Iran sees surge in Starlink access despite official ban

“The Islamic Republic… is in a serious pickle,” The Economist wrote in its Friday report.

Flooding the Persian Gulf with fruit and veg is one of its ways to pay for foreign goods it so desperately needs, added the outlet, saying “Iran now supplies nine out of ten cauliflowers, tomatoes and watermelons imported by the UAE.”

The trade relies on large state subsidies that make water, fertilizers and energy almost free.

Iran’s greenhouse cultivation has more than tripled in area since the early 2010s, supported by imported technology from countries including China and the Netherlands. Much of the equipment, The Economist wrote, originates from Israel—“a leader in the field”—though routed indirectly.

But this export boom is exacerbating water scarcity across Iran. With agriculture consuming over 90% of available water, and government support concentrated on export-focused farms, residents in cities like Tehran, Isfahan, Mashhad, and many others endure hours-long daily shutoffs. Officials have warned of a collapse of groundwater resources and irreversible environmental damage.

Across Iran, families are enduring days without running water. Many are stockpiling bottles, installing rooftop storage tanks, or relying on tanker deliveries—some of which provide unsafe supplies.

Satellite images obtained by Iran International show that Tehran’s main reservoirs—Amir Kabir, Lar, and Latyan—are at historic lows, holding less than 10% of their usable volume.

At the same time, the capital is physically sinking. Excessive extraction from depleted groundwater resources has caused sections of Tehran to subside by more than 25 centimeters per year.

Iran's produce in Sharjah port

The report by the Economist details how Iran’s produce reaches the UAE’s Sharjah port via small ships from Bandar Lengeh, south of the country.

From there, trailers carry shipments to Dubai’s Al Aweer market, the region’s largest wholesale food hub, where wholesalers blend Iranian goods with other imports or repackage them entirely.

Labels are swapped to hide origin—“We just put a sticker on the carton with a new origin: Azerbaijan, Turkey—anything but Iran,” one trader said.

The export trade operates through a parallel financial system. Formal banking channels are avoided due to US sanctions, so traders use the informal system to settle payments.

UAE-based middlemen collect dirhams from food buyers and channel them to Iranian exporters—often in exchange for vital machinery and appliances Tehran cannot otherwise import.

The Economist estimated the value of this clandestine export trade at $4bn to $5bn in 2024 alone.

Iran’s fruits often reach Persian Gulf supermarkets disguised and mispriced. Wholesalers inflate margins by mixing cheap Iranian tomatoes with Dutch imports and reselling the lot as premium goods.

“Instead of 4–5 dirhams, they sell the lot for 20–25 dirhams per kg,” said one insider. Some retail chains fly their staff business class and house them in luxury hotels—funded by “blended” produce profits, according to The Economist.

Despite occasional anti-dumping probes, Persian Gulf states appear to tolerate the flow. The report suggests some governments may see cheap Iranian food as a way to control inflation—or even preserve their own scarce groundwater by outsourcing farming to Iran.

But as water crisis deepens across Iran and key basins dry beyond recovery, Tehran’s strategy of exporting fruit may prove unsustainable. “However tempting,” The Economist warned, “bingeing on Iranian produce looks like a recipe for trouble.”

“Three of the Americans are in jail, and one has been barred from leaving the country,” the New York Times wrote, quoting individuals familiar with the detentions.

Hostage Aid Worldwide, a nonprofit that aids families of detainees, was quoted as saying it remains in contact with the detainees’ friends and relatives, and that all four had traveled to Iran from the United States to visit family.

Two of the four were arrested by security forces shortly after Israel’s attacks on Iran in June, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) and Hengaw, independent rights groups based outside the country.

The other two were arrested last year, the report said.

The detentions “are likely to increase the already tense political climate between Tehran and Washington after the United States joined Israel’s attack on Iran and bombarded and severely damaged three of its nuclear sites in June," the report added.

One is a 70-year-old Jewish man from New York, a father and grandfather who runs a jewelry business. Rights groups and the man’s colleagues and friends said he is being questioned over a past trip to Israel.

HRANA identified him as Yehuda Hekmati on July 28.

