Iran

The International Atomic Energy Agency wants to fully reengage with Iran to restore access to its nuclear sites and verify the country’s enrichment activities, Director General Rafael Grossi said on Tuesday, after the UN watchdog’s board censured Tehran for restricting access.

Iran has appointed Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari as deputy commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, a top joint operational command that plans and coordinates the country’s armed forces, Iranian media reported on Monday.

US President Donald Trump has asked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to manage a channel aimed at opening dialogue between Washington and Tehran as the kingdom seeks to avert further regional escalation, the Lebanese newspaper al-Akhbar reported on Tuesday.

A blaze which had devastated a unique forest ecosystem in northern Iran has been brought under control after weeks of firefighting efforts, an environmental official said on Tuesday.

Indonesia announced it will auction the seized Iranian tanker MT Arman 114 and its 1.245 million barrels of crude oil starting December 2, with a reserve price of Rp 1.174 trillion ($70 million) through the government’s online auction platform.

Several pro-government social media activists in Iran issued public apologies after a new transparency feature on X revealed that their accounts had been granted unrestricted internet access, a privilege reserved for only a select few by the authorities.

Worsted in war and sapped by sanctions, the Islamic Republic remains determined to quash with deadly force any domestic move to topple it, former CIA case officer Reuel Marc Gerecht told Iran International.

The first Iranian Film Festival in Israel opened on Sunday in Sderot, a southern Israeli city attacked by Iran-backed Hamas militants on Oct. 7 2023, which organizers say will promote cultural dialogue between the peoples of the two nominal enemies.

A hardline Iranian lawmaker on Monday cited months-old comments by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev as a sign Moscow might be prepared to provide Iran with nuclear weapons.

Iran’s latest spell of heavy air pollution is disrupting daily life and raising health fears, with school closures in some provinces and residents reporting acute respiratory symptoms as smog blankets cities and even smaller towns.

A new transparency feature on X showed that a coordinated cluster of Scottish pro-independence personas was operated from inside Iran, according to findings published by the UK Defense Journal.

A recent update on X that shows the country where users are based has ignited a backlash in Iran and revived accusations that some public figures have unfettered access to the internet while it is censored for many.

Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, called for direct confrontation with Israel on Sunday after Hezbollah said a senior commander and four other members were killed in an Israeli strike near Beirut.

A group of prisoners in Iran alleged that a coordinated network trafficking narcotics and other illicit goods has operated for years across multiple detention facilities, according to a report they released on Sunday.

President Masoud Pezeshkian sent a letter via Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to President Donald Trump with the permission of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei offering to revive nuclear talks, a former Iranian lawmaker said after Tehran denied seeking Riyadh’s mediation.

A fire that has been burning for almost three weeks in northern Iran’s UNESCO-listed forests has triggered growing criticism of officials for what many describe as indifference, incompetence and a failure to prioritize an escalating environmental disaster.

Iran has started burning mazut, a heavy fuel oil, at several power plants despite worsening air pollution, Fars News reported on Sunday, signalling a renewed reliance on high-sulphur feedstock as winter demand rises and smog intensifies.

An investigation by the reformist daily Shargh found that a licensed Iranian matchmaking platform lets parents sign up children as young as 13 for marriage, with no age filters or meaningful safeguards in place.