Iran says it downed, captured three US drones - IRGC outlet
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday that its forces downed three US drones near the Strait of Hormuz, the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported.
The IRGC said it destroyed an MQ-9 drone east of the Strait of Hormuz and brought down two US MQM-170 reconnaissance drones south of Qeshm Island.
It said the two MQM-170 drones were captured, bringing to four the number of US drones of this type seized by its forces.
The IRGC described the MQ-9 as the 55th drone of its type destroyed by Iranian forces.
There was no immediate confirmation from the US military.
Members of the People’s Fighters Front reportedly took control of a section of the Khash-Zahedan highway in southeastern Iran for several hours on Saturday, October 31, 2026, setting up checkpoints and stopping vehicles.
At least seven members of the Iran-backed Afghan Fatemiyoun militia were killed Monday when gunmen attacked a school being used as a military base in southeastern Iran, the Baluch rights organization Haalvsh reported.
Armed men riding two motorcycles attacked the Bir Sofla school in Bir village, in the Kahir district of Konarak County in Sistan and Baluchestan province, at approximately 4 p.m. local time, Haalvsh said.
The attackers opened fire on Fatemiyoun members stationed inside the building, killing at least seven and wounding several others, including two critically, according to the report.
Haalvsh said a car followed the motorcycles into the village as fighting continued. At least one assailant was killed and his body was removed by security forces, it reported. The wounded were transported by ambulance to hospitals in Chabahar and Iranshahr.
The Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Tasnim news agency offered a different account, reporting that an armed group it identified as Jaish al-Adl had attempted to attack army personnel in Konarak.
Tasnim said security forces killed one attacker and forced others to flee wounded. It did not report any deaths among the personnel targeted.
A car belonging to the Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan traffic police shows signs of gunshots.
Fatemiyoun is an Afghan Shiite militia operating under the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force. The conflict-monitoring organization ACLED, citing local sources, has reported its deployment at military and Basij facilities and checkpoints across the province.
Haalvsh previously reported that more than 20 Fatemiyoun members were killed or wounded during prolonged fighting in Taftan County on October 13. That casualty figure could not be independently verified.
A series of deadly attacks
Monday’s confrontation follows repeated attacks on security personnel and installations across the province.
On October 27, Haalvsh reported that armed assailants attacked a police support headquarters and Police Station 12 in Khash, triggering prolonged gunfire.
Earlier, on October 7, gunmen attacked police headquarters in Golshan County using explosives and rocket-propelled grenades. The following day, separate attacks targeted police personnel near Nosratabad and a vehicle carrying army personnel near Nikshahr.
On October 14, a commander of a women’s Basij unit and a police officer were killed in separate shootings in Mehrastan County, according to Tasnim.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, HRANA, documented at least 63 armed incidents across Sistan and Baluchestan and neighboring Kerman between March 31 and October 10, leaving at least 94 people dead and 33 wounded. Its tally covered armed attacks and security operations, with 18 incidents recorded during the final 18 days of that period.
Jaish al-Adl joined other Baluch armed factions in December 2025 to form the People’s Fighters Front, known by its Persian initials JMM. The coalition claimed six of the incidents documented by HRANA, while most remained unattributed or could not reliably be linked to a particular group.
ACLED separately recorded approximately 70 armed confrontations between armed groups and Iranian security forces in Sistan and Baluchestan during 2026 by early October, the highest annual figure in at least a decade.
Poverty and longstanding grievances
The violence has unfolded in a region marked by economic deprivation and grievances among its predominantly Sunni Baluch population.
In an August 2025 report, the International Crisis Group described Sistan and Baluchestan as Iran’s most deprived province by most measures, citing unemployment, poor infrastructure and unequal access to public services.
Drawing on Iranian official data, the organization reported that approximately 30% of provincial households experienced severe deprivation. Unemployment stood at 12.4% in 2023–2024, compared with 8.1% nationally.
Baluch activist and journalist Khalilullah Balochi previously told Iran International that economic deprivation, ethnic and religious discrimination and repression were central drivers of armed mobilization. He argued that militarization had deepened the grievances behind recruitment.