Another case involves a California woman previously held in Evin prison, whose whereabouts remain unclear after the prison was attacked by Israel and evacuated.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian British academic formerly imprisoned in Iran, confirmed the details, according to The New York Times.

A third Iranian American woman, initially detained in December 2024, is now out of prison but cannot leave the country, the report said. “She is currently out of prison, but her Iranian and American passports were confiscated."

Her US-based lawyer said that after the war, “the Iranian judiciary elevated her case and charged her with espionage.”

Reza Valizadeh, a US-Iranian journalist and former Radio Farda employee, was also arrested in October 2024 while visiting family and later sentenced to 10 years for “collaborating with a hostile government.”

Two Iranian officials told the Times that the New York man and California woman were detained as part of a crackdown on suspected operatives linked to Israel and the US.

The arrests come as President Masoud Pezeshkian has publicly urged members of the Iranian diaspora to return, saying he would coordinate with the intelligence and judiciary ministries to ease the process, according to local media.

“We have to create a framework so that Iranians living abroad can come to Iran without fear,” he said last week.

The United States on Friday advised citizens against traveling to Iran citing what it called escalating paranoia and an unprecedented crackdown on alleged spies and opponents following the 12-day war with Israel.

"The Iranian regime, following the 12-day war with Israel, is in the midst of unprecedented paranoia and a crackdown on spies and regime opponents," the State Department said in a post on its Persian X account USA Beh Farsi.

"Anyone considering travel to Iran should reconsider their decision. We repeat: US citizens should not travel to Iran!" the post reads.

The council’s formation was reported a day earlier by state media as part of what they called structural reforms to the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).

Tasnim News, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, said the body is intended to oversee national defense policies and streamline military decision-making.

The Defense Council already existed in the Islamic Republic's Constitution and is now being revived decades after it was active during the early years of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Mansour Haghighatpour, a politician close to Ali Khamenei's advisor Ali Larijani, told Eghtesad News on Saturday.

Tasnim wrote that the formation of the Defense Council has taken place within the framework of Article 176 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic, which allows the SNSC to establish “subsidiary councils such as the Defense Council and the National Security Council” in accordance with its responsibilities.

"The Council's objectives appear to be supporting the comprehensive strengthening of the country’s defense capabilities, as well as accelerating and improving the efficiency of decision-making in the defense sector," the Tasnim report said.

The council’s members will include the judiciary chief, parliament speaker, commanders of the IRGC and the army, the intelligence minister, the chief of the armed forces general staff, the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, and two Supreme Leader representatives at the SNSC, it added.

Fars News, another outlet linked to the Revolutionary Guards, said Friday the Defense Council is part of a wider reconfiguration of Iran’s security apparatus.

“With structural reforms in the Supreme National Security Council finalized, informed sources report the establishment of a new body called the ‘Defense Council’ — a strategic council tasked with overseeing national defense policies, whose structure is expected to be finalized soon,” it wrote.

The same report said Larijani is expected to be appointed as the new SNSC secretary, replacing Ali Akbar Ahmadian.

Larijani, a conservative heavyweight and close advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, would be tasked with “forward-driving and strategic missions that require overarching coordination and management,” according to Fars.

'Saving Islamic Republic from collapse'

The revival of the Defense Council is a positive development, Haghighatpour said on Saturday, adding that it would transform the General Staff of the Armed Forces into a coordinating body rather than a commanding one.

“If we face serious conflict and our forces are to enter the field—considering that the army and the Guards constitute a combined force, with two air forces, two ground forces, and two navies—all engaging together requires a central command,” he added.

“Command must have a designated deputy, ensuring we are not caught off guard at critical moments.”

The Tasnim report said that “given the new security challenges and the complexity of regional and global threats, the revival of the Defense Council could lead to greater agility and focus in the country’s defense decision-making.”

Iran International's senior analyst Morad Vaisi believes the formation of the Defense Council is not meant to defend the people or the country but "to defend the Islamic Republic and prevent its collapse.”

“The surprise in the 12-day war has shaken Khamenei’s confidence in the military commanders, and he is now seeking to build more institutions above the IRGC, army, and the General Staff of the Armed Forces," Vaisi said.

