US sanctions Iran's oil minister, upping ante in standoff

According to Der Standard’s report citing business documents, the company Blue River Holding GmbH also pursued a plan to export luxury cars to Iran.

“The documents obtained indicate that (Ramin) Mirfakhrai acts or acted as a confidant of a clique of Viennese citizens of Iranian descent. He likely maintains extremely close ties to the internationally isolated Iranian regime,” wrote Der Standard.

Contacted by Der Standard, Mirfakhrai denied any wrongdoing.

“I have not conducted or been involved in any legally or morally questionable transactions,” he said. Mirfakhrai acknowledged he had worked for Blue River in the past but said he no longer has ties to the company.

Mirfakhrai first gained public attention in 2019 as the initiator of the so-called Ibiza video, a secretly recorded meeting on the Spanish resort island which allegedly exposed corruption within the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), leading to the downfall of Austria's coalition government.

His commissioning of the covert filming, Mirfakhrai said at the time, was a civic gesture aimed at exposing abuses of power.

Der Standard's investigation suggested that at the same time Mirfakhrai was involved in business dealings with individuals connected to Iran’s economic and political establishment.

One of these ventures was Blue River Holding, which held a license from Spar International, based in Amsterdam, to operate Spar supermarkets in Iran.

The company is also suspected of facilitating visa access for high-ranking Iranian officials and exploring ways to set up a payment system between Iran and Europe that could circumvent international sanctions.

Documents reviewed by Der Standard show that in 2021, Blue River sought a €10 million loan to fund its Iran-related projects.

A controversial luxury car deal

In late 2021, Blue River attempted another project—this time involving the export of luxury cars to Iran.

The company sought to establish a business partnership between Bentley and the Iranian conglomerate Zar Group, a Tehran-based company best known for food production but increasingly expanding into other sectors.

Zar Group's CEO, Morteza Soltani, has been publicly associated with Iran’s leadership, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. His son, Arash Soltani, was honored by the Basij militia, a paramilitary force linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as a so-called Top Jihad Manager in late 2023.

Officials insist no national security contract has been signed with Elon Musk's company while the trial is piloted in four countries known for limiting internet freedom.

“Some experiments with Starlink satellite systems were started at diplomatic offices in Burkina Faso, Bangladesh, Lebanon, and Iran, which were therefore equipped with Starlink antennas, although none are active to date," Luca Ciriani, Italy’s Minister for Parliamentary Relations, was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Ciriani clarified that the antennas were installed purely for testing purposes. "The procedure is that the antennas are activated only to test their functioning and are then suspended with the aim of reactivating them only when necessary," he said.

Italy's government is seeking encrypted communication solutions for officials operating in high-risk areas.

Starlink, operated by Musk’s SpaceX, is one of the companies under consideration. However, opposition parties have raised concerns about the involvement of Musk, citing his close political ties to US President Donald Trump.

Ciriani pushed back against security concerns, stressing that the antennas would not be used for classified communications. He also underscored that the installations were arranged through third-party companies. "There has been no entrustment of the country's critical infrastructure to Starlink," he said.

Starlink's role in Iran has grown significantly over recent years. The number of its users in the country has now surpassed 100,000, according to Pouya Pirhosseinlou, head of the Internet and Infrastructure Committee at Iran’s E-Commerce Association.

"Over 30,000 unique users are utilizing satellite internet, suggesting that the total number of satellite internet users exceeds 100,000," Pirhosseinlou told Iran's ILNA news agency earlier this year.

Starlink gained prominence in Iran following the 2022 "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests, which erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. The Iranian government responded with internet blackouts and widespread censorship, prompting citizens to turn to satellite services like Starlink and virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass restrictions.

Despite being officially prohibited in Iran, Starlink’s appeal lies in its unrestricted access and high-speed service—an alternative to the heavily filtered and controlled local internet where Iran ranks among the world's lowest for internet freedom, according to Freedom House.

The US government’s 2022 decision to lift certain restrictions allowed SpaceX to provide Starlink access in Iran, offering a lifeline for digital freedom.

However, the service has also faced backlash from Iranian authorities who argue that its high costs drain foreign currency and undermine domestic internet infrastructure. The government has even lobbied the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to restrict Starlink's coverage over Iran.

The meeting, held on Wednesday, was criticized by Iran as an "abuse of Security Council mechanisms."

The summons was issued by Mohammad Hassan-Nejad Pirkouhi, Director-General for Peace and International Security at Iran's Foreign Ministry.

During the meeting, Pirkouhi cited the "irresponsible and provocative" actions of the three European countries, emphasizing that Iran's peaceful nuclear program complies with its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and does not violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He criticized the closed UN Security Council session as lacking legal and technical justification, labeling it as a politically motivated move influenced by the US's unilateral policies.

The summons comes amid rising tensions after the United States called on the UN Security Council to confront Iran over its nuclear program, accusing Tehran of violating IAEA safeguards and defying the Council.

