IRGC deputy commander Mostafa Izadi said Monday that Iran is strengthening its military capabilities across missiles, drones, cruise missiles, cyber systems, electronic warfare and air defenses, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran today is strengthening its capabilities in missiles, drones, cruise missiles, cyber systems, electronic warfare and air defense,” Izadi said.
He added that the “Islamic resistance front” remained active and that Yemeni fighters were continuing what he described as their confrontation with the enemy, according to the report.
An illustrative image of a fetus in an amniotic sac.
An informal market for frozen embryos appears to be emerging on Iranian social media and online marketplaces, where sellers are advertising them for cash outside the country’s donation system, local media reported on Monday.
One advertisement offered eight frozen embryos for one billion rials (about $4400), although it was unclear whether the price applied to each embryo or the entire group, Jahan-e Sanat newspaper reported on Monday.
Another seller advertised 18 frozen embryos and asked prospective buyers to suggest a price. Similar advertisements for embryos, eggs, sperm and surrogacy services have appeared on Instagram and Telegram.
The advertisements directed prospective buyers away from the original platform to continue discussions elsewhere, with little information about the people offering the embryos or how any transfer would take place.
Iranian law provides for donation, not direct sales
Iranian legislation passed in 2003 permits embryo donation to infertile married couples under specified conditions, with implementing regulations adopted the following year also covering frozen embryos.
Under those regulations, embryo donation is defined as the voluntary and free transfer of one or more embryos to authorized infertility treatment centers. Written consent from the couple providing the embryo is required, and transfers must take place through authorized specialist centers.
A newborn baby rests in a hospital neonatal care unit in Iran.
Prospective recipients must apply jointly as a married couple to a court and meet requirements covering infertility, legal capacity, health, drug use and Iranian citizenship.
The regulations therefore provide a formal route for donating frozen embryos but do not define them as commodities that can be sold directly between individuals.
Sociologist points to poverty and intermediaries
The online advertisements could reflect a combination of financial hardship among potential sellers and the desperation of couples struggling with infertility, sociologist Alireza Sharifi-Yazdi told Jahan-e Sanat.
“Behind this are a number of digital intermediaries who operate on Instagram, Telegram, and similar platforms and exploit the poverty and financial vulnerability of families, particularly women, as well as the desperation and confusion of infertile couples,” Sharifi-Yazdi said.
He distinguished regulated infertility treatment from an informal market in which intermediaries seek to profit from reproductive services.
Some infertile couples may turn to such channels after unsuccessful treatments including intrauterine insemination, or IUI, and in vitro fertilization, or IVF, he said.
Lengthy adoption procedures and the cost and waiting times associated with infertility treatment can also make unofficial alternatives appear easier, Sharifi-Yazdi added.
The financial circumstances of people offering embryos, he said, are another part of the picture, with worsening poverty potentially making them more susceptible to intermediaries seeking to profit from their situation.
Questions over oversight and identity
Sharifi-Yazdi also raised concerns about the possible consequences for children born following informal embryo transactions, including questions about their genetic parentage and legal status.
Modern DNA testing could allow children conceived through such arrangements to discover that the people raising them are not their genetic parents, potentially creating psychological and legal complications later in life, he argued.
Iran also lacks a transparent centralized national system through which people seeking to donate embryos without payment can readily register and navigate the legal process.
Iran’s economic crisis and rising currency costs are making essential safety equipment harder for coal mines to obtain, increasing risks for workers already operating in dangerous conditions, labor news agency ILNA reported on Monday.
Rising foreign exchange rates, sanctions and difficulties obtaining specialized equipment have become major challenges for the industry, where many mines still rely on traditional or semi-mechanized methods, said the report.
“There is an inverse relationship between the exchange rate and the provision of equipment; the more expensive foreign currency becomes, the less financial capacity employers have to provide safety,” Ebrahim Rahimian, executive secretary of the Tabas Workers’ House, told ILNA.
Many components used in mine monitoring and safety systems are imported and have no domestically produced alternatives, Rahimian said.
Employers, he added, still have options to obtain equipment if they prioritize worker safety, including raising the necessary funds to purchase imported products at market exchange rates.
Deadly record in Iran’s mines
Workplace accidents, according to ILNA, remain a persistent problem in Iran, with coal mines among the most dangerous workplaces because of the conditions involved in underground extraction.
