An Iranian container ship was struck by an unidentified projectile, killing one crew member and injuring four, with Iran ruling out reopening the Strait of Hormuz despite plans for a new maritime corridor on Sunday.
The vessel was hit near Hengam Island, south of Qeshm Island, Qeshm Governor Hossein Amir-Teymouri told state-run IRNA. Ten crew members were aboard, he added.
One crew member, Jamshid Rajabi, was killed and four others injured. Iranian authorities have not identified the projectile or said who was responsible.
UK Maritime Trade Operations separately said a vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz had been struck by an unknown projectile. A fire broke out and local authorities assisted with the crew’s evacuation, UKMTO added.
Neither UKMTO nor Iranian authorities have confirmed that the reports concerned the same vessel.
Iran rules out reopening Hormuz
The attack came a day before a regional meeting in Oman on a proposed maritime route through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran will brief participating countries on an agreement with Oman and present maps of the proposed corridor, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.
“The agreement with the Sultanate of Oman does not in any way mean the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz,” Araghchi said.
Tehran would agree to reopen the waterway only if the United States returned to its commitments under the Islamabad memorandum, Araghchi added.
The strait has become a major front in the conflict, with the United States and Iran targeting vessels and disputing control over maritime traffic.
Meanwhile, hardline Iranian newspaper Kayhan called for a sharp expansion of retaliation against attacks on Iranian oil tankers, proposing that Tehran target multiple vessels for every Iranian tanker hit.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran must officially announce that, from now on, if one Iranian tanker is attacked, it will target all tankers in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman,” Kayhan wrote.
The newspaper, published under the supervision of supreme leader’s representative, argued that disabling large numbers of tankers could cause a global supply shortage and drive oil prices sharply higher.
Saudi-Houthi confrontation widens
Shipping risks have also increased on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, where Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they targeted Saudi military facilities with ballistic missiles and drones.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group struck weapons depots and command facilities at a Saudi base in the southern Sharurah region in response to Saudi military operations in Yemen.
Saudi authorities did not immediately confirm the attack.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian sought to distance Tehran from the confrontation.
“We are not at war with Saudi Arabia,” Pezeshkian said. “The Houthis have their own issues.”
His comments followed a drone strike on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, which Riyadh temporarily shut down. The route provides an alternative to shipping oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
Iraqi authorities said drones used in the pipeline strike were launched from Iraqi territory. Iraq subsequently seized 15 drone-launch platforms and pledged to prevent its territory from being used for attacks on neighboring countries, Al Arabiya reported.
The Houthi operations have raised the prospect of simultaneous disruption around the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb, two of the world's most important maritime energy routes.
Lawmakers raise nuclear withdrawal
Iranian politicians have meanwhile raised the possibility of withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty following a resolution by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors.
Leaving the treaty and reconsidering Iran’s nuclear doctrine were “entirely attainable and readily achievable,” parliament presiding board spokesperson Abbas Goudarzi said.
Such measures would “put the United States and its lackeys in their place,” Goudarzi added.
However, two members of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee said no legislation to withdraw from the NPT had been submitted to the panel.
Their accounts contradicted lawmaker Hosseinali Hajideligani, who earlier said several lawmakers had signed an expedited bill seeking withdrawal. Hajideligani has also called for tests needed to develop a nuclear weapon, arguing that Iran requires “atomic deterrence.”
A Foreign Ministry official separately said Iran had denied IAEA inspectors access to some nuclear sites following attacks by the United States and Israel.
Diplomacy continues at BRICS summit
Diplomatic contacts continued alongside the military and nuclear disputes, with Pezeshkian meeting Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash said the meeting reflected Abu Dhabi’s approach of combining deterrence with diplomacy.
“Neither can function properly without the other,” Gargash said. “Deterrence strengthens the credibility of diplomacy, while diplomacy succeeds when it begins from a position of parity and capability.”
Gargash also praised Pezeshkian’s approach during the crisis, describing his positions as “balanced and rational.”
