Iran’s parliament mulls criminalizing ‘false news’ in post-war censorship drive

"We have presented 1,062 martyrs in this war, including 102 women and 38 children," Fatemeh Mohajerani said in her weekly press briefing. She added that five paramedics, five nurses, and seven emergency responders were also among the casualties.

The civilian toll also included 34 students and five educators. “A number of university professors and academic staff were also martyred,” she said, though she did not provide a specific figure.

Tehran province reported the highest number of fatalities, with 265 people killed.

The government also outlined significant damage to civilian infrastructure. Thirty-six schools across 16 provinces were damaged, along with 219 industrial units ranging from large factories to small production sites.

“Seven hospitals and 11 ambulances were hit, and approximately 8,000 residential units were damaged,” Mohajerani said.Damage was also reported to the homes of 22 university professors.

"Despite the destruction, the reconstruction process has begun," she said, adding that during the conflict, 230 schools were used as shelters and 56 were designated for displaced people.

Mohajerani also said, “The attack on Evin Prison constitutes a war crime according to international institutions.”

The numbers announced by Iran match those accounted for by rights group HRANA. In its post-war report, the group said the conflict resulted in 5,665 casualties, including 1,190 deaths and 4,475 injured, both military and civilian.

Evin Prison attack led to inmate escape, 27 remain at large

Iran’s judiciary confirmed on Tuesday that 75 inmates escaped during last month’s Israeli strike on Tehran’s Evin Prison, and 27 remain unaccounted for.

Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said most of the escapees were low-risk detainees held on minor charges or under light detention orders. “So far, 48 inmates have either returned voluntarily or been arrested,” he said.

Jahangir stressed that “there are no spies or inmates with security-related or major charges among those who escaped.” He added that the identities of those still at large are known, and they will be arrested if they do not turn themselves in.

On June 23, Israel launched multiple missiles at Tehran’s Evin Prison, calling the facility a “tool of repression.” Long seen as a symbol of Iran’s political crackdown, the prison was rocked by explosions that destroyed key areas, including several wards, the infirmary, and the visitation hall, causing immediate and devastating losses.

Among the dead were two prison officials, Ruhollah Tavasoli and Vahid Heydarpour, as well as Evin’s chief prosecutor, Ali Ghanaatkar. Numerous detainees, medical staff, visiting family members — including a young child — and a bystander were also killed.

A judiciary spokesman said on June 29 that 71 people had been confirmed dead, though authorities have yet to release a full list of victims.

"Roughly 10 million Iranians earn a living directly or indirectly through the digital economy," said Sattar Hashemi during a session of the Iranian parliament on Tuesday. "During the war, employment in this sector fell by 30%."

Hashemi added that every two days of the conflict inflicted about 10 trillion rials in damage to Iran’s digital economy, totaling 150 trillion rials over the month. "This figure is equivalent to the annual budget of some ministries," he said, blaming the deliberate disruption of internet access.

Hashemi distanced his ministry from the decisions behind the internet restrictions. "These limitations were imposed by relevant authorities and intelligence and security agencies," he said, referring to measures officially justified as “necessary for national security.”

The restrictions, however, have triggered sharp backlash from civil society and digital rights activists, especially amid revelations about an emerging "class-based internet" system that appears to provide full, uncensored access for government insiders while heavily filtering usage for the general public.

Cyberattacks compound digital crisis

Compounding the crisis were over 20,000 cyberattacks during the war, many of which, according to Hashemi, were successfully mitigated. “These attacks coincided with field operations by the enemy and aimed to shut down online services and disrupt public access,” he told parliament.

The banking sector was hit particularly hard. Bank Sepah’s online platforms, including mobile services, went dark, paralyzing payroll functions for military personnel. Bank Pasargad and Bank Melli also reported widespread outages, although some official media denied the extent.

Hacktivist groups like “Predatory Sparrow” and “Tapandegan” claimed responsibility for multiple attacks.

On July 3, Tapandegan claimed to have hacked Bank Mellat, leaking data from over 32 million accounts. On July 18, nationwide disruptions hit payment terminals across Iran, compounding financial chaos.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli-aligned cyber operatives wiped $90 million in crypto assets tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), targeting Bank Sepah and Iran's top crypto exchange, Nobitex.

The hack disabled military salaries and ignited public panic, leading to a 12% drop in the rial and a temporary halt to trading on the Tehran Stock Exchange.