The closed-door meeting was called by six of the council's 15 members - the US, France, Greece, Panama, South Korea and Britain.

Additionally, the United Kingdom has signaled its readiness to trigger the snapback mechanism—a process to reinstate UN sanctions if Iran does not curb its uranium enrichment.

Concerns were amplified following the February IAEA report which revealed that Iran had accumulated 275 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a level far exceeding civilian needs.

With the UN's sanctions relief from the 2015 nuclear deal set to expire in October, European powers have indicated that they may resort to the snapback mechanism if diplomacy fails to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear capabilities.

The arrests, announced on February 25 by the head of Iran’s Public Security Police Majid Feyz Jafari, were carried out in coordination with the judiciary in response to what officials describe as a growing phenomenon of anonymous meet-ups facilitated through digital platforms.

"Given the rising popularity of blind dates in online spaces, this action follows numerous family complaints and intelligence monitoring," Jafari said.

Iran has faced criticism from rights groups over its sweeping internet restrictions, which have led many citizens to rely on virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass censorship and access blocked platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram.

The issue resurfaced on Wednesday when judiciary spokesperson Asghar Jahangir revealed that a criminal case had been opened against those it had detained.

"The main defendant remains in custody, while four others are held due to an inability to post bail. The primary charge involves encouraging corruption and inciting individuals to immoral acts," Jahangir said at a press conference.

Social life via social media

While the authorities frame blind date programs as a moral threat, the concept itself is neither new nor exclusive to Iran. In Iran, such interactions were once mediated through family or traditional matchmakers, but digital platforms have reshaped how young people connect.

Sociologist Aliyeh Shekarbeigi argues that the response of Iranian authorities reflects a broader gap between official policies and evolving social norms.

"Iranian society consists of both formal and informal structures. The formal structure, represented by government policies lags behind the realities of how people live and interact," she told Sharq daily.

Public backlash and concerns over restrictions

Critics of the crackdown see it as part of a broader attempt to control digital spaces. The Iranian government has long imposed restrictions on internet use, blocking platforms such as YouTube and Twitter while tightly monitoring domestic social media activity.

Shekarbigi warns that suppressing digital spaces for communication could have unintended consequences. "If authorities attempt to silence informal social structures through force, society will simply adapt by finding alternative, often underground, means of interaction," she added.

Iran has previously targeted social media influencers and content creators for promoting what authorities deem "un-Islamic" lifestyles.

Last year, officials seized the Instagram page of Blind Date, a popular show hosted by an influencer known as Vinnie Vids, who had garnered 1.2 million followers. The show had drawn millions of views before being abruptly taken offline under judicial orders.

The report, presented by UN Special Rapporteur Mai Sato, revealed that Iran carried out over 900 executions last year – the highest number since 2015 – with women and ethnic minorities disproportionately affected.

“Iran remains the highest per capita user of the death penalty globally,” Sato said. “The lack of transparency surrounding Iran’s death penalty practices violates fundamental human rights principles, including the right to truth and due process.”

The report highlighted that over half of the executions were related to drug offenses, prohibited under international law, while others were linked to charges such as "premeditated murder" and vaguely defined national security offenses.

Executions of minors were also recorded, in violation of international human rights law. “Despite the absolute prohibition of the death penalty for minors under international law, Iran continues to sentence and execute individuals for crimes committed before they turned 18,” the report said.

New hijab law expands state control over women

Sato also raised concerns over the application of discriminatory legal frameworks, especially against women. While the failure to wear the hijab is already punishable with heavy penalties under the existing Islamic Penal Code, the new Law on Protecting the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab, which was set to enter into force but still hasn't, marks a dramatic expansion in the state's regulation of personal dress codes.

The law imposes severe punishments, including prison terms of up to 15 years and, in extreme cases, capital charges for women deemed to be non-compliant.

“This law marks an unprecedented expansion of state control over women’s bodies and personal choices,” Sato warned.

Rise in femicide and 'honor killings'

The report also revealed that at least 179 femicides were reported in 2024, with many categorized as so-called “honor killings,” often carried out by male family members.

Sato criticized Iran’s legal system for enabling such violence, noting that “the differentiation between honor-related killings and other forms of murder creates a dangerous hierarchy of violence, effectively legitimizing lethal attacks on women.”

Minorities face disproportionate repression

Minority groups, including Kurds, Balochis, and Baha’is, faced disproportionate repression. Balochis, who make up around 2-4% of Iran's population, accounted for up to 13% of executions.

Sato said, “Documented patterns of discrimination within Iran’s criminal justice system raise serious concerns regarding the use of the death penalty against minority groups.”

The report further criticized Iran's crackdown on dissent, including the targeting of activists and journalists. Cases were highlighted where human rights defenders were detained, denied medical care, or sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

“Political prisoners are routinely denied medical care, effectively turning incarceration into a slow death sentence,” Sato said.