Iran confirms detention of cleric who called for replacing Islamic Republic

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.

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  Houthis more effective Iran ally than Hezbollah, Yemen expert says

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.

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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.”

In a response to Iran International, Public Safety Canada said authorities continuously monitor such threats and can respond through investigations, criminal charges and disruption activities.

“Canada takes allegations of foreign interference, including transnational repression, extremely seriously,” the department said, adding that protecting Canadians, safeguarding democratic institutions and defending the country’s national interests remain top priorities.

The response came after Abolfazl Shekarchi, senior spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces, accused Iran International, BBC Persian and Radio Farda of links to foreign intelligence services and described their journalists as “soldiers of Israel and the United States.”

He said journalists working for the outlets could be included in a “bank of military targets” because Tehran did not regard the organizations as media outlets.

Public Safety said Canada remained vigilant against transnational repression “by any state” and that the RCMP investigates reports of foreign interference regardless of their country of origin. Canada’s security and intelligence agencies, it said, employ “a full range of tools” to protect people in Canada and Canadians abroad from threats including terrorism, organized crime, foreign interference and transnational repression.

The department pointed to measures taken against Iran in recent years, including the designation of the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code, sanctions and Iran’s continued designation as a state supporter of terrorism.

Canada has also expanded its legal framework for countering foreign interference. The Countering Foreign Interference Act, adopted in 2024, strengthened authorities under the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and updated offences related to foreign interference and sabotage.

A foreign influence registry established under separate legislation came into force in August, requiring greater disclosure of certain activities undertaken on behalf of foreign principals.

Global Affairs Canada earlier condemned Shekarchi’s remarks in a separate response to Iran International, saying journalists must be able to work without fear of reprisals, political interference or intimidation.

“Journalists, activists, and media workers are the cornerstone of fair, strong, and vibrant societies and must be free to do their work without fear of reprisals, political interference, or intimidation,” Global Affairs said.

The government said it would continue informing the public and supporting communities that may be disproportionately targeted by transnational repression.

Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said Sunday that the third-tier gasoline price would rise to 10,000 tomans per liter from 5,000 tomans, effective September 8.

Monthly subsidized allocations will remain unchanged, with motorists entitled to 60 liters at 1,500 tomans per liter and a further 50 liters at 3,000 tomans.

Mohajerani blamed current conditions and past policies for rising consumption, saying the increase was intended to maintain the balance between supply and demand and strengthen “national resilience.”

The decision comes as Iranian households contend with high inflation, a sharply weakened currency and rising costs for basic goods.

President Masoud Pezeshkian had signaled the increase in late August but gave no date for its implementation. Since then, Iranians have expressed concern that higher gasoline prices could feed through into transport costs and the prices of other goods.

Shortages add to pressure

The price rise comes amid growing strains on Iran’s gasoline supply.

Esmail Saqqab Esfahani, head of Iran’s Energy Optimization Organization, said last month that the country faced a daily gasoline deficit of around 14 million to 15 million liters.

The gap between consumption and production predates the war, but fighting and the US blockade have added to the strain, disrupting supplies when domestic production was already failing to keep pace with demand.

Mohajerani said all additional revenue generated by the increase would be spent on supporting household livelihoods, without specifying how the money would be distributed.

Hossein Samsami, a member of parliament’s Economic Commission, warned last month that raising gasoline prices under current conditions could be like a “spark in a powder keg.”

Memories of 2019

Gasoline prices are among the most politically sensitive economic issues in Iran.

A sudden increase in November 2019 triggered nationwide protests that quickly expanded into broader anti-government unrest.

Authorities imposed a near-total internet blackout and security forces carried out a deadly crackdown in which at least 1,500 people were killed, according to a Reuters investigation.

Iranian officials have shown concern that renewed economic grievances could again spill into the streets. Parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said last month that Iran’s enemies could seek to exploit public dissatisfaction over gasoline.

The increase leaves the government trying to curb a widening gap between gasoline consumption and domestic supply without adding to public anger over the cost of living.

Rapidly rising prices are forcing families to think less about what they can afford next year or next month and more about what they should buy today before their money loses more value tomorrow.

“If you are an average Iranian, you know what you can buy today. You might not buy tomorrow — and by tomorrow, I mean 24 hours later,” economist Ali Dadpay told Iran International’s Eye for Iran podcast. .

“This is an economy that right now saving in eggs makes more sense … than saving in tomans,” he said.

An egg now costs roughly 25,000 tomans. But the story is not its dollar value. It is how quickly the purchasing power of the toman is eroding. Money put aside today may buy noticeably less within days.