A collapse at the Parvadeh Tabas Coal Company mine killed a worker on April 29 in one of the latest fatal accidents.
A methane explosion at a coal mine in Tabas killed 53 workers in September 2024, drawing renewed attention to safety standards in Iran’s mining industry.
The economic pressures affecting mine operators have intensified as the rial has lost value, making imported machinery and specialized equipment more expensive.
Sharp currency fluctuations have also complicated financial planning for businesses as Iran contends with sanctions and persistent inflation.
Underground mines need advanced monitoring
Coal miners working underground require more than personal protective equipment such as boots and gloves, Rahimian said.
Advanced systems, he added, are needed to continuously monitor gas concentrations and pressure in layers above underground workings, providing information directly connected to workers’ safety.
Workers at mining companies in Tabas, Kerman, Zarand and Jiroft continue to operate using traditional or semi-mechanized methods, with only one company providing an exception, according to Rahimian.
Training is another essential part of reducing the dangers workers face underground, particularly in preparing them to respond to emergencies, he said.
“Continuous training and retraining is the minimum right of the workforce and must not be stopped at any cost.”
The combination of aging mining practices, costly imported safety technology and mounting economic pressure has left workers exposed to hazards that previous deadly accidents have already demonstrated can carry severe consequences.
US President Donald Trump weighed military action, economic pressure and a possible deal with Iran, while Iranian leaders paired diplomatic overtures with warnings over the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.
Trump told Fox News he was in a “deciding mode” over Iran and expected “very big things” soon. The network described the options under consideration as military action, allowing economic pressure to continue or reaching an agreement.
“My question is, if and when, do I blow the entire nation up? They better behave,” Trump told Fox News.
Trump also said he would probably be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during the UN General Assembly, leaving diplomacy on the table despite his warnings.
Hormuz remains central
Iranian officials continued to present the Strait of Hormuz as a source of leverage. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf responded to a September 17 JPMorgan oil-market report that said the bank no longer had a baseline view for how the conflict would end.
“This endgame cannot be modeled. It will be opened, and Iran's hand is already on the lever,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.
JPMorgan said assumptions underlying its earlier outlook had been overtaken by events and that it could no longer confidently model an endgame.
“For the first time since the start of the Iran conflict, we don't have a baseline view. We simply don't know how to model the endgame,” the report said.
Pressure around the waterway was also visible in maritime traffic. US Central Command said its forces had redirected 109 commercial vessels to ensure compliance by September 20.
A separate maritime security update from the UKMTO-linked Joint Maritime Information Center recorded four tankers involved in attacks or suspicious activity near the Strait over the past week. Two cases were recorded on September 17 and another two on September 18.
The economic consequences remain significant for Persian Gulf producers. QatarEnergy chief executive Saad al-Kaabi said normal gas operations could resume within weeks of the Strait reopening, but warned that disruption to shipments of critical equipment could delay the country’s expansion plans.
Iran keeps diplomatic channel open
Iranian officials also emphasized their willingness to negotiate. President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran did not want war and considered conflict harmful to both the country and the wider world, but would not yield to force or intimidation.
“We do not want war and conflict and consider them harmful not only to the people of our country but to the world. At the same time, we will in no way yield to force and bullying,” Pezeshkian said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left for New York with a diplomatic delegation to attend the UN General Assembly, state media reported. Araghchi made a brief stop in Qatar before continuing to New York.
File photo of a steel production line at an industrial facility in Iran.
Iranian manufacturers are rapidly running down stocks of raw materials as supply disruptions and rising costs deepen pressure on industrial production, according to the latest survey by the Iran Chamber of Commerce.
The index measuring manufacturers’ raw material inventories fell to 39.3 in August from about 44.5 in July, while the Purchasing Managers’ Index for the overall economy dropped to 46.9, according to the survey. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
Continued depletion of raw material inventories, combined with weakness elsewhere in the supply chain, could become one of the “most serious constraints on industrial production growth” in the coming months, the Iran Chamber of Commerce warned.
War damage adds to supply pressure
Part of the shortage cannot be explained by restrictions on imports alone. Iran was a major producer and exporter of several affected products, including petrochemicals and steel, before the war.
Major petrochemical facilities in Asaluyeh and Mahshahr and the Mobarakeh Steel and Khuzestan Steel complexes were targeted during the war. Asaluyeh and Mahshahr together accounted for roughly three-quarters of Iran’s petrochemical production before the strikes.