Araghchi separately released images of conversations with the foreign ministers of Russia, China, Egypt, Indonesia and Kazakhstan at the summit, without providing details of what was discussed.
Monday’s talks in Oman will take place with the Strait of Hormuz still closed and no responsibility established for Sunday’s deadly strike, leaving the proposed maritime corridor facing an immediate test of whether ships can use it safely.
“The wheels of the economy in the margins and dilapidated parts of major cities have long fallen out of rhythm, giving way to a struggle for daily survival,” Iran’s labor-focused ILNA news agency wrote.
The report documented growing hardship in southern districts of the capital where shopkeepers said customers increasingly ask to postpone payment for groceries, meat, and even bread.
Many businesses can no longer afford to extend credit because the cost of replenishing their stock continues to rise, added ILNA. Signs asking customers not to request purchases on credit have increased in shops.
Bread becomes a purchase on credit
“You sell something today and its price goes up tomorrow. There is no money left to replenish the stock,” a supermarket owner told. “Many customers ask for credit, but I have to refuse. Many come in, ask the price and leave empty-handed.”
Bakeries are also receiving requests for bread on credit, according to ILNA, which described them as a final fallback for low-income households.
One baker said many customers have been unable to repay what they owe for bread, but that he continues extending credit because of their financial circumstances.
Butchers described a similar contraction in spending. “We get more requests for credit than you can imagine,” a butcher said. “I don’t want to send these poor people away empty-handed, but several times I sold on credit and the money never came back.”
Hundreds of people have also told Iran International that rapidly changing prices have made it difficult to plan even their near-term spending, with financial pressures increasingly affecting food, education, transportation and other routine expenses.
One person said 15 eggs and a small container of yogurt cost 5.5 million rials.
Iran’s basic monthly minimum wage for the current Iranian year is about 166 million rials, equivalent to roughly $70 at that exchange rate.
Another person said a brand of canned tuna had risen from 1.7 million rials to 2.5 million rials in a month. Within weeks, the price had climbed again to 2.9 million rials.
Education and transport costs bite
Education costs are also consuming a growing share of household income.
One person said a school bag now costs 20 million rials, equivalent to roughly 12% of the basic monthly minimum wage. Buying food for children to take to school and paying for English-language classes had also become increasingly difficult, the person said.
A 19-year-old earning 150 million rials, or about $64, a month questioned how he could continue his studies when tuition at Azad University in Kermanshah had reached 250 million rials, or about $106, per semester.
Everyday transportation costs are adding to household expenses. One person said a routine monthly service for a pickup truck on Friday cost 45 million rials, or about $19 – more than a quarter of the basic monthly minimum wage.
A retiree receiving the minimum pension said the rising cost of living had left him unable to meet the personal needs of his three daughters.
Residents queue for chicken scraps
The hardship becomes more visible in the southern neighbourhoods of the capital, where people searching garbage bins outside shops for leftover food has become a common sight, ILNA wrote.
Residents line up at one shop selling chicken carcasses and scraps, according to the report.
A dairy shop owner said prices had at least doubled over the past year while his sales had fallen to one-quarter of their previous level.
“Dairy sales have practically fallen to zero, while the shop’s electricity bill has gone from 4 million rials to 18 million rials,” the shopkeeper said. “Where am I supposed to get the money to pay it?”
“New goods arrive, but the previous stock still hasn’t sold and is left on our hands. Prices rise so quickly that customers cannot afford to buy,” the shopkeeper added.
Inflation tests household finances
Iran’s economy has faced years of high inflation and currency depreciation alongside international sanctions, restrictions on trade and finance, corruption and economic mismanagement.
The rial has continued to lose value, increasing the cost of imported goods and adding to the pressure on households whose incomes have failed to keep pace with prices.
The economic pressure is increasingly testing Iran’s ability to withstand financial and trade restrictions, analyst Mohsen Modir-Shanechi told Iran International.
“Countries subjected to this kind of severe economic encirclement gradually but continuously become weaker,” Modir-Shanechi said. “It reaches a point where the country’s political and economic institutions begin to come apart from within.”
