Iran lawmaker warns Trump: ‘Strike once and we will keep hitting back’

Didban Iran website said branches in several banks were running out of banknotes on a daily basis, with customers arriving later in the working day sometimes unable to withdraw cash.

The report comes as inflation continues to erode purchasing power, and analysts have long said Iran’s chronic price rises have increased pressure for larger-denomination banknotes.

According to the Central Bank of Iran’s latest data, banknotes and coins held by the public rose by more than 23% in the first eight months of the current Iranian year, which began on March 21, 2025, compared with 0.8% growth over the same period a year earlier.

Iran’s largest widely circulating note is the 2,000,000-rial “Iran cheque” (about $1.22), which has steadily lost value in real terms.

The report added that the maximum daily cash withdrawal from ATMs has recently been set at 3,000,000 rials (about $1.83), a limit that has pushed more customers to visit branches in person to access larger sums.

The Central Bank has not publicly commented on the reported shortages or whether additional currency issuance is planned.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will visit Turkey on Friday for talks with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan on recent developments in Iran and tensions with the United States, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source told Reuters.

The visit comes after US President Donald Trump urged Iran to make a deal on its nuclear program and warned that any future US attack would be more severe, after sending what he described as an “armada” to the Middle East.

Turkey, a NATO member that shares a border with Iran, has said it opposes any foreign military intervention against its neighbor and has urged Washington to resolve its disputes with Tehran through dialogue.

The United States said it was deeply concerned by reports that a 19-year-old Iranian wrestling champion, Saleh Mohammadi, faces imminent execution, and urged Tehran to halt the sentence.

Iranian security forces arrested Mohammadi, a freestyle wrestler from the city of Qom, on Jan. 15.

“The United States is deeply concerned by reports about Saleh Mohammadi, a 19-year-old wrestling champion, who is facing imminent execution,” the US State Department’s Persian-language account said in a post on X.

It called on Iran to stop the execution of Mohammadi and others sentenced to death for seeking what it described as their basic rights, adding that Iran’s authorities were “killing the youth and destroying Iran’s future.”

US President Donald Trump is weighing options against Iran aimed at creating conditions for “regime change,” including targeted strikes on security forces and leaders, two US sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.

The sources said Trump wanted to inspire protesters after a crackdown crushed a nationwide protest movement earlier this month. Options under review included strikes on commanders and institutions Washington holds responsible for the violence, to give protesters confidence they could challenge the state, they said.

One source said advisers were also discussing a broader strike with lasting impact, possibly against Iran’s ballistic missile forces or nuclear enrichment facilities. Trump has not yet made a final decision, another source said.

Trump urged Iran last week to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear weapons, warning that any future US attack would be more severe than previous strikes, and describing US warships moving into the region as an “armada,” Reuters reported.

Lufthansa and its affiliated carriers said they will extend the cancellation of night flights to and from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport through Feb. 3 due to the situation in the Middle East.

The Lufthansa Group, which includes SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings, has been operating all Tel Aviv services as daytime flights since Jan. 15 and had planned to do so through Jan. 31 amid concerns over possible hostilities involving Iran.

The airline group said some canceled night flights would be rescheduled to daytime hours to ease travel for passengers, adding that flight crews would not remain overnight in Israel during the period.