Iran steps up crackdown on female singers

Mahmood Kolnegari, a PhD researcher at the University of Córdoba in Spain, discovered the insect in central Iran's mountainous region in 2022 according to a Monday report by Mongabay, an independent media organization reporting on nature.

Iranian researchers' work is often hindered by political oversight and travel restrictions while international sanctions limit scientists ability to work with peers abroad.

"Ecologists and naturalists ... need to be free to travel across these man-made boundaries," Kolnegari said, "to explore, to find species, and this is the first step of conservation."

Decades of sanctions have disrupted funding, hindered equipment procurement, and blocked access to international services. Domestically, the government's security focus restricts free inquiry, with censorship and political oversight prevalent.

The discovery of the mantis, detailed in a study published in February, marks the first recorded presence of the Sinaiella genus in Iran and Armenia, expanding its known range beyond the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt.

"Freedom is the essence of human life," Kolnegari said, explaining his choice of name. "Taxonomists require freedom to communicate, cooperate, and collaborate across geographic and political boundaries to correctly place species within the taxonomic tree of life."

The discovery involved an international team of scientists from Iran, Armenia, Germany, and Switzerland, demonstrating the potential for cross-border scientific partnerships despite political challenges.

"Good professional and personal relationships between scientists from all countries are especially important now, with so many wars and political divisions going on," said Evgeny Shcherbakov, a mantis expert from Lomonosov Moscow State University, who was involved in connecting the researchers.

Kolnegari found the new species, Sinaiella azadi, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran’s Markazi province at an elevation of 2,130 meters. The insect, characterized by dark back wings and a twig-like camouflage, exhibits a defensive behavior known as thanatosis, mimicking fallen vegetation when disturbed.

"I saw that slender, very tiny mantis, and I thought it couldn’t be here, because it is originally from the southern part of Asia," Kolnegari told Mongabay. "It is a ‘completely morphologically new type of mantis and completely different from other types of mantises known from central Iran."

The discovery also raises conservation concerns, as the mantis's habitat is outside protected areas and faces threats from livestock grazing and human development.

“When he was president last time, Iranian oil exports shrunk down to very modest levels. Biden didn’t remove those sanctions, but he stopped enforcing them," Chris Wright told Bloomberg on Monday.

“That enriched Iran. And now we’ve seen what’s happened with the Houthis, Hezbollah and Hamas. It’s been mayhem. So is President Trump looking to stop the mayhem and bring peace to the world? Absolutely. Can we afford the squeezing off of Iranian oil exports? Absolutely.”

The move would be part of Trump’s renewed "maximum pressure" campaign, aimed at cutting Iran’s oil exports to zero in a bid to force Tehran into talks over its nuclear program.

Last week, Reuters reported that the Trump administration is considering a plan to inspect Iranian oil tankers under an international accord designed to curb the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Washington has blacklisted more than two-thirds of the 150 vessels that transported Iranian crude last year.

More than half of the tankers sanctioned by the United States have ceased operations outside Chinese or Iranian terminals, an investigation by Iran International revealed last month.

US sanctions on tankers and companies involved in Iran's oil trade are slowing shipments to China but trade with one of Iran's most important allies continues in 'dark mode' in spite of maximum pressure, according to a Bloomberg report on Sunday.

In its annual threat assessment, SAPO highlighted Iran’s efforts to monitor and suppress opposition movements abroad, exploit vulnerabilities within the Iranian diaspora, and acquire sensitive technology to circumvent sanctions.

"Iran's primary objective is to secure and strengthen its regime, closely linked to protecting the country from perceived external threats and circumventing sanctions," SAPO's statement said.

"These priorities influence the security-threatening activities carried out by Iranian security and intelligence services against Sweden."

SAPO reported increased Iranian activities in Sweden over the past year, including efforts to pressure opposition figures and their families.

Iranian intelligence services have reportedly used criminal networks to conduct violent acts targeting Israeli interests and groups perceived as threats.

"The use of criminal actors is not new or unique to Iran but has occurred to a greater extent over the past year, with notably younger actors involved during 2024," SAPO added.

Sweden has also been a target for Iran’s attempts to acquire advanced technology and knowledge to bypass international sanctions. SAPO warned that Iran is actively seeking dual-use products, including those that could support its weapons programs.

"Iran is heavily focused on acquiring knowledge and products for the development of weapons of mass destruction or delivery systems," the report said. "This acquisition spans several industries. For instance, machinery intended for civilian use can also be employed in the development of such weapons."

The warning comes amid heightened tensions between Sweden and Iran. Last month, the Swedish government accused Tehran of using a Shiite Muslim mosque in Stockholm to spy on Sweden and the Iranian diaspora there.

