China, Russia urge Europe to halt UN snapback after Iran-IAEA deal

In response to an Iran International request for submissions at the start of the new school year, Iranians submitted audio, text and video messages describing their concerns.

A recurring theme was the so-called “voluntary support” or enrollment fees in public schools—charges that schools make a condition for school attendance.

“My son has straight A’s and was accepted into a NODET school with flying colors, but I can't afford 2 billion rials for his tuition,” one message said. “The Iranian government is stripping away our children’s right to education.”

Gifted students who pass the National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents (NODET) exams can technically apply for tuition waivers if they cannot cover the costs.

Since 2023, the government has also promised tuition-free education for disadvantaged students, covering registration and other expenses. But parents say the reality is far different.

Another parent reported that public schools refused to enroll their child unless tuition was fully paid. “Due to joblessness and financial pressure, I still haven’t been able to enroll my child,” they said.

Some families even shared their children’s transcripts, noting that despite top grades, schools demanded steep enrollment fees. “My child tops every grade, yet the school demands 140 million rials ($137),” one parent said. “This clearly predicts a brain drain for our gifted students.”

A family in Ahvaz described wide variations in preschool and high school fees. “For high school, they demanded 150 million rials ($148), and one school asked for 350 million rials ($346). For preschool, they required an initial 16 million rial form fee, then 80 million rials ($79) for enrollment, plus 23 million rials ($22) for stationery.”

Some parents highlighted new obstacles, including compulsory preschool attendance. “Preschool isn’t mandatory, but when registering my son for first grade, they said he must attend preschool for a month with payment. The principal said it’s enough to pay, even if he attends just one session,” one parent wrote.

Others reported coercive practices. “My son goes to a public school. In June, before receiving his report card, they demanded 25 million rials per student for the new year. Without payment, next year’s registration wouldn’t proceed, and they withheld the report card,” a parent said.

Islamic dress code for girls

Families with daughters also face higher costs due to mandatory uniforms that comply with Islamic dress codes.

“The uniform for girls costs about 10 million rials ($9), and we paid 130 million rials ($128) for school transportation. Additional fees are charged throughout the year,” another parent said.

University tuition has followed a similar trajectory, rising sharply in recent semesters. “In previous semesters, I paid 32 million rials ($31) for 19 units, but now they want 70 million rials ($69) for 20 units. In this economic situation, it’s nearly impossible,” one student said.

A student in Mashhad reported that tuition at Azad University had increased by at least 70% compared to the previous semester. “The academic year at Azad University began with a major shock.

Students faced heavy costs for course registration. In humanities and arts, tuition has risen three to five times,” said Samira Rahi, a journalist in Turkey. “Many students have had to take a leave of absence or drop out due to these costs.”

Globally, countries allocate about 5% of GDP to education. Iran spends just 2.93% (2023), compared with the global average of 4.4%, according to The Global Economy, an online data resource.

"I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months," Trump wrote on Truth Social, without elaborating.

"I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!"

Tsurkov, a PhD student at Princeton University in New Jersey and fellow at the New Lines Institute, disappeared in March 2023 while conducting research in Iraq.

Her sister Emma confirmed Tsurkov's release after 903 days in captivity and thanked the Trump administration.

No group among Iraq's kaleidoscope of armed militias had claimed responsibility for her disappearance. Israeli officials believed she was being held by Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shi’ite militia.

While the group has denied involvement, an Iraqi official had told Israel’s Channel 11 that she was first detained by Iraq’s intelligence service—or by individuals impersonating officers—before being transferred to the militia.

Kata’ib Hezbollah is one of several Iran-backed and funded armed groups which took part in Iraq's conflict against Islamic State militants but amassed power and influence by maintaining their arms after the fighting largely winded down.

While no official comment was made on the case by Tehran, an Iraqi security source told Iran International that among those considered for the exchange was Mohammadreza Nouri, a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.

Nouri was sentenced to life imprisonment in Iraq in September 2023 for orchestrating the murder of American citizen Stephen Troell in Baghdad in November 2022. It was not clear if he was ultimately released.

“By taxing the very assets people depend on for financial stability, the regime’s policies place an even greater burden on them,” it said in a statement posted on its Persian-language account on X Tuesday.

It said this decision "clearly demonstrates the regime’s disregard for the welfare of its citizens."

"Years of economic mismanagement and corruption have severely devalued Iran’s currency and forced many Iranians to rely on these assets as a hedge against inflation," the statement added.

The criticism comes as Iran introduced a new law making inflation partly taxable.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian formally signed the tax bill last month, after it was passed by parliament in late June.

The law targets capital gains on real estate, vehicles, gold, jewelry, silver, platinum, foreign currency and even cryptocurrencies. However, the law imposes tax not only on capital gains but also on half of the inflation-driven increases to asset prices.

Iran faces one of the highest inflation rates in the region. According to the International Monetary Fund's estimates, the annual inflation rate has averaged above 42% since 2020.

