Three border guards killed in attack in Iran’s restive southeast

Saeed Chalandari, CEO of Imam Khomeini Airport City, estimated that the newly imposed fee could generate up to twenty trillion rials (over 33 million dollars). Chalandari defended the move as a step towards implementing Iran's Seventh Development Plan, insisting that it is common practice in airports across the world.

The fee targets travelers over the age of two. Hormatollah Rafiei, head of the Association of Iranian Travel Agencies condemned the latest attempt at revenue generation, calling it “reaching into people’s pockets.” He accused the government of enabling "systematic extortion" in the travel industry, warning that this will only empower airlines and travel agencies to raise prices, further burdening Iranian travelers.

“This decision is opening the door to even more profiteering in the tourism sector,” Rafiei noted, pointing out that in addition to this new charge, Iranians are already paying departure taxes, airport fees, and inflated ticket prices.

100%

It is not the first time Iranians have been forced to contend with excessive travel fees as a pipeline of funds. In 2019, the Iranian Parliament imposed a departure tax meaning citizens would pay 5,200,000 rials ($9) for their first trip abroad, and between 7,800,000 ($13) and over ten million rials ($16) for subsequent trips. 

The government's defenders argue that these fees are necessary for development, with Chalandari comparing them to charges imposed in airports across Europe amid Iran’s crumbling infrastructure, inefficient bureaucracy, and rampant corruption.

Social media platforms have become the battleground for a public response. Many Iranians mockingly referred to the fee as "forced payment," highlighting the absurdity of funding "development" in a country where mismanagement has brought nearly all aspects of life to a standstill. One frustrated user on X remarked, “Who doesn’t know there’s no development?” Another sarcastically commented, "Soon enough, they’ll pass a law requiring everyone traveling abroad to bring gifts for parliament members."

The Iranian government’s attempt to draw parallels with practices at airports in countries like Turkey or Saudi Arabia rings hollow for many. "Exactly which development are they talking about?" asked one social media user, alluding to the country's lack of progress in providing basic services.

This new fee comes at a time when travel for most Iranians is already a luxury as inflation and unemployment skyrocket and the currency’s value continues to plummet. One in three Iranians now live below the poverty line, meaning many of those who travel are among the country's wealthy elite.

Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism recently reported that over 438,000 Iranians entered Turkey as tourists in the first two months of 2024, where they can enter visa free. According to GlobalData’s 2023 Travel & Tourism in Iran report, the most popular destinations for Iranians include Turkey, the UAE, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

But traveling abroad is increasingly unaffordable for tens of millions of Iranians, many of whom have taken to social media to call this €10 fee “the final straw” amid the worst economic times since the founding of the Islamic Republic.

Many in Iran's "reformist" camp have welcomed Hashemi’s letter but she has come under attack from other political groups who believe she is now advocating reformism despite her past statements that the Islamic Republic is incorrigible.

The debate between regime change and reformism is a key divide in Iranian politics. A shrinking group of loyal politicians and influential figures argue that the Islamic regime, under Ali Khamenei, can still be reformed. In contrast, a growing number of dissidents and younger people in Iran and abroad are calling for regime change.

Hashemi’s father who for decades was the second most powerful man in the Islamic Republic, and helped bring Ali Khamenei to power in 1989, allowed the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) to become an economic player in the country. Still, his daughter Faezeh is known for her critical remarks about Khamenei and the IRGC.

The prominent reformist politician, journalist, and former political prisoner Abbas Abdi is among those who have praised Hashemi in a Telegram post for “courage” to speak up about the problems she has described in her letter. Ahmad Zeidabadi, another reformist politician and journalist who sympathized with Hashemi, dubbed her “the voice of the really voiceless”.

Critics including photojournalist and former political prisoner Alieh Motalebzadeh have blasted Hashemi not only for the allegations she has made in her letter against her fellow political prisoners but also for the timing of the publication of her letter, days before the second anniversary of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests.

Motalebzadeh alleged in a tweet that Hashemi has intentionally portrayed other prisoners as “jailers” when “female political prisoners have risen against death sentences and double oppression of women and are paying its costs.”