“You have to tell people the frustration, the anger, the feeling of inability to provide for one’s family or afford healthcare services, pay for prescription drugs,” Dadpay said.

Average monthly income is below $200, by his estimate, while housing consumes an increasingly large share of household earnings.

Meat and other proteins are disappearing from some families’ diets. Even damaged fruit, once bought by the poorest or given to the homeless, is increasingly becoming an option for ordinary households trying to stretch their money.

“We are not approaching an economic disaster,” Dadpay said. “We are in the middle of an economic disaster.”

Economic pain, political anger

The erosion of Iran’s middle class has been underway for years, but the pressure is accelerating. Saving itself has become less about building wealth than preserving purchasing power, with gold and foreign currency used to make sure today’s earnings can still pay for necessities weeks or months from now.

“This is an economy that has stopped to invest in its future,” Dadpay said.

The political question is what happens when years of impoverishment collide with shortages, unemployment and declining public services.

Iranian authorities appear increasingly concerned about that possibility. Officials have identified gasoline, unemployment and livelihoods as potential triggers for unrest.

Judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has threatened a tougher response to renewed protests, while leaked Basij audio has exposed concerns about further unrest.

Strategic forecaster Kamran Bokhari cautioned against treating economic deterioration as evidence that political rupture is imminent. Economic misery alone does not bring down governments, particularly those with an extensive coercive apparatus.

“It’s a meltdown and we’re watching it in real time,” Bokhari said.

For now, people can still adapt. Stores open, supply chains continue to function and families cut spending, change what they eat and plan around what they can afford over the next few weeks rather than the next few years.

But adaptation has limits.

You cannot eat paper

Tehran can continue paying its forces, at least in nominal terms.

Iran is a large economy of roughly 90 million people, with extensive borders and black-market networks capable of keeping some goods moving. The government can prioritize spending and print more money.

What it cannot print is the food, medicine, fuel and other goods that money is supposed to buy.

“When there are not enough products in the society, when there is not enough bread and butter for people, then the money is not going to solve the problem,” Dadpay said. “It’s just paper. You cannot eat paper.”

That creates a problem for a government relying heavily on material benefits to maintain loyalty. A higher salary offers diminishing protection against discontent if inflation rapidly destroys its purchasing power or shortages mean there is less available to buy.

Gasoline captures the contradiction particularly well.

Iran possesses enormous oil and natural gas reserves, yet Iranians have faced fuel shortages and long lines at filling stations. Dadpay traces the problem partly to decades of cheap subsidized gasoline, inefficient domestic cars, fuel smuggling and limited competition.

For years, there was still enough wealth to keep that system functioning.

Dadpay compared it to dividing a cake. Different groups could continue receiving a piece even as the cake became smaller. Now, he said, “there is no cake.”

Few easy ways out

Even an easing of external pressure would not necessarily resolve the deeper problems.

Powerful economic networks tied to the IRGC have benefited from monopolies and restricted competition, while greater foreign investment and competition could threaten those interests.

For Bokhari, that helps explain why Iran’s crisis is about more than sanctions, war or access to money.

“The kind of reforms needed means that this regime will not be what it is today,” he said.

Neither economist nor forecaster is putting a date on political rupture. Economic deterioration can persist for years, and the Islamic Republic has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to use force to contain unrest.

But the immediate crisis is less abstract. Families are getting poorer, shortages are adding to the strain and money itself is becoming increasingly unreliable as a store of value.

Dadpay’s measure of that decline is strikingly simple. “This is an economy that right now saving in eggs makes more sense … than saving in tomans.”

Within six weeks, two of Iran’s neighbors have opened their markets to the satellite internet service. Iraq authorized Starlink on July 17. The United Arab Emirates granted it a 10-year general license on Aug. 28, and public sales began on Sept. 3.

SpaceX reportedly waived subscription fees for terminals operating inside Iran during the January 2026 internet shutdown, leaving access to the illegal hardware itself as one of the main obstacles.

Until now, Starlink terminals reaching Iran have largely had to pass through black-market supply chains involving multiple intermediaries. Legal sales in two nearby countries could shorten those chains, increase the supply of terminals and ultimately drive down prices inside Iran.

A standard Starlink kit now sells for around $400 in the UAE. At the end of August, the same model was selling for around $2,100 on Iran’s black market, while the smaller Starlink Mini was selling for around $1,850, according to data collected by Starlink4Iran.

During the January shutdown, the price of a standard kit surged to around $3,000, while the Mini reached around $2,300.