A woman passes by a banner depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump day after the country held a national election, in Jerusalem, October 28 , 2026.
Israel’s UN envoy denied that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was pressing Donald Trump to resume strikes on Iran and dismissed claims that a nuclear attack was under consideration, while mediators pursued a deal ahead of Tuesday’s US midterm elections.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu is not pressing President Trump. President Trump knows exactly what he wants to achieve and how he wants to achieve it,” Danny Danon told Al Arabiya English.
“Israel will collaborate with the United States. We will support the decision of the United States, but it is not us pressing anyone,” he added.
Danon’s remarks followed an Axios report Sunday, citing an Israeli and a US source, that Netanyahu was urging Trump to strike Iran immediately after the November 3 elections, while the US president preferred to allow negotiations to continue.
The Israeli source described the leaders’ Saturday phone call as “tough,” while the US source called it “direct.”
Trump confirmed Sunday that he had spoken with Netanyahu about Iran, describing their conversation as “a very good talk,” without providing further details.
Danon also rejected a claim by US commentator Tucker Carlson on X that a nuclear strike against Iran was being considered, calling the idea “delusional.”
“No one is even discussing it in the US, nor in Israel,” he said.
Washington weighs military options and diplomacy
Trump said Saturday that negotiations with Iran were “going fine” and that he was in no hurry to resume military action, although he said Washington still needed to target one or two sites, including the suspected underground nuclear complex at Pickaxe Mountain.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday that Trump had not decided whether to launch further strikes.
“He hasn’t made a decision,” Rubio told reporters in Atlanta, adding that Washington preferred to resolve the conflict peacefully.
Rubio said diplomatic contacts had remained active, often through intermediaries, and declined to set a deadline for negotiations.
Iran says diplomatic contacts remain active
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that consultations through mediators, including Qatar and Pakistan, remained intensive, after several days of talks with Qatari officials ended without a breakthrough.
“Everything depends on the political rationality of Washington,” Araghchi said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Araghchi said a revised proposal developed through mediation could allow the Strait of Hormuz to reopen within two days if Washington accepts Iran’s conditions.
Tehran’s earlier seven-day plan called for Washington to lift its blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen Iranian assets and waive sanctions on Iranian oil sales before negotiations resumed.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also said Monday that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei had granted the government “certain authorities” regarding peace talks with the United States, according to IRNA.
Pezeshkian said Iran would seek to resolve the conflict through dialogue, without specifying the scope of those powers.
An Iranian source cited by the Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Fars news agency said Monday that indirect communications with Washington had produced no breakthrough and that Tehran still insisted on its seven conditions for progress. Exchanging messages through intermediaries was routine, the source said.
Despite the diplomatic contacts, Danon said in his Monday interview that Israel remained prepared for military action regardless of uncertainty surrounding the formation of a new government following last week’s Israeli elections.
“The military is prepared, we are ready and if we will need to protect our people, we will do it,” he said.
A woman wears a gold necklace featuring Iran's Lion and Sun emblem
Iranian authorities have banned the display and sale of jewelry and coins bearing the Lion and Sun emblem or imagery associated with the country's former monarchy in the northeastern city of Mashhad, according to a notice issued by the city's gold traders' union.
The Mashhad Gold, Jewelry, Silver and Coin Dealers' Union said the order, issued on instructions from the police department responsible for supervising public establishments, covers bracelets, pendants, necklaces and commemorative coins featuring the symbols.
"Under instructions from the Department for Supervision of Public Establishments, the sale or display of any gold, silver or coins ... bearing images of the Pahlavi dynasty or the Lion and Sun is prohibited," the union said in a notice published on its Telegram channel.
It warned that any violations would be dealt with in accordance with regulations, without specifying the penalties.
Mashhad is home to the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth Shiite imam, and is the hometown of Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and his slain father and predecessor, Ali Khamenei.
Necklaces displayed on a hand, featuring Iran’s Lion and Sun emblem and portraits of Reza Shah Pahlavi and Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
The semi-official Mehr news agency and local media also reported the restriction, saying traders had been instructed to review their inventories and shop displays to comply with the order.
