India and Pakistan condemn Iran’s attacks on UAE

The assessment suggests that while earlier strikes on key facilities set back Iran’s program by several months, more recent operations have not significantly extended that delay.

Officials said the program’s overall trajectory—measured in the time needed to accumulate sufficient material for a nuclear device—remains broadly intact.

The findings follow a series of strikes in June that President Donald Trump said had “obliterated” key elements of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. US officials now say the impact, while real, appears to have been more limited than such claims suggested.

A key constraint, officials said, is Iran’s remaining stockpile of highly enriched uranium, much of it believed to be stored in hardened or undisclosed locations beyond the reach of conventional strikes. That material, combined with surviving technical capacity, has limited the overall effect of recent attacks.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has previously assessed that Iran retains enough enriched material for multiple nuclear devices, though access for inspectors has been restricted in recent months.

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful and that it has never sought to develop weapons, though some voices inside the country have suggested since the June war that Tehran should reconsider its stance.

The latest intelligence underscores a gap between the scale of military activity and its effect on Iran’s core nuclear capabilities, even as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to escalate.

Trump has continued to frame the war’s central objective as preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, saying in recent days that Tehran “cannot have” one.

He has also repeatedly argued that Iran must agree to a new deal, saying any agreement he secures would be stronger than the 2015 accord reached under President Barack Obama.

Talks and exchanges of proposals in Islamabad have failed to bridge the gap between US demands and Tehran’s insistence on its right to uranium enrichment.

Officials cautioned that the situation remains fluid and that further military action, sabotage or covert operations could still affect the program’s trajectory. But for now, they said, the most recent strikes appear to have had only a limited additional impact.

The sources said Keyvani was executed on the morning of March 18 without his family being informed, and his body was buried on March 23 in Khavaran.

Keyvani’s family later tried to mark the unmarked gravesite by placing stones nearby, but authorities removed them to prevent the burial location from being identified, the sources told Iran International.

Khavaran, in southeast Tehran, is known as a burial site associated with executed political prisoners, including victims of Iran’s 1988 mass executions. Families of those buried there have long accused authorities of preventing them from marking graves or holding public mourning ceremonies.

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Sources said Keyvani had been arrested on June 16, 2025, in Kordan, a mountainous village in Alborz province, west of Tehran and near the city of Karaj.

One source said Keyvani had a strong interest in motorcycling, especially jumping with motorcycles, and was riding in Kordan on the day of his arrest.

The source said security agents confiscated his phone during the arrest and used landscape photos he had taken in the area as evidence in the case, alleging links to Mossad and opposition groups.

Iran's judiciary-linked Mizan news agency on March 18 announced that Keyvani had been executed after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court. Mizan alleged that Keyvani had passed “images and information of sensitive locations” to officers of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

At the time, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard expressed deep regret over the execution and said the Swedish government sympathized with Keyvani’s family in Sweden and Iran. She added that the legal proceedings leading up to the execution did not meet the standards of due process.

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Sources told Iran International that on the night before the execution, Keyvani was summoned via loudspeaker without prior notice and held in solitary confinement until morning.

After Keyvani's detention, his family had no information about his condition or whereabouts for around 40 days. He was held in solitary confinement for nearly eight months and was told he would be released if he accepted the charges and made a "forced confession," according to the sources.

According to forced confessions later published by Iranian state media, Keyvani said he had been forced into espionage because of financial need and residency issues.

But sources indicated to Iran International that he had lived in Sweden for around 10 years and did not face financial difficulties. The sources also described him as intelligent and fluent in six languages.

Keyvani was among the latest in a series of executions in Iran of people accused of espionage for Israel, a pattern that has intensified since the 12-day war in June 2025. The executions have continued during and after the 2026 US-led war.

Iran has one of the highest execution rates in the world and has long used the death penalty in national security cases, including allegations of spying.

Following the conflict, rights groups and international media have reported a sharp increase in arrests and executions on such charges.

“It’s either we’re looking at the real contours of an achievable deal soon, or he's going to bomb the hell out of them,” the official said.

The report said Trump wants pressure on Iran while keeping diplomatic channels open.

Trump’s envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are still exchanging proposals with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, it said, citing officials.

A senior US official said the two sides remain far apart.

“There are talks. There are offers. We don't like theirs. They don't like ours,” the official said.

One source described Trump’s Project Freedom to help guide stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz as “the beginning of a process that could lead to a confrontation with the Iranians.”

According to the United States Central Command, military support to Project Freedom will include guided-missile destroyers, drones, over 100 land and sea-based aircraft and 15,000 troops.

One consequence of the shutdown has been the emergence of short-term, urgent migration to countries such as Armenia and Turkey. Individuals whose businesses depend on global markets have been forced to temporarily leave the country to preserve their livelihoods.