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The premium reflects more than profit. Equipment entering Iran passes through intermediaries facing the risks of confiscation and punishment, along with the costs of moving devices covertly across the border.

Legal markets next door will not eliminate those risks. But they could reduce the number of intermediaries involved and make terminals cheaper and more plentiful.

A new route from Iraq

The potential impact is particularly significant in Iraq, which shares a long land border with Iran and has extensive trade and passenger traffic with its neighbor.

Ahmad Ahmadian, an internet freedom activist and director of the nonprofit Holistic Resilience, which works to expand Iranian access to Starlink, said Erbil has already been an important source of communications equipment reaching Iran through informal channels.

Legalization could broaden that network to include traders and people who regularly travel between the two countries, he said.

During periods such as Arbaeen, the annual Shiite pilgrimage when millions of travelers move between Iran and Iraq, thoroughly inspecting everything they carry becomes more difficult, Ahmadian said.

Ahmadian expects some travelers to bring Starlink equipment into Iran for their own use or resale. The devices, he said, could even become a kind of “souvenir” brought back from Iraq.

The smaller Starlink Mini could prove particularly attractive. Roughly the size of a laptop, it is easier to transport than a standard dish, although its official availability in Iraq has yet to be confirmed.

There are still significant obstacles to an Iraqi Starlink market.

The license was issued by Iraq’s Communications and Media Commission, but the Communications Ministry says it has not signed a separate agreement with SpaceX and has raised objections over pricing and routing traffic through Qatar.

The Kurdistan Region has separate regulations, and as of early September no final agreement with SpaceX had been announced.

According to Iraqi officials, around 40,000 unauthorized terminals were already operating in the country before the license was issued, reportedly serving around 200,000 people, including government and security users.

Regulatory disputes may therefore slow the development of the legal market, but they are unlikely to eliminate an existing network of sellers, installers and users.

The UAE offers another potential source.

Starlink equipment was already available in Dubai’s free-trade zones before the general license was issued, and some terminals in Iran have previously been sourced there through intermediaries. Legal public sales could make the equipment easier to obtain.

One dish, many users

More terminals inside Iran would not necessarily benefit only those wealthy enough to buy one.

Some Starlink owners already share their connections with other users, including through VPN and other circumvention services.

Tools such as NasNet Connect can use Iran’s own National Information Network, or NIN, to connect users to a local gateway whose route to the international internet is provided by Starlink. That matters because Iranian authorities have repeatedly cut access to the global internet during periods of unrest and crisis while leaving the NIN and approved domestic services functioning.

A user’s connection to the local gateway can therefore still travel over Iranian telecommunications infrastructure, while the gateway’s route to the outside world exits through Starlink, beyond conventional international connections controlled by the state.

For relatively light uses such as messaging and web browsing, a single terminal can potentially support around 20 to 30 users, according to Ahmadian. Video calls, streaming and large downloads substantially reduce that number.

There is also a financial incentive.

Dish owners can sell VPN or other internet access to recover their costs or even generate income. If cheaper hardware reduces the initial investment, more terminals could potentially become gateways for groups of users rather than individual connections.

None of this makes such networks invisible. Iranian authorities can attempt to identify servers and dishes, disrupt communications and interfere with satellite signals.

But a growing number of privately operated connections would make the task of sealing Iran off from the international internet more complicated.

Free, for now

There is another important limitation: a Starlink terminal bought legally in Iraq or the UAE is not guaranteed to work once brought into Iran.

SpaceX retains control over which terminals are activated and whether they remain connected. It reportedly waived subscription fees for terminals operating in Iran during the January 2026 blackout but did not say how long the arrangement would last.

Ahmadian said active terminals in Iran have continued to operate without subscription charges in recent months. Some accounts previously disconnected for non-payment have also been restored, he said.

It remains unclear whether that policy will continue indefinitely or whether newly arrived terminals bought in Iraq or the UAE will automatically receive free service.

Using Starlink also carries significant personal risk inside Iran. The Islamic Republic considers the equipment illegal and has sought to disrupt satellite connections, locate terminals and punish users.

Nor can satellite internet come close to replacing Iran’s conventional internet infrastructure. Even if black-market prices fall substantially, the hardware will remain beyond the reach of many households.

But for journalists, activists, businesses and families who have lived through repeated internet shutdowns, Starlink increasingly serves as something different: a backup route to the outside world when Tehran cuts conventional connections.

The arrival of legal Starlink markets in Iraq and the UAE does not take Iran’s internet kill switch out of the government’s hands. But it could mean fewer doors close when the switch is thrown.