How the Taliban tilted toward Iran during wartime tensions

More than half of all countries now fall into “difficult” or “very serious” categories, with the global average score at its lowest since the index began, the organization said.

“Iran remains near the bottom of the ranking, held back by the regime’s own repression and the US-Israeli war on its soil,” Reporters Without Borders wrote.

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Iran anchored in ‘very serious’ category

Iran ranked 177th out of 180 countries, placing it firmly in the “very serious” category on the global press freedom map, according to the index.

The map shows Iran shaded in the darkest category, alongside a group of countries where conditions for journalists are considered most restrictive.

The report links Iran’s position to longstanding constraints on media and the use of legal and security frameworks to prosecute journalists or limit reporting.

Press freedom has declined steadily worldwide, with less than 1% of the global population now living in countries classified as having a “good” environment for journalism.

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Russia and China shape restrictive landscape

Russia and China remain central to the global decline, both through domestic policies and the spread of their legal models abroad.

Russia ranked 172nd, with authorities using laws tied to extremism and national security to detain journalists and restrict independent reporting.

China ranked 178th and continues to hold more journalists in prison than any other country, with its censorship and legal frameworks increasingly replicated across the Asia-Pacific region.

Across that region, 21 of 32 countries are now classified as having “difficult” or “very serious” press freedom conditions.

Syria posts rare improvement

Syria recorded the sharpest improvement in the 2026 index, climbing 36 places following political changes after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in late 2025.

Despite that shift, the map visualization shows much of the Middle East and parts of Asia still dominated by darker shades, indicating persistent risks for journalists across the region.

Legal pressure drives global decline

The legal environment for journalism deteriorated in more than 60% of countries over the past year, reflecting wider use of national security laws and criminal charges against reporters.

These legal tools have become central to controlling information, often reinforced by economic pressure and political messaging against independent media.

The findings point to a global shift in how press freedom is constrained, with legal systems now playing a defining role in shaping access to information and the boundaries of public reporting.

In interviews with the reformist Shargh daily and the ILNA news agency, Nematollah Izadi, Iran’s first ambassador to the Russian Federation, openly criticized what he described as Russia’s inaction.

“Moscow will inevitably have to answer to history for this silence,” he told Shargh.

In comments to ILNA, Izadi said Russia had the capacity to do more and may even have been able to help prevent the war.

“Unfortunately, in my view, the Russians were not as active in this war as they should have been, even though they have—and had—the capacity to act and possibly even take measures to prevent the war,” he said.

Izadi suggested Moscow’s restrained response may have been shaped by self-interest. He cited higher oil revenues following the easing of US sanctions on Iran, the diversion of global attention from the war in Ukraine and the depletion of NATO military resources.

“It is unacceptable that a war of this scale occurs in Russia’s neighborhood, involving a country like Iran, and that the Russians, for whatever reason—even focusing on Ukraine, oil sales, or any other reason—show no reaction and do not support Tehran,” he said.

'Strategic partnership'

The remarks stand in contrast to official messaging in Tehran.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Russia this week and met President Vladimir Putin, describing ties between the two countries as “a strategic partnership at the highest level.”

He said the purpose of the trip was to exchange views on recent developments and reaffirm Tehran’s view of the relationship as strategic.

Putin said Moscow would do whatever it could to assist Iran and noted he had received a message from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei the previous week.

The Kremlin later said Putin had discussed the Iran ceasefire in a phone call with US President Donald Trump and supported extending it to allow room for negotiations.

Russia has officially condemned US and Israeli attacks on Iran as “unprovoked armed aggression” and “a betrayal of diplomacy.” But beyond rhetoric, Moscow has not provided direct military support such as weapons or air-defense systems, nor has it launched a major diplomatic initiative to resolve the crisis.

'Positive track record'

Western media and organizations including the Foundation for Defense of Democracies have claimed Russia may have provided Iran with satellite intelligence or access to captured US missile technology for reverse engineering.

Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, has denied any Russian military or intelligence assistance during the conflict.

Another dimension of Iran-Russia cooperation involves nuclear diplomacy. Rafael Grossi told the Associated Press that discussions have taken place with Russia and other parties on the possible removal of Iran’s highly enriched uranium from the country.

Russia has repeatedly offered to store Iran’s enriched uranium. Alexey Likhachev, head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation, described Russia as “the only country with a positive track record of cooperation with Iran” and said Moscow was ready to facilitate such a transfer, though Tehran has so far shown little interest.

That has sharpened questions in Iran over the practical limits of the relationship.

The S-400 question

Despite a 20-year strategic partnership agreement signed in 2025, the pact includes no mutual defense obligations in the event of an attack.

Meanwhile, promised military cooperation appears limited. A senior Revolutionary Guard official said in January 2025 that Iran had ordered Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, but no verified reports of their delivery have emerged.

Criticism of Russia has also spread on Iranian social media, particularly among users opposed to the Islamic Republic, with many mocking what they see as rhetorical support unaccompanied by meaningful action, such as the non-delivery of advanced systems like the S-400 or Su-35 jets.

For all the talk of strategic partnership, the recent war appears to have exposed the gap between Tehran’s expectations and Moscow’s priorities—fueling skepticism both among officials and across Iranian social media.

Taj and two accompanying individuals left the country at 10:05 p.m. Tuesday, suggesting he was allowed to land but was subsequently questioned by Canadian authorities before being sent back, a source familiar with the matter told Iran International.

The immigration ministry commented only after Taj’s departure, declining to name him, citing privacy laws, and stating that individuals linked to the IRGC are not welcome in Canada—despite having granted him special permission to enter.

His brief presence came after Iran International’s exclusive report revealed that Taj had been granted a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP), a special authorization that can override inadmissibility under Canadian law.

That report quickly drew political reaction in Ottawa.

Leo Housakos, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate of Canada, pressed the government on Tuesday over Taj’s entry, citing Iran International’s reporting.

“Your government can't seem to show the IRGC the door, but it can find a way to roll out the welcome mat and receive him. Leader, why is your government still unable or unwilling to enforce Canada's terrorism-related inadmissibility rules? What's the point of listing the IRGC if you're not serious about throwing him out of our country,” Housakos said.

Canada designated the IRGC as a terrorist entity in 2024, a move that allows authorities to freeze assets and can affect the admissibility of individuals with ties to the group.

Taj had been expected to travel to Vancouver to attend the FIFA Congress on April 30, hosted at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

A diaspora group had also planned a protest outside the venue, reflecting growing anger among Iranian-Canadians over the report of an Islamic Republic official with ties to the IRGC.

Taj began his career as an intelligence commander in the IRGC in Isfahan following the 1979 revolution, where IRGC intelligence units were tasked with monitoring internal dissent, including among Kurdish populations.

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His sudden departure now raises fresh questions—about how he was granted entry in the first place.

Many Canadians are questioning how someone deemed inadmissible under the country’s own terrorism-related laws could have been offered an exemption or special permission to enter at all.

Iran’s worsening economic crisis is drawing unusually blunt warnings from state media and establishment voices as war, inflation and shortages squeeze households and expose the limits of the government’s response.

The exchange rate for the US dollar surged again on Wednesday, April 29, climbing above 1.8 million rials.

That same day in downtown Tehran, a single fried egg cost one million rials and a hamburger five million—prices that bite hard in a city where minimum wage is just above 200 million rials a month.

“What is going on in this country, Mr. Pezeshkian?” state TV anchor Elmira Sharifi asked earlier this week, staring directly into the camera after reporting that many Iranians can no longer afford basic staples such as rice, sugar, cooking oil, fruit, dairy products and medicine.

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The exchange rate for the US dollar surged again on Wednesday, April 29, climbing above 1.8 million rials.

That same day in downtown Tehran, a single fried egg cost one million rials and a hamburger five million—prices that bite hard in a city where minimum wage is just above 200 million rials a month.

“What is going on in this country, Mr. Pezeshkian?” state TV anchor Elmira Sharifi asked earlier this week, staring directly into the camera after reporting that many Iranians can no longer afford basic staples such as rice, sugar, cooking oil, fruit, dairy products and medicine.

Had President Masoud Pezeshkian been watching, he might have been startled. State television rarely addresses officials so directly or publicly demands accountability. But he is no stranger to criticism. Calls for answers have become routine in the press and on social media.

His administration inherited a vast budget deficit, soaring inflation, high unemployment and widespread shortages. Those problems have worsened since he took office in 2024.

The war with the United States and Israel has deepened the crisis further, accelerating shortages, disrupting supply chains and giving officials a ready explanation for an economy already in freefall.

The government’s efforts to ease the burden have been criticized as too slow and too limited. Its latest initiative asks some supermarkets to offer goods on credit to customers unable to pay in cash.

Fars News, an outlet affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported Tuesday that the government had approved a plan allowing households receiving cash subsidies to buy goods on credit, with repayments deducted from future handouts if necessary.

The measure, it said, is intended to support livelihoods and offset the economic consequences of the war.

But the plan has obvious flaws. It applies only to supermarkets that volunteer to participate, and repayments must be made within two months. More importantly, the monthly subsidy itself—worth less than seven dollars per person—barely buys anything.

Iran tried something similar in the 1980s during the war with Iraq, when cooperatives linked to ministries and the armed forces allowed employees to buy goods on credit and repay through their salaries.

Combined with ration books and coupons for essentials sold well below market rates, the system was widely seen as more efficient and more trusted than today’s improvised measures.

The announcement of the new credit-shopping plan came the same day Ettela’at, one of Iran’s oldest newspapers, issued a stark warning.

“The outlook of the war is entirely uncertain, and officials must focus on people’s livelihoods,” the paper wrote.

It warned that surging prices for essential goods, combined with unemployment, labor-market stagnation and the collapse of large parts of the production and supply chain due to war damage, had created a severe crisis.

The nationwide internet shutdown has only made matters worse.

Ettela’at said the current ceasefire could hold, collapse into a limited maritime conflict or spiral into broader war. In any scenario, it wrote, ensuring the livelihood, education, healthcare, security, food, housing, transportation, utilities, communications and employment of nearly 90 million Iranians requires urgent planning and “round-the-clock management.”

The paper concluded with another warning: the government may soon need special economic programs for wartime conditions, and they must be implemented urgently.

Whether officials can move fast enough—or govern coherently enough—to avert deeper hardship is another question.