Mobarakeh and Khuzestan Steel also sustained damage to production infrastructure.
The chamber attributed pressure on raw material stocks to limited access to foreign currency, difficulties with imports and customs clearance, goods being held at customs, logistical disruptions and higher procurement costs.
The oil and gas products sector recorded the lowest raw material inventory index at 23.3, followed by vehicles and related parts at 28.7. Rubber and plastics and the clothing and leather industries each recorded 32.2.
Workers on an automobile production line at a factory in Iran.
Only the food industry and the wood, paper and furniture sector recorded raw material inventory readings above 50.
Input costs climb
Manufacturers also reported a sharp rise in raw material costs, with the purchase-price index increasing to 88.2 in August from 80.4 in July.
The index exceeded 100 for oil and gas products, while machinery and household appliances and non-metallic mineral products recorded readings above 92. Raw material purchase-price indices were above 50 across every industrial sector surveyed.
Other major PMI components remained below 50, including output or service activity at 47.8, new customer orders at 47.5, suppliers’ delivery times at 48.6 and employment at 47.3. All deteriorated from July except employment, which was unchanged.
Consumer prices were more than 84% higher in August than a year earlier, while annual inflation stood at about 69%, according to the Statistical Center of Iran.
The sharp increase in manufacturers’ input costs adds to inflationary pressure on consumer prices. The Chamber warned that shrinking inventories could also reduce production capacity and disrupt or halt some production lines if current conditions persist.
Protesters gather on a street during anti-government demonstrations in Iran in January 2026.
A local network tied to state-backed cultural and media groups helped Iranian authorities identify protesters during the January crackdown, with footage passed to Revolutionary Guards intelligence, sources familiar with the operation told Iran International.
The network operated in Fariman in northeastern Iran. Sadegh Maloul, a local figure with a background in cultural and media activities connected to the Basij and Revolutionary Guards, coordinated teams that filmed protesters, according to the sources.
Images gathered by the network were sent to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Intelligence Organization in Fariman and Mashhad and used to identify people who had taken part in demonstrations and add evidence to security cases against them, the sources said.
Iran International’s investigation indicates that the process contributed to the arrest of 23 people.
Maloul has been identified as the head of the Basij Artists Center in Fariman and had previously collaborated with the IRGC’s public relations department.
Local media material reviewed by Iran International identifies him with the Fariman Basij Artists Center, while biographical information attributed to him described him as an “honorary reporter” cooperating with the IRGC’s public relations department.
These records link Maloul’s cultural and media activities to organizations affiliated with the Basij and IRGC.
From culture to surveillance
At the Basij Artists Center, Maloul organized members to produce cultural and media content aligned with the Islamic Republic’s messaging.
In late 2024 or early 2025, he called on young people he described as “soft-war officers” to produce films on subjects including Basij security activities, hijab and online activity.
The center’s performance and training programs also brought it into contact with teenagers and young adults interested in art and filmmaking.
Sadegh Maloul headed an informant network used for repression
During the January protests, the teams coordinated by Maloul recorded demonstrators, according to sources familiar with the operation.
The footage was subsequently transferred to IRGC intelligence offices in Fariman and Mashhad, where it was used to identify demonstrators and add evidence to security cases against them.
Iran International could not independently determine how many people took part in the filming teams or whether everyone involved in the cultural organizations knew how the material would later be used.
Crackdown across Razavi Khorasan
The operation unfolded during a wider crackdown across Razavi Khorasan, where protests spread to at least 20 counties in January.
Mashhad, the provincial capital, was a major center of protests, while Fariman also saw demonstrations and arrests.
Iran International has previously reported that security forces used live fire against protesters in several parts of Mashhad and restricted internet access and communications in areas where demonstrations were taking place.
The Fariman case indicates how surveillance may extend beyond formal security agencies into local cultural and media networks.
New role after protests
Several months after the January protests, Maloul became head of the Sadaqat charitable center.
His new role indicates that he continued to hold positions within organizations connected to the Islamic Republic’s institutional network after the crackdown.
The Fariman case offers a glimpse into a less visible part of Iran’s protest-control machinery: not only the forces deployed in the streets, but local networks capable of recording demonstrators, identifying them and passing information to security agencies after the crowds disperse.