“Ideological and cultural differences make life in prison difficult for everyone. Various factors are involved in creating tensions many of which are beyond the control of the prisoner and result from the pressures of prison and security bodies. We cannot ignore the main causes and accuse other prisoners in a one-sided manner,” she wrote in another post.

Hashemi released her letter earlier this week from the Women’s Ward of Tehran’s Evin Prison where political prisoners are usually held.

The former lawmaker turned activist who was arrested during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests is currently serving a three-year and seven-month sentence for propaganda against the regime and blasphemy with tens of other female political prisoners and activists including Nobel Peace Laureate Narges Mohammadi.

Hashemi has accused two groups, “leftists and monarchists”, of forming “pressure groups” and forcing their opinions on others. She has not named anyone in her letter, but many claim that her allegations are directed at Mohammadi and her supporters.

Neither Hashemi nor Mohammadi have yet commented on these speculations.

Hashemi has also drawn a parallel between the attitude and behavior of these fellow prisoners and the government in general throughout her long letter and accused them of exaggerating the difficulties of prison life.

Hashemi was among those who boycotted the recent presidential elections but claims that the “pressure groups” impeded eight others who were not boycotters from voting by blocking access to the ballot box taken to their ward.

In another letter from prison a year ago, Hashemi said Iranians had long moved past the reformists and voting for them in the March parliamentary elections. She also criticized the “absolute power of [the Supreme Leader] and dominance of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in all areas” among other things.

In March the US State Department’s Persian-language Instagram page had to restrict comments to a post that featured a photo of Faezeh Hashemi as part of its Women’s History Month tributes when an overwhelming number of negative comments were made to the post.

Hashemi has served nearly two years of her three-year and 7-month of her sentence and could be released from prison according to law. Her lawyer, Mohammad-Hossein Aghassi, told the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) Wednesday that the prosecutor has, nevertheless, refused to grant his client conditional release from prison.

Aghassi also said he and Hashemi’s brother, Mohsen Hashemi, will contact the authorities about the threat to her life in prison which she appears to be suggesting in her letter.

The Russian leader praised Iran’s Supreme Leader for boosting relations according to a readout of the meeting carried by Russian state media, two days after the United States and European allies hit Iran with new sanctions for alleged transfer of missiles to Russia.

Putin credited Ali Khamenei for expanding relations between the countries and thanked new president Masoud Pezeshkian for committing to closer relations with Russia.

Iran and Russia have deepened their ties in the years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, in which Russian forces have unleashed hundreds of Iranian drones on military and civilian targets.

Both countries are heavily sanctioned by the West and appear to be edging towards a “strategic partnership” pact mooted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this month.

Ahmadian was hosted on the sidelines of a meeting among top national security officials from BRICS countries ahead of the group’s 2024 summit in Kazan, Russia in October.

Pezeshkian is due to attend the summit and hold bilateral meetings with Putin in Moscow to sign the bilateral treaty, Iranianian media reports say.

Earlier this week, the US and the E3 (Britain, France, Germany) said they had evidence, which they did not immediately release publicly, that Iran had shipped missiles to Russia and sanctioned Iranian individuals and entities including state carrier Iran Air.

Iran and Russia have denied any missile shipments. Reports of an Iranian missile transfers are inaccurate, Kremlin's spokesperson Dimitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

Iran's foreign ministry on Thursday summoned the envoys of Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands to protest the sanctions according to Mizan, the news agency of Iran’s judiciary.

According to the station's statement, the Taliban's action, which began on September 5, is a blatant attempt to silence independent media and is a violation of international regulations.

The channel, a sister network of Iran International, called on the international community, human rights organizations, and media advocacy groups to condemn this violation of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) regulations and to hold the Taliban accountable for their unlawful actions.

Harun Najafizada, the Executive Editor of Afghanistan International, described the jamming as a desperate attempt to silence the voice of the Afghan people.

"The Taliban's jamming of our satellite signal is a desperate attempt to silence the voice of the Afghan people. It is a continuation of their systematic campaign to suppress independent media and deny Afghans access to vital information. The group fears a well-informed populace and seeks to maintain its grip on power through censorship, misinformation, and propaganda," Najafizada said.

Afghanistan International, headquartered in London and accessible via satellite, cable, and social media, has been a vital source of reliable, unbiased news for the Afghan public, particularly since the Taliban’s takeover.

