with you all the way, and I want you to know, I want all the Iranian people in Australia to know, and around the world, that we stand with you,” Collins said.
Chair of the Australian Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee
Sharma echoed that view, saying the Coalition’s engagement with Pahlavi reflected its support for Iranians seeking democratic change.
“The message this will send to the people of Iran is that you are not alone, that your fight for freedom and democracy is a fight that we share and that we are equally committed to, and that your success is our success,” Sharma said.
Smoke rises from a burning truck during what the Houthis say was an attack targeting trucks coming from Saudi territory, at Al-Wadiah border crossing near Al-Wadiah, on the Saudi-Yemen border, in this still image obtained from a handout video released September 7, 2026.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis attacked energy facilities and cities in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding at least 73 people and raising fears of a wider regional war.
The strikes targeted civilian and economic sites in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran, according to Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. He said women and children were among those injured.
Yahya Saree, the Houthi’s military spokesman, also said that the group launched a “broad military operation” deep inside Saudi territory with drones and ballistic missiles to target Saudi energy sites belonging to oil giant Aramco.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said the attacks caused fires at several energy facilities and utilities, temporarily halting some operations. Emergency crews were working to extinguish the fires, secure the affected sites and assess the damage.
“The coalition will take all necessary operational measures to deter this terrorist militia,” Maliki said, pledging a firm response.
The attacks came after Iranian officials warned that energy infrastructure across the Persian Gulf, including US oil and gas interests, was vulnerable following renewed exchanges of attacks involving vessels around the Strait of Hormuz.
Houthi attacks helped push oil prices to their highest levels in more than six weeks, according to Reuters. Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea has already slowed amid threats to commercial vessels and uncertainty over access to the two critical waterways.
The Houthis, who control Yemen’s capital and much of the country’s north, declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July and have since attacked vessels in the Red Sea and targets inside the country.
The GCC denounced the strikes, describing them as a threat to regional security and backing measures taken by Riyadh to protect its territory and population. Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Egypt and Jordan also issued separate condemnations.
The attacks mark a further escalation in the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28. Repeated missile and drone strikes, along with attacks on shipping and energy infrastructure, have punctuated lulls in the fighting.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that oil prices would fall sharply once the United States won the war, adding that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
Canada’s Federal Court has ordered the government to decide within 60 days on a visitor visa application from a former project manager at Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant after the case remained in security screening for more than 900 days.
Naser Mansoursharifloo, an Iranian citizen, applied for the visa in January 2024. About six weeks later, government records marked his case as “approved pending info from partners,” but no final decision followed for more than two years.
By the time the case reached a court hearing in August, the application had spent about 911 days in security screening, far longer than government processing estimates for Iranian visitor visas during the period.
Mansoursharifloo holds a doctorate in mechanical engineering and previously worked as a project manager at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. He also served as head of engineering at Islamic Azad University in central Tehran, according to the court.
The court said the government had not provided enough evidence to explain why the screening had taken so long. It ordered authorities to make a decision within 60 days of the September 1 ruling.
The order does not require Canada to approve Mansoursharifloo’s visa and the court did not find that he was inadmissible. It only requires the government to make a decision.
The case comes amid a broader push by Canada to keep out or remove former senior officials of the Islamic Republic, particularly people whose past government roles could make them inadmissible under Canadian law.
Ottawa moved in 2022 to bar senior Iranian government officials from entering or remaining in Canada after the Islamic Republic’s crackdown on nationwide anti-establishment protests.
Canada has since pursued a number of cases involving former Iranian officials already in the country, while immigration authorities have increased scrutiny of applicants with backgrounds in Iranian government institutions.
Canada also listed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity in 2024, adding another layer to its increasingly confrontational approach toward people and institutions tied to the Islamic Republic.
In one recent case, Canadian authorities are seeking to deport Abbas Omidi, a former senior official in Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade who lives in Toronto.
Canadian government documents reported by Global News said Omidi had played a significant role in Iran’s mining sector and that revenue generated by the sector helped support the Iranian government, its military and the IRGC.
Omidi acknowledged during his deportation proceedings that he had served as a deputy director general in the ministry but said his position was mainly technical.
The Canada Border Services Agency is seeking his removal on the grounds that he served as a senior Iranian government official.
Canada has also pursued other former officials under measures introduced after 2022, including people connected to Iranian state institutions and security bodies.