Iran ranks among the world’s most restricted digital environments. Freedom House listed the country as the third most repressive globally in terms of internet censorship.

"The country’s digital future cannot be built on filtered networks and unequal access," said lawmaker Salman Es’haghi, calling for full transparency on which individuals or institutions benefit from unrestricted internet access. "People deserve to know who is exempt from the restrictions they endure every day."

“Today isn’t the time to remain silent regarding Gaza,” the post on Khamenei's official X account. “Muslim governments have heavy responsibilities. If any Muslim government backs the Zionist regime in any form and blocks aid to Palestine, they must know with certainty that an eternal mark of disgrace will stain their reputation.”

His comments came amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, during a war that began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza warned Sunday that hundreds could die as hospitals fill with patients weakened by hunger and collapsing aid access, while the UN said civilians face starvation without urgent assistance.

According to the ministry, at least 67 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire as they waited for UN aid trucks in northern Gaza on Sunday. The Israeli military campaign in Gaza has since killed over 58,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the incident in a post on X on Monday, calling it “a blatant example of war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Araghchi said Israel had used measures such as depriving civilians of water, medicine, and food, and blamed both the United States and Israel for what he called “death traps” at aid distribution sites.

In a separate statement on Telegram, Araghchi said he spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who currently chairs the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and called for an emergency OIC summit to address what he described as “genocide in Gaza” and “Israeli aggression in the region.”

According to the UN International Organization for Migration, nearly 700,000 Afghans were deported from Iran in the first half of 2025. A full 130,000 were expelled within just one week after the 12-day war between Iran and Israel. Many had lived in Iran for decades.

Far from an aberration, the recent wave of arrests, public humiliation and mass expulsions of Afghan migrants is a continuation of Tehran's decades-old political manipulation of one of the most vulnerable populations in the region.

The Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini famously declared that "Islam has no borders" and welcomed Afghan refugees fleeing a Soviet invasion in 1979.

But beyond this ideological gesture, Tehran never offered a clear legal or humanitarian framework for integration. Millions of Afghans entered Iran, only to be denied citizenship, legal employment or access to education and healthcare.

Over the decades, Afghan migrants have been treated as expendable tools in Tehran’s shifting policies in the region.

They were recruited to fight in Syria as part of the “Fatemiyoun” Brigade, exploited as cheap undocumented labor inside Iran and periodically threatened with mass expulsion in bouts of official populism.

During moments of domestic discontent, Afghan migrants became convenient targets to deflect public anger.

Under President Ebrahim Raisi, the policy of exploitation took on new dimensions. In the wake of the Taliban's return to power in 2021, a massive influx of Afghan refugees entered Iran and as many as around two million Afghans crossed the border within two years.

Rather than developing a comprehensive migration policy, Tehran allowed its border regions to turn into chaotic transit points run by smugglers and corrupt officials.

Xenophobia

In the aftermath of Israel’s devastating strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites, domestic frustration reached boiling point.

The Islamic Republic, seeking to redirect the public's discontent, amplified xenophobic narratives portraying Afghans as a threat to national security.

Despite isolated claims of rising crime among Afghans, official figures show otherwise.

Iran's judiciary reports that Afghan nationals comprise only about 6% of the prison population—roughly in line with their proportion of the total population. The majority of these arrests are for undocumented entry or labor violations, not violent or organized crime.

Ghosts of policies past

In 2001, following the fall of the Taliban, I traveled to the border town of Taybad and the nearby Islam Qala crossing and I was able to personally witness the brutal consequences of this policy.

There, I saw mass graves of Hazara refugees who had been forcibly returned by the Islamic Republic and summarily executed by Taliban fighters in the deserts surrounding the town.

Tehran knew that these Shia Hazaras were at extreme risk, yet still arrested them in Iranian cities, detained them in camps in the east and deported them into the hands of their eventual killers. This memory haunts me to this day.

The recent expulsions have also generated heartbreaking testimonies. Haajar Shademani, a 19-year-old Afghan born in Shiraz, told AFP she was forced to leave the only home she ever knew.

Denied access to Iranian universities and now blocked from education under Taliban rule, she faces an uncertain future.

The Islamic Republic’s interference in Afghanistan has extended far beyond its borders. Over the past two decades, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), through its Ansar Corps based in eastern Iran, has pursued an interventionist policy in Afghan affairs.