Modir-Shanechi said Washington was relying heavily on financial and trade restrictions to constrain the Islamic Republic, comparing the approach with economic pressure previously applied against the Soviet Union, Iraq, Yugoslavia, Cuba and Venezuela.
Inflation is a key measure of Iran’s ability to withstand such pressure, Modir-Shanechi said, pointing to sharp price increases experienced by other economies subjected to prolonged financial and trade restrictions.
Annual tuition at some private and international schools in the affluent districts starts at around 4 billion rials ($1,710) and can reach 10 billion rials ($4,275), Tabnak reported.
Iran’s monthly base wage for workers is 166.25 million rials ($71) this year, meaning the highest annual tuition is equivalent to about five years of base wages.
The schools advertise landscaped grounds, educational play areas, smart classrooms, therapy sessions, dedicated servers, swimming pools, music, sports and instruction in several foreign languages, according to the report.
Some decline to disclose their fees over the telephone, telling prospective parents they must visit in person.
One parent wrote online that his daughter's 10th-grade school charged 5.6 billion rials ($2,395) in tuition and another 1.35 billion rials ($577) for transportation, bringing the annual bill to nearly 7 billion rials ($2,990) before additional expenses.
The parent said the tuition had increased by 2 billion rials ($855) in a year, while transportation costs had risen 40%.
Some schools also seek foreign passports or citizenship as a condition of admission, Tabnak reported. At one primary school examined by the outlet, a second-grade class had just four pupils, with girls and boys studying together and separated only for swimming lessons, according to the school manager. Schools in Iran generally educate girls and boys separately.
Three notebooks for the school year
Messages sent to Iran International by students and parents show a markedly different experience as families prepare for the new academic year.
An 11th-grade student said the family had not bought a new uniform, school bag, shoes or most stationery.
“I didn’t buy a new uniform that fits me, a new bag, shoes or even stationery,” the student told Iran International. “I only bought three notebooks, and even those came to nearly 4 million rials. That’s it. With things the way they are, I’m too embarrassed to ask my parents for more.”
A father in Saqqez, Kordestan province, said his daughter would return to school with a backpack she had already used for three years.
“I couldn’t buy my daughter a school uniform this year,” the father told Iran International. “Her backpack is from three years ago. This year she bought two pens, correction fluid and one notebook.”
A 12-year-old girl in Ahvaz said her family could not afford the stationery she needed.
“I am a 12-year-old girl and we don’t have money for stationery,” she told Iran International. “Today, I went shopping and an ordinary pack of 12 colored pencils was 3.5 million rials.”
Getting into school brings another bill
The financial burden extends beyond stationery and clothing, according to other messages sent to Iran International.
One parent said his daughter had gained admission to a selective school, but registration cost more than 210 million rials, with another 300 million rials requested as an initial payment for transportation.
“Now I don’t know whether I should thank my child for studying and getting accepted or be upset because of costs I can’t afford,” the parent told Iran International.
A 12th-grade student said supplementary study books cost close to 20 million rials apiece.
“If I calculate all of them together, it comes to around 80 million to 100 million rials, and I really feel too embarrassed to ask my father for anything else,” the student told Iran International.
Another parent said the price of entrance-exam preparation books increased substantially between ordering and collection.
The family was initially asked to pay 90 million rials, but a month later the seller requested another 40 million rials because the books had become more expensive, taking the total to 130 million rials.
“Prices in Iran now go up by the second, and we are being crushed under high prices and inflation,” another citizen told Iran International.
Basic school costs multiply
The messages correspond with broader reports showing sharp increases in the cost of preparing a child for school.
A basic basket of supplies for a primary-school student has reached 150 million rials in some estimates, compared with around 38.5 million rials last year, local media reported earlier this month.
Twelve notebooks that cost around 3.5 million rials last year now cost approximately 15 million rials, according to the report.
One stationery shopkeeper told Shargh daily that customers were increasingly choosing cheaper products over quality.
“People aren't paying much attention to quality this year,” the shopkeeper said.