During the conflict with Iran in June, Israel's air force took control of Iranian airspace, delivering a significant blow to the country's air defenses, while Iran's armed forces responded with successive waves of missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory.

Israeli military officials say that 120 air defense systems were destroyed or disabled since the first wave of attacks—around a third of Iran’s pre-war total. Long-range systems, including Russian-supplied S-300s and Iran’s Bavar-373 batteries, were among those targeted.

“There are lots of people in Iran who would like regime change,” Lammy told The Guardian, in an interview published on Saturday. “But there are no guarantees that what would replace the current Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps would not be as bad or worse.”

“The US decision to bomb was not to topple Iran’s government,” he added.

Lammy emphasized that the decision over Iran’s political future “is for the Iranian people to determine,” and that his focus remains on preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

Nuclear concerns remain central

Lammy also said Iran has failed to justify its production of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a level far beyond what’s needed for civilian energy.

“Its leaders cannot explain to me, and I’ve had many conversations with them, why they need 60% enriched uranium,” he said, pointing out that enrichment in UK sites like Sellafield and Urenco does not exceed 6%.

He warned of a broader risk to the region: “We would be very suddenly handing over to our children and grandchildren a world that had many more nuclear weapons in it than it has today.”

Tehran denies talks aim at a deal

Lammy’s comments come amid renewed, but limited, diplomatic contacts between Iran and the so-called E3 — Britain, France and Germany. Tehran insists these are not formal negotiations.

“There are no talks aimed at reaching a deal with Europe at the moment,” Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told Russia’s Sputnik news agency. “These are exchanges of opinion.”

The discussions follow last week's meeting in Istanbul, the first such engagement since Israeli and US strikes on Iranian territory in June.

NPT threat underscores tensions

Iran International earlier this week reported that Tehran has warned it may withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the E3 moves to trigger snapback UN sanctions under Security Council Resolution 2231.

Tehran rejects the legal basis of such a move and accuses European states of aligning themselves with US and Israeli military actions.

Iran says diplomacy backed by Supreme Leader

A senior Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday that the recent talks have full backing from the country’s top leadership.

“What is happening now is certainly the decision of the ruling system,” said Abbas Golroo, a senior lawmaker and member of the national security and foreign policy committee. He called the decision to engage diplomatically “the right one.”

Golroo said talks could help reduce threats and stressed the need to keep close ties with Russia and China. “Our backing must allow the team to protect national interests and manage challenges in these delicate conditions,” he said.

“What is taking place now between Iran and the three European countries is an exchange of views on the nuclear issue, which has become highly complex,” Mohajerani told Russian state-owned news agency Sputnik.

She said Iran has never opposed dialogue with Europe but stressed that the current contacts do not amount to formal negotiations. “There are no talks aimed at reaching a deal with Europe at the moment,” she said. “These are exchanges of opinion.”

Talks follow high-level Istanbul meeting

Her comments follow last week’s meeting in Istanbul between Iranian officials and representatives from Britain, France and Germany, known collectively as the E3. The closed-door session marked the first formal nuclear discussions since Israeli and US strikes on Iranian territory in June.

Iran International earlier reported that Tehran had privately warned it may withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the E3 proceeds with reimposing UN sanctions under the snapback mechanism of Security Council Resolution 2231. The warning, conveyed by Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht Ravanchi, was described by diplomats as firm but not a declaration of intent to build nuclear weapons.

Tehran has rejected the legal basis of any E3 attempt to trigger sanctions, with foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei saying the three countries had “marginalized themselves” by aligning with the military action from Israel and the United States.

Lawmaker says talks approved by leadership

The current diplomatic activity was authorized by the ruling system, not initiated independently by diplomats, a senior Iranian lawmaker said on Saturday.

“What is happening now is certainly the decision of the ruling system,” Abbas Golroo, a member of the national security and foreign policy committee in parliament, told state media. “This decision to negotiate is the right one in my view.”

Golroo said recent talks could help reduce threats and widen diplomatic space for Iran, particularly as the country faces pressure over the possible reimposition of UN sanctions. He also stressed the importance of parallel diplomatic channels with China and Russia.

“Our backing must allow the team to protect national interests and manage challenges in these delicate conditions,” he said.