Military and intelligence advisors operated on the ground while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established a dedicated Afghanistan Affairs Office, often in conflict with the IRGC’s goals.

These interventions disrupted Afghanistan’s internal balance and forced thousands more civilians to flee.

Moreover, Tehran deliberately resettled the families of Afghan political and military elites inside Iran, creating dependencies that undermined Afghan sovereignty.

This too was part of a broader strategy: open-door policies were never humanitarian in intent—they were designed to serve Iran’s strategic interests.

As Tehran continues to wage psychological warfare against Afghan migrants, reports of mob violence, arson, and public beatings have become more frequent.

In this climate of state-sanctioned hostility, ultra-conservative media figures portray any defense of Afghan rights as treason.

Policymakers and human rights advocates in Washington and European capitals should call out Tehran's exploitation of Afghan refugees.

This community is not a plaything—Afghans are survivors of a conflict-plagued country, and their dignity must not be sacrificed for political expediency.

Afghan migrants deserve justice, protection, and the chance to live free from fear—not another generation of displacement and death.

“We are in constant consultation with these two countries to prevent activation of the snapback or to mitigate its consequences,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said at a weekly press briefing on Monday. “We have aligned positions and good relations.”

The trilateral talks, which will take place at director-general level, are aimed at coordinating a response to growing pressure from the West over Iran’s nuclear program, Baghaei said.

Tehran has long portrayed Russia and China as reliable allies, citing their support in trade, defense, and diplomatic arenas.

Iran leans on allies as E3 threat looms

The meeting comes as the three European parties to the 2015 nuclear deal—France, Germany, and the UK—have warned they will trigger the snapback mechanism by the end of August unless Iran returns to substantive nuclear negotiations. The mechanism, part of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, allows any JCPOA participant to restore UN sanctions if Iran is deemed non-compliant.

“There is no legal, moral, or political basis for reinstating sanctions that were lifted under the JCPOA,” Baghaei added. “We have been engaged in consultations with Russia and China on this issue for the past year.”

Western nations cite multiple reasons for Iran's non-compliance, including enriching uranium to near weapons level and expelling the UN's nuclear inspectors.

A separate meeting between Iran and the European trio is scheduled for Friday in Istanbul. Baghaei said Monday that the deputy EU foreign policy chief is expected to attend, without naming the official. The Iranian diplomat said the talks would “seriously address sanctions relief and Iran’s nuclear program.”

“We will clearly state our demands,” he added.

Tehran has grown increasingly critical of European governments in recent months, accusing them of siding with the United States and Israel.

“European countries not only failed to condemn the attacks on Iran and its nuclear facilities, they supported them,” Baghaei said. “They must be held accountable.”

Nuclear talks with US remain off the table

Asked about the prospect of renewed engagement with Washington, Baghaei said there were currently no plans for talks.

“I explained today about Iran’s talks with Europe; at the moment, we have no plans for talks with the United States.”

However, he said diplomacy remains “a tool and opportunity to safeguard Iran’s national interests, and that Tehran would not hesitate to use it when necessary.”

Iran and the United States had held multiple rounds of nuclear talks via Omani mediation before Israel launched its 12-day war on Iran, but Washington’s decision to strike Iranian nuclear sites brought the negotiations to an end.

However, in Washington ,US President Donald Trump expects Iran to return to nuclear negotiations, saying that diplomacy is in Tehran's best interest, according to the State Department Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.

“I know that he expects them to begin to negotiate because that's in their best interest,” Bruce said in an interview with Fox News last week. “He has believed and continues to believe that diplomacy will work here."

Baghaei also dismissed recent remarks by former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who told CNN that Iran had agreed to cap enrichment below one percent and discuss weaponization assurances.

“Such a thing did not happen,” he said, calling the remarks “part of US domestic disputes”.

Iran lashes out at IAEA conduct

The spokesman reaffirmed Iran’s continued membership in the IAEA and the Non-Proliferation Treaty but criticized the agency’s leadership.

“We are not satisfied with the agency’s approach or with Director General Grossi,” he said. “The Iranian people are angry.”

He added that future cooperation would follow a new framework approved by Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

Following Israeli and US strikes, Iran passed legislation restricting cooperation with the IAEA unless its security conditions are met.

Iranian officials have since escalated attacks on the agency, including threats to put its chief, Rafael Grossi on trial, with calls in hardline media for his arrest and execution. France, Germany, and the UK jointly condemned the threats in a recent statement.