"There is a tangible risk that the security situation can deteriorate further and that can occur in a way that is hard to predict," said Charlotte von Essen, head of the security police.

SAPO’s assessment underscores the growing threat posed by Iranian intelligence activities and foreign influence operations in Sweden, as authorities work to counter hybrid threats from hostile state actors which also include Russia and China.

Last year, the relationship between the two countries reached a diplomatic crisis forcing a prisoner swap of Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus and a second Swedish citizen, Saeed Azizi, for an Iranian convicted in Stockholm of committing war crimes over his part in 1988 mass executions in the Islamic Republic.

The company is identified as Kimia Part Sivan Company (KIPAS).

“KIPAS officials have conducted unmanned aerial vehicle flight tests for the IRGC-Quds Force and have provided technical assistance for IRGC-QF UAVs transferred to Iraq for use in IRGC-QF operations,” the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program said in its announcement on Monday.

The company has also sourced key drone components from foreign suppliers, according to US officials.

The IRGC has provided funding and weapons to groups outside Iran, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq. The US Treasury has linked the IRGC’s drone sales, including to Russia, to broader Iranian military financing.

In April, Washington sanctioned six senior KIPAS officials—Hasan Arambunezhad, Abolfazl Ramazanzadeh Moshkani, Mehdi Ghaffari Naghneh, Reza Nahar Dani, Abbas Sartaji, and Hadi Jamshidi Zavaraki—for acting on behalf of the IRGC-QF.

The Treasury had previously blacklisted KIPAS in 2021 for its role in supplying drones.

Under the sanctions, all assets linked to KIPAS and its designated officials within US jurisdiction are frozen. Financial institutions engaging with them could also face penalties.

The Trump administration listed the IRGC as a terrorist organization as part of his ‘maximum pressure’ after he withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018.

Last week, Rewards for Justice offered a reward of up to $20 million for information leading to the location, recovery, and return of Robert Levinson, who disappeared in Iran's Kish Island in March 2007.

The reward also included information "leading to the identification, location, arrest, or conviction of any person responsible for his disappearance."

Two Iranian intelligence officers (Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai) have been named by US authorities in connection to Levison's disappearance.

In 2020, the US treasury sanctioned Baseri and Khazai.

The trial in Manhattan federal court kicked off Monday with jury selection.

Federal prosecutors say Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps hired accused members of a Russian crime group Rafat Amirov and Polad Omarov to kill the US-based journalist and activist, who is a vocal critic of the Islamic Republic.

Both Amirov and Omarov have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder for hire and attempted murder in aid of racketeering. Lawyers for both men have said it was "inaccurate" to refer to them as members of the Russian mob, according to Reuters.

Court documents do not name Alinejad, but she has identified herself as the victim on social media.

As a witness due to take the stand, Alinejad said she has been barred from speaking about the trial. Alinejad who has been the voice for many victims of the Islamic Republic and their families is asking for the public to now be her voice.

"I am very nervous to see the potential killers who tried to kill me, to look them in their eyes," Alinejad posted to X on the eve of the trial, "I want you to be my voice."

The alleged plot became known in 2022 after Khalid Mehdiyev - an alleged co-conspirator of Amirov and Omarov - was arrested outside Alinejad's Brooklyn home with a loaded AK-47 rifle.

Home surveillance footage, which Alinejad posted to X, shows Mehdiyev lurking outside her home. Investigators found ammunition and an assault rifle in his vehicle.

Exposing Transnational Repression

The trial could reveal new details on how Washington's Mideast adversary tries to quash dissent abroad.

The two-week trial could reveal important details about alleged ties between Iran's government and criminal organizations. Iranian-American activists, including Alinejad, have been pushing Western authorities to identify and prioritize tackling what they describe as Tehran's transnational repression.

High-ranking IRGC brigadier general Ruhollah Bazghandi, who is a senior counterintelligence officer, is accused of being a key organizers of the assassination attempt according to an unsealed FBI incitement. It alleges Bazghandi hired Amirov, a citizen of Azerbaijan and Russia, who was living in Iran at the time to kill Alinejad.

Bazghandi was also charged but is not in US custody.

Alinejad is no stranger to threats. In 2021, the FBI thwarted an alleged kidnapping plot against Alinejad.

Since the alleged assassination plot was thwarted, Alinejad been under police protection, moving from safe house to safe house in New York City.

"I could have been dead. I could have been killed," Alinejad said in a video post on X just hours before the trial got underway.

"Finally, I will face the men hired by the Islamic Republic to kill me, right here in New York. Of course, it’s not easy. But it’s a big day. I’m deeply grateful to my new country, the United States of America, for trying to keep me safe from the government of my birth country, Iran," proclaimed Alinejad on social media.