The ban comes amid signs of growing demand for jewelry, decorative artwork and other products featuring the Lion and Sun and Pahlavi-era symbols, according to accounts received by Iran International from cities across Iran and observations of social media posts.
The Lion and Sun, a centuries-old Iranian emblem that appeared on the country's national flag before the 1979 revolution, has become a prominent symbol of opposition to the Islamic Republic's theocratic rule.
A woman wears a gold pendants featuring Iran's Lion and Sun emblem, a historic national symbol that appeared on the country's flag before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Restrictions on historical and royal symbols
The Islamic Republic removed the Lion and Sun from Iran's flag and official insignia following the 1979 revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
Ruhollah Khomeini, the Islamic Republic's founding leader, denounced the Lion and Sun as a symbol of the former monarchy and called for its removal from government ministries and offices.
"The accursed Lion and Sun emblem should be removed from all ministries and offices," Khomeini said in a March 1979 speech in Qom, according to the official collection of his speeches. He also called for the removal of symbols associated with the former monarchy and their replacement with Islamic emblems.
In the decades since, the authorities have sought to promote an interpretation of Iranian history aligned with the Islamic Republic's ideology, while artists and intellectuals advocating secular and pre-Islamic aspects of the country's heritage have faced pressure and restrictions.
The restrictions have also extended to historical sites associated with Iran's pre-Islamic past, including the tomb of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the ancient Persian Achaemenid Empire who ruled in the sixth century BC.
On October 29, a date observed by many Iranians as Cyrus the Great Day, citizens reported security checkpoints and road closures blocking access to Pasargadae, the site of the ancient Persian king's tomb in southern Iran.
Iran International has previously documented similar restrictions in past years, when authorities prevented people from gathering at the tomb to commemorate Cyrus.
Protesters targeted over tattoos
The restrictions on jewelry come amid growing popularity of national and monarchist symbols, which have also become expressions of resistance through tattoos worn by Iranian protesters.
A September investigation by Iran International documented cases of security forces allegedly torturing and killing protesters bearing tattoos of the Lion and Sun, the Pahlavi crown and other symbols associated with Iran's national identity during January's nationwide crackdown.
Among those documented was Farid Ramezani, 29, who was shot by security forces in Tehran on January 8. An informed source said officers fired at a finger bearing a Pahlavi crown tattoo after he fell to the ground.
In another case, sources close to the family of Amirhossein Nobakht Pardasti, 21, said security forces cut into the tattooed area of his arm after he was wounded and detained during protests on January 8. When his family received his body, they said the skin bearing tattoos of Reza Shah and the imperial crown had been mutilated.
The investigation, based on accounts from protesters, tattoo artists, former political prisoners and relatives of those killed, documented how tattoos had become expressions of grief, identity and resistance, even as those bearing them faced violence and punishment.
Students attend a school assembly featuring military-themed posters and portraits in Iran.
Students across Iran have described tighter surveillance, restrictions on gatherings and pressure to participate in military and ideological activities, with some facing threats of expulsion or police referral, according to accounts received by Iran International.
The messages from schools in several cities describe compulsory displays of images of Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, increased classroom monitoring, enforcement of mandatory hijab rules and the presence of Basij forces.
Students at a school in Dezful were ordered to pose for photographs with two banners depicting Ali Khamenei, Iran's slain former ruler, and warned they could be expelled or referred to police if they refused, a student told Iran International.
In Marvdasht, education department officials visited a school on November 1 to inspect compliance with mandatory hijab rules, according to another student.
Students who failed to observe the dress code would be expelled, the school's principal warned, the student said.
A student in Tehran also described compulsory Quran recitations, saying school authorities had warned that those who refused would receive failing grades in core subjects.
Basij forces enter schools for military activities
Other accounts described the presence of Basij forces and plans for military exercises on school grounds.
Students at a school in Alborz province were informed that a missile launcher would be brought into the schoolyard and armed forces personnel would conduct a military drill, one student said.
In Lorestan province, students at a school for gifted children were taken to apro-establishment rally on October 28 without their parents being informed in advance, according to a family.
Iran International earlier reported that students in six provinces had faced pressure to participate in Jan-Fada (Self-Sacrifice), a system-backed initiative involving military training and mobilization activities. Some students were warned of expulsion or consequences for their parents if they refused to take part.
