Ball in Iran’s court as risk of snapback sanctions approaches, UK says

“Dear friends, who else attacked your country besides Israel?" Larijani told reporters in Beirut on Wednesday. So be careful that Israel does not impose something else on you through other means."

"Do not let it use other forms of pressure to force on you what it could not achieve through war. Do not mistake friend for enemy; resistance is your national asset,” he added.

Larijani said that Iras no intention in interfering in the affairs of Lebanon.

His remarks come a week after the Lebanese government ordered the army to devise plans by the end of the year to disarm the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, prompting sharp criticism from Tehran.

Tense rhetoric

Ali-Akbar Velayati, senior foreign policy adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, called the disarmament “a dream that won’t come true,” describing it as a policy dictated by Israel and Washington.

“Whatever conclusion it (the Lebanese government) reaches, we will also accept. Those who interfere in Lebanon’s affairs are the ones who give you plans, set timelines for actions, and come from thousands of kilometres away. We have not given you any plans,” he added.

Lebanon’s foreign ministry condemned the comments on X as “a flagrant and unacceptable interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs.”

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun also criticized remarks by Iranian officials, stressing that no group has the right to bear arms or seek foreign support.

“It is forbidden for anyone to bear arms and to use foreign backing as leverage,” Aoun told Larijani during their meeting, according to a statement from the president’s office posted on X.

Between March 20 last year and now—covering the current Iranian year—"nearly 400 cases involving lawyers and legal experts were sent to disciplinary or judicial bodies for rulings,” he added.

The announcement comes amid a separate high-profile case in Tehran, where 20 people — including six judiciary staff, five lawyers, four notaries and five legal consultants — were arrested this month over bribery and influence-peddling linked to a major judicial complex.

Authorities said the group engaged in “structured bribery, corruption, and manipulation of legal outcomes,” seizing gold, jewelry and foreign currency in related raids.

Abdollahi also said on Wednesday that over 30,000 fugitives with criminal records were also identified and arrested using a traffic-monitoring system.

Judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei praised the anti-corruption efforts but questioned whether current measures were enough to deter wrongdoing.

“The Judiciary’s Protection Department has made every effort to ensure there is the least possible corruption within the judicial system. Have our actions been insufficient, or does it have another aspect?” he said on Wednesday.

Iran’s judiciary has faced mounting scrutiny after Transparency International ranked the country 151 out of 180 nations in its 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index — its lowest standing since the ranking began.

The watchdog cited entrenched political control, suppression of dissent, and misuse of public funds.

In May, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei rejected the notion of systemic corruption, calling the system “healthy” while acknowledging corruption as a persistent challenge.

His comments followed US President Donald Trump’s remarks that Iran’s leadership had “stolen their people’s wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad.”

“Western regimes have long claimed that sanctions are a bloodless alternative to war,” Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media platform X. “Reality check: New study by The Lancet says unilateral sanctions, particularly by the US, may be as lethal as war. 500+k lives claimed annually since 1970s, mostly children and the elderly.”

Araghchi called for international recognition of sanctions as crimes against humanity and urged targeted countries to unite against them.

“It is high time for inhumane sanctions imposed by the US and its accomplices to be recognized as crimes against humanity,” he said. “Targeted nations should coordinate efforts to forge unified and collective response.”

The remarks come as Iran faces the potential reimposition of United Nations sanctions under the “snapback” mechanism of the 2015 nuclear deal, with European powers warning of action if Tehran does not return to talks by the end of August.

“This is the first time emergency teams have entered Iraqi territory, and despite the special conditions and distance, they were able to transfer the injured swiftly and in full coordination to treatment centers in Iran,” Abolfazl Mahrokh, spokesman for Iran’s emergency services, said on Wednesday.

Ten operational teams were dispatched to the crash site, the Red Crescent’s Khuzestan branch said. Most of the injured were from southern Khuzestan province and heading to Iraq’s religious cities.

Iranian media earlier cited driver error and the bus striking a roadside barrier as the cause.

The Arbaeen ceremony marks the end of the 40-day mourning period after Ashura, commemorating the death of Imam Hussain ibn Ali.

Each year, millions of Shia Muslims travel to Karbala and other holy sites, many walking hundreds of kilometers.

125 people had died in road accidents in five border provinces between July 26 and August 12 during Arbaeen-related travel, Ahmad Karami-Asad, head of Iran’s traffic police, said.

With the latest incident, the death toll rose to 130, with nearly 3,000 injured.

State resources heavily committed to pilgrimage

The National Road Transport Organization urged the public to avoid booking domestic bus travel from Wednesday to Friday, intercity fleets being redirected for returning pilgrims.

“All national capacities had been mobilized to serve Arbaeen pilgrims,” Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said on August 4.

The annual event receives significant budget allocations. In July, the Red Crescent said it had collected over 31 metric tons of medicines and medical supplies worth 2.7 million dollars for pilgrims, while a government official under late President Ebrahim Raisi had earlier said roughly 130 million dollars had been spent on infrastructure over 33 months.

Since 2010, when official records first showed 40,000 participants, the number of Iranian pilgrims has grown to the millions, driven by active government promotion, public funding, and free services along the pilgrimage routes.

“Iran’s defiance of this Council’s resolutions enables the Houthis to escalate regional tensions. Iran’s continued support for the Houthis also poses a threat to the people of Yemen and to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” she told the council.

“In that regard, the United States commends Yemeni government-aligned forces for their July seizure of at least 750 tons of Iranian weapons bound for the Houthis. We urge the UN Secretariat to facilitate an inspection of that seizure by the Yemen Panel of Experts as soon as possible.”

The Iran-backed group, which controls around two thirds of Yemen's population in one third of the country, began a maritime blockade in the Red Sea in November 2023, following a call by Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a show of allegiance to Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.

The Council on Foreign Relations says that "Iran is the Houthis’ primary benefactor, providing them mostly with security assistance, such as weapons transfers, training, and intelligence support".

Following Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7 and the subsequent retaliatory bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the group said it would target Israeli-linked vessels and those docking in Israeli ports. It has since, however, targeted several commercial ships, killing multiple civilian mariners.

So frequent were the attacks on US warships that a ceasefire was made between the US and the group, designated a terrorist entity by countries such as the US and Canada, in May.

In recent attacks on the Magic Seas and Eternity C, both ships were destroyed, with at least four seamen killed on Eternity C and several others injured, taking the tally to over 100 ships attacked since the blockade began.

“After hampering rescue efforts, the Houthis then kidnapped and continue to detain at least 11 crew members of the Eternity C, adding to the numbers they have unjustifiably detained,” Shea said, calling for the hostages’ release along with the release of other UN, NGO and diplomatic workers being held by the group.

“The attacks on commercial vessels are a clear demonstration of the Houthis’ destabilizing presence in the region and interference with freedom of navigation. They also demonstrate Houthi responsibility for severe economic, environmental, and security threats against the people of Yemen and the region,” she said.

Retaliatory strikes by Israel, the US, and the UK since the beginning of the blockade have caused significant damage to infrastructure, including ports the allies say were used to transfer weapons from Iran.

In the Tuesday address, Shea also spoke out about the group’s targeting of Israel, a key US ally in the region, saying that the Jewish state retained the right to defend itself.

“As recently as August 8th, the Houthis fired a missile at Israel targeting Ben Gurion Airport. We stand with Israel in its right to self-defense against the Houthis,” she said.

Dozens of projectiles have been fired at Israel during the maritime blockade, including ballistic missiles and UAVs. While most have been intercepted, in May, one narrowly missed the perimeter of the country's main airport, Ben Gurion, in central Israel.