Since 2021, when the late-president Ebrahim Raisi took to power, the Iranian government’s tax revenues increased by over 300%.

Experts say inflation is one reason behind the increase in taxes, but argue that even after adjusting for inflation, the government should have raised taxation by at most 160%, not 326%.

The deal was reached following negotiations between Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi and the UN nuclear watchdog's chief Rafael Grossi in Cairo.

"In Cairo today, agreed with Iran's foreign minister Araghchi on practical modalities to resume inspection activities in Iran," Grossi said in a post on X.

"This is an important step in the right direction. Grateful to Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty for his commitment and engagement," he added.

In a press conference in Cairo, Araghchi said the two sides reached "an understanding on how to implement Iran’s Safeguards commitments in light of developments stemming from the unlawful attacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities."

"This agreement establishes a practical mechanism for cooperation that reflects both Iran’s exceptional security conditions and the Agency’s technical requirements. It also ensures that cooperation continues in a manner that respects Iran’s national sovereignty and fulfills the Agency’s verification requirements," Araghchi added.

However, he warned that "should any hostile action be taken against Iran — including the reinstatement of revoked UN Security Council resolutions — Iran will consider these agreed practical steps null and void."

Addressing the same press conference, Grossi described the agreement with Iran on resuming inspections as a "step in the right direction."

“This is a door we are opening and of course, there are many things that still need to happen, we have to implement it in good faith. Others around the world can help us and I am sure that they will do right that," he told reporters without giving further details.

Iran suspended all cooperation with the agency including international inspections after Israel and the United States attacked its nuclear facilities in June.

The resumption of IAEA inspections is seen as critical for verifying Iran’s compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and preventing further escalation.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, before moving to trigger the UN snapback sanctions mechanism on August 28, urged Iran to fully cooperate with the agency and engage in dialogue with the United States.

The Security Council must vote by late September on whether to make sanctions relief permanent. For the resolution to pass, it would need at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the five permanent members: the United States, Britain, France, Russia, and China.

The debate sharpened last week when President Masoud Pezeshkian took part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China.

While his usual detractors in the hardline camp hailed the trip as proof of Iran’s integration into a multipolar world order, some moderate backers warned the bloc’s loose structure and rival interests limits its usefulness in times of need.

Proponents of the Look East approach portray SCO membership as a political win.

“Strengthening Iran’s presence in the SCO and BRICS disrupts the US and West’s project of isolating Iran,” hardline daily Kayhan wrote in a Sunday editorial. “The clear message is that the more pressure increases, the deeper Iran’s ties with major non-Western powers will become.”

Nour News, linked to Iran’s security establishment, stressed that the trip coincided with Europe’s activation of the snapback sanctions mechanism and argued that membership helps Tehran build a “political consensus” against Western pressure.

The summit’s final communiqué denounced sanctions on Iran as unjust and condemned Israel’s military strike on Iranian soil.

But reformist voices highlight the bloc’s limitations. Sazandegi noted the SCO is neither NATO nor the EU, offers no security guarantees and has in the past refused Iran’s entry over UN sanctions

“The example of Russia, which after Western sanctions received little practical support from the SCO, reinforces this view,” the editorial argued.

Economic expectations

Economically, Look East advocates frame the policy as an antidote to sanctions and a gateway to new markets.

Pezeshkian used the summit to call for greater use of national currencies, shared digital financial systems, and a multilateral settlement fund.

Javan, the Revolutionary Guards-linked daily, argued that such mechanisms could reduce reliance on the Western financial system.

“The SCO provides a platform to reduce dependency on the Western financial system,” the paper wrote on Sunday.

The multilateral currency fund… can accelerate Iran’s digital economy growth, while linking Chabahar port to the North–South corridor will turn Iran into a trade crossroads between China, Russia and India.”

Critics counter that these ambitions face hard limits. Key SCO members including India and Central Asian states maintain close economic ties with the West and may hesitate to risk secondary sanctions.

Security expectations

While the SCO is not a military alliance, conservatives view its security framework and symbolism as central to Look East.

Javan said Pezeshkian’s presence alongside Chinese, Russian, and Indian leaders sent a deterrent message.

“The response (to any US-Israeli attack) will not only come from Tehran but also, by other means, from the Eastern bloc,” the daily asserted.

The same outlet pointed to prospects for cyber cooperation, artificial intelligence and advanced telecoms, arguing that Russian and Chinese technologies could help Iran close its sanctions-induced tech gap and support “the smart modernization of defense and the economy.”

The government's Iran newspaper acknowledged that expectations for Eastern alliances had been overblown in some circles.

"Some inside Iran had expected the (SCO) bloc to act as a genuine security shield for its members, not merely issue a formal statement of condemnation.

"Yet such expectations rest less on institutional realities than on romanticized notions and political myth-making," it added. "Over the past two decades, labels such as the 'Eastern NATO,' an 'anti-Western hegemonic alliance,' or even a 'new Warsaw Pact' have fueled these inflated perceptions within Iran’s political discourse."