Basij members visiting another school instructed students to stay out of politics, according to a student who described the exchange.
"How can we stay out of politics when we have lost more than 40,000 brothers and sisters?" the student said in response.
Another citizen described seeing a group of students on the streets wearing camouflage uniforms and military-style scarves and carrying batons.
Military equipment and activities in schools have featured in earlier accounts received by Iran International.
Based on earlier reports, students at some schools had been given identification tags or instructed to obtain and wear them.
Other accounts described armed personnel and military vehicles entering schools and children receiving weapons training.
The Education Ministry's spokesperson denied reports of military identification tags being issued to students on October 23, saying school principals were not permitted to announce measures that could cause concern among families.
Schools increase surveillance and restrict gatherings
Surveillance cameras in classrooms at a public high school in Tehran's District 19 doubled on October 28, according to a student.
Previously, a single camera had been installed at the front of each classroom facing students. Another camera has since been added behind them, the student said.
In Gonbad-e Kavus, northern Iran, school officials prohibited students from gathering in groups of more than two, according to another account.
The restrictions follow similar measures documented in an earlier report, when students from several cities described classroom cameras, audio recording, searches of personal belongings and clothing inspections.
Another student described armed officers accompanying a school excursion to a park and repeatedly instructing high school girls to comply with hijab requirements and wear their headscarves properly.
Shahin Shokouhi, a University of Tehran sociology doctoral student who attempted self-immolation.
A University of Tehran doctoral student reportedly attempted self-immolation outside a university building after repeated disciplinary summonses and security pressure, the student-run Tehran-Daneshjoo channel said Sunday.
The channel identified him as Shahin Shokouhi, a sociology PhD candidate, and said the incident occurred around midday outside the Foolad building on 16 Azar Street. He was taken for medical treatment, but his condition remained unknown.
The account said Shokouhi had been repeatedly summoned before university disciplinary authorities and pressured by security agencies outside the campus.
The channel said he continued to face questioning and security pressure despite his injuries, and expressed concern that he could be detained or face legal proceedings before completing treatment.
Shokouhi had previously been detained during protests at the university on December 30, 2025. According to Scholars at Risk, he and four other students arrested that day were all released later the same day.
A growing record of pressure on students
The Foolad building had already appeared in student accounts of security pressure. In October, Tehran-Daneshjoo reported increased summonses to university security offices there, on 16 Azar Street.
Some students described threats and humiliation during questioning. The channel said Intelligence Ministry personnel attended certain meetings and confronted students with information about their private lives.
The pressure extends beyond summonses. In May, University of Tehran polymer engineering student Amir Mohammad Karimi received a two-semester suspension after a disciplinary hearing conducted in his absence while he was detained, according to Scholars at Risk.
The Center for Human Rights in Iran reported that seven students at Sharif University of Technology faced preliminary expulsion orders in June over social media activity and cases linked to the nation-wide January protests. Three students at Tehran's Khajeh Nasir University of Technology had two-semester suspensions upheld in July.
In February, Tehran-Daneshjoo, citing the newspaper Shargh, reported that at least 180 students at universities in Tehran had received disciplinary summonses by text message, while more than 60 others had been barred from campus through telephone notifications.
An April gathering in Mashhad offers another example. Security agents detained students who had met with a former teacher, according to the Middle East Studies Association. Four faced national security charges, including University of Tehran literature student Mohammad Parsa Golchin.
Ahmad Baledi was a 20-year-old Iranian who died after setting himself on fire in November 2025 during a confrontation with municipal authorities over the demolition of his family's food kiosk in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran.
An earlier tragedy in Ahvaz
In November 2025, Ahmad Baledi, a 20-year-old in Ahvaz, died after setting himself on fire during a confrontation over the demolition of his family's food kiosk. President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation, and local officials faced disciplinary and legal action.
His death recalled the Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi whose self-immolation in December 2010 preceded mass demonstrations that forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali from power.
Shokouhi’s condition remained unknown as of Sunday. Tehran-Daneshjoo said it had received no update from university authorities.