In an interview with Iran International, Najafizada expanded on the Taliban's approach, explaining that "The Taliban, through censorship, misinformation, and threats to journalists, seeks to maintain its grip on power in Afghanistan, much like the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Emphasizing the severe consequences of the Taliban's pressure tactics, the news channel's executive noted a significant decline in press freedom in Afghanistan.

More than 10,000 Afghan journalists have reportedly fled or abandoned their positions, over half of the country's media outlets have been shut down, and those that remain are under Taliban control with strict content regulation. Consequently, Najafizada stated that any independent media striving to provide accurate information faces constant threats and intimidation.

The Islamist militant movement regained power in Afghanistan in 2021 following the chaotic withdrawal of US-led foreign forces, after a 20-year conflict.

Sources informed Afghanistan International that the orbital jamming is executed by sending disruptive signals from a ground station in Afghanistan back to the satellite, thus interfering with its broadcast.

This action marks the first instance of satellite jamming, specifically targeting the distribution of a TV channel in Afghanistan. “Such actions violate international regulations established by the ITU, which govern the fair and open use of communication satellites,” the statement added.

The station emphasized that the Taliban’s jamming also breaches international standards, reflecting the regime's increasing efforts to dismantle free expression and restrict Afghan citizens' access to accurate information.

The outlet stressed the need for concerted pressure to uphold the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and access to information in Afghanistan.

This incident follows a history of the Taliban's attempts to curb independent media. In May 2024, the Taliban warned journalists and experts against collaborating with Afghanistan International TV, marking the first instance they explicitly targeted a specific outlet.

A spokesman for the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Information and Culture accused the station of committing professional violations and crossing moral and legal boundaries. Furthermore, in April, the Taliban suspended two TV stations for allegedly failing to "consider national and Islamic values."

The target of the mission was believed to be an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) site responsible for the development of ballistic missiles and drones, as well as providing logistical support to Iran's terror proxies including Hezbollah, wrote the Times of Israel.

The operation saw a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted military sites in central Syria late Sunday, leaving at least 14 people dead and 43 others wounded. Fires erupted at several locations, with local Syrian media initially reporting that a scientific research center in Masyaf had been hit, a site long linked to the Syrian regime's manufacture of chemical weapons and precision missiles in collaboration with Iranian forces.

100%

The recent reports suggest that Israeli ground forces were involved for the first time in the operation. According to the opposition-affiliated Syria TV network, Israeli helicopters hovered above Syrian soil as special forces rappelled down ropes to the ground. Violent clashes reportedly ensued, leading to the deaths of several Syrian troops, and the capture of two to four Iranian personnel. On Thursday, IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency denied reports that any Iranians have been captured in Syria.

Channel 12 news cited researcher Eva J. Koulouriotis, who reported via Twitter that Israeli forces not only engaged in combat but successfully entered the facility, seizing critical equipment and documents.

Before retreating, they reportedly planted explosives, ensuring the complete destruction of the plant. Koulouriotis also stated that roads leading to the facility were targeted with airstrikes to prevent Syrian reinforcements from arriving in time.

In addition to the Iranian weapons facility, a Russian communications center was reportedly targeted during the operation. Al Hurra, a US-owned network, echoed the reports, noting the intensity of the strikes and the unusually high death toll.

The Masyaf region, located west of Hama, has long been associated with Iranian forces and pro-Iranian militias, and has been the site of numerous airstrikes attributed to Israel in recent years.

Home to the Scientific Studies and Research Center (CERS or SSRC), it is a facility Western officials believe is used to manufacture chemical weapons, including sarin gas. Syria has consistently denied the accusations.

100%

While the precise details of the raid remain unconfirmed and Israel has yet to comment on the reports, the operation aligns with Israel's ongoing strategy of targeting Iranian military infrastructure in Syria.

Israel has been vocal about its intent to prevent Iran from establishing a permanent military presence in Syria, and strikes on IRGC-linked sites are seen as part of this broader strategy.

The raid also underscores the growing complexity of the conflict in Syria, where multiple actors—including the Syrian regime, Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia—maintain overlapping interests and military assets.