A technology specialist currently in Yerevan told Iran International: “I spent all my savings from the past year to stay in Armenia for two months. This migration is not voluntary; if I cannot connect, all my foreign contracts will be canceled. Some of my friends even sold their wives’ gold or household items just to reach the internet and not lose their jobs.”

These forced migrations not only drive human capital out of the country but also impose heavy costs on families already under economic strain, especially as such options are only available to a limited number of people.

Three Iranian citizens working in internet-dependent businesses told Iran International they had traveled to Istanbul and rented a small home in a remote area to make use of the 90-day visa-free stay for work.

One of them, a programmer and father of two, said: “The only solution was to leave my wife and children behind so I could finish a project in these three months. That’s just to pay off debts from the past four or five months and cover part of the travel costs. Then we’ll see what happens next.”

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  Iranians denounce tiered internet plan as discriminatory and corrupt

He added that his wife had lost her job due to the internet disruption, saying thre temporary migration and separation from family was the only option available. “Despite all difficulties, my friends and I know that even being able to come to Turkey is not possible for everyone, and that adds to our sense of guilt.”

Security as justification; internet under control

Since February 28, coinciding with the start of military conflict, authorities have used “national security” as justification to restrict access for millions of people, without providing clear answers about the duration of the disruption, instead linking restoration to a return to “normal conditions.”

At the same time, inequality has extended into the digital sphere. While the majority are confined to the domestic network, a black market for “free internet” has emerged, with prices ranging from 5000,000 to 20 million rials per gigabyte ($2.5 to over $10). Average Iranian incomes have contracted to roughly $100–$150 per month due to severe inflation and currency devaluation.

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“White SIM cards”: privileged access

Alongside widespread restrictions, authorities have distributed tools known as “white SIM cards,” a term first used during the 2022 protests to describe unfiltered and unmonitored internet access for insiders.

Holders of these SIM cards, often linked to security institutions or state-affiliated media, are able to access global platforms and publish narratives aligned with official messaging.

In addition, services marketed as “Pro internet” have been offered to selected companies and individuals, effectively turning internet access into a state-controlled privilege.

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  Two months offline: Iran blackout drives losses, access splits

Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani confirmed the system on April 28, saying the service had been approved to maintain business connectivity during crisis conditions.

Economic and human toll

The consequences of the shutdown extend beyond statistics. Preliminary estimates from Iran’s Chamber of Commerce put daily losses at around $80 million, both directly and indirectly.

But the deeper impact is human. Disrupted communication, lost educational opportunities, and pressure on healthcare systems reliant on global data have all contributed to rising psychological strain.

Teenagers deprived of digital interaction and elderly individuals cut off from relatives abroad are living in what many describe as enforced isolation.

By formalizing unequal access to the internet, authorities have effectively restricted a basic right. As planes and buses carry workers and professionals across borders in search of connectivity, many inside Iran remain in digital darkness, facing the gradual erosion of their livelihoods and aspirations.

Born in 1997 in Urmia, he had been arrested on October 22, 2022 during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests.

The judiciary said Abdollahzadeh had been sentenced to death on charges of “corruption on earth” in connection with the killing of Abbas Fatemiyeh, described as a “volunteer force” member in Urmia.

Mizan, the judiciary’s media outlet, said the conviction was based on confessions, witness testimony, images and security reports, adding that the Supreme Court upheld the sentence.

He was executed after previously saying in a message from prison, “From the very first day of my arrest, they extracted confessions from me through torture and threats, all of which were false.”

Rights groups cite coercion concerns

Rights organizations also said the case relied on forced confessions obtained under pressure and lacked fair trial guarantees.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network said Abdollahzadeh was interrogated for 38 days without access to a lawyer or family contact and faced physical and psychological pressure.

The group added he denied the charges and requested mobile location data to challenge his presence at the scene.

Timeline and broader executions

Abdollahzadeh was arrested at his workplace during nationwide protests and later sentenced to death by a revolutionary court in Urmia in September 2024.

Rights groups reported he was moved to solitary confinement days before the execution following a dispute with a prison official.

The execution came after two other men were hanged in the same prison a day earlier on charges of spying for Israel, with rights groups raising concerns over fast-track proceedings and lack of due process.

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  Two more men hanged in Iran as authorities ramp up executions

UN human rights chief Volker Turk said this week that at least 21 people have been executed and more than 4,000 arrested on national security charges since the latest conflict in February, warning that rights in Iran continue to face severe restrictions.

"I am appalled that – on top of the already severe impacts of the conflict – the rights of the Iranian people continue to be stripped from them by the authorities, in harsh and brutal ways," Turk said.