Capital, provinces shut down as Iran's power shortage deepens

Amiri said a Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced her to two years in prison and a 500-million rial ($562) fine for “spreading falsehoods.”

She received an additional one year for “propaganda against the state” and a 30.3-million rial ($37) fine for appearing without a hijab in public.

“When simply opposing the death penalty is considered propaganda against the state, then execution itself is a political tool of intimidation,” Amiri wrote.

Amiri, a graduate law student at Tehran’s Allameh Tabataba'i University and a campaigner for students’ rights, previously served seven months of a one-year prison sentence in 2022 for her advocacy against the death penalty and for women’s rights in Iran.

“Speaking about the situation of prisoners and Evin prison has also been considered spreading falsehoods," she added in her post.

The court also imposed additional punishments, including a two-year ban on leaving the country and joining political or social groups.

Reflecting on the ruling, Amiri said her struggle is about standing up for ideals, supporting fellow prisoners, and resisting executions.

"At the end of the day, a person should know how many steps they have taken… With the hope that one day we burn all the gallows and execution scaffolds,” she wrote.

Amiri's sentence comes amid a broader clampdown, with student activist Khashayar Sefidi last year receiving a one-year prison term for propaganda against the state after opposing the death sentence of dissident rapper Toomaj Salehi.

Farshchian, 95, passed away on August 9 in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, where he had lived since 1983. His body was returned to his hometown for burial beside the poet Saeb Tabrizi, in accordance with his wishes.

At the funeral, mourners filled the streets as Farshchian’s coffin was carried from the Conservatory of Fine Arts. Culture Minister Seyyed Abbas Salehi praised him as both a “sage of artists” and a creative genius who gave “a special color and flavor to Iranian art.” President Masoud Pezeshkian also issued condolences, underscoring his stature as a national figure.

The tributes highlighted Farshchian’s towering legacy, even as questions over his relationship with the Islamic Republic continue to spark controversy online.

Public reactions

On social media, responses ranged from praise to condemnation.

“He held the hands of those from whose hand the blood of the country’s youth flowed,” one post on X read. “The people’s historical memory never fades. We will neither forgive nor forget.”

“Without a doubt, the Islamic Republic used him for its propaganda, and sadly, he complied and showed no resistance,” another user wrote.

Others defended him: “Farshchian has painted several panels from the Shahnameh, each more beautiful than the other. His beliefs are his own. We don’t have the right to question his art even if we assume he was a government-affiliated artist. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were also court artists, serving the monarchy and the Christian Church.”

Themes in Farshchian’s work

His miniatures often explore Shiite traditions, while others interpret Persian literature, including the national epic Shahnameh. He also designed new metal lattice enclosures for Shiite shrines in Mashhad and Karbala.

Farshchian’s works are on permanent display at a museum named after him in Tehran’s Saadabad Palace.

Iran's polarized cultural landscape

Collaboration or opposition to the state carries heavy personal and professional consequences in Iran.

Artists who work with state entities, like television, are often labeled “state-affiliated” by dissidents and exiled communities, while appearing with political leaders can spark backlash.

A notable case is singer Alireza Eftekhari, whose embrace of the populist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a concert went viral and provoked outrage among critics, resulting in his isolation in the artistic community and loss of his fans.

Conversely, artists challenging the official narrative risk being blacklisted, banned from work, or imprisoned.

One prominent example was the legendary traditional vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian.

He performed a song urging security forces to lay down their weapons during the widespread anti-government protests of 2009. This act of defiance drew the ire of authorities.

The state media banned the broadcast of Shajarian’s songs, image, and his name. Even his iconic Ramadan prayer performance—beloved among religious audiences—was permanently removed from radio and television broadcasts, and he was barred from concerts or album releases.

"Curse the Islamic Republic, which always pits the people against each other … Artists like Farshchian or Shajarian—whatever they may have been—were ultimately artists. The Islamic Republic has even violated the very concept of art and the artist," a post on X stated.

“If tariffs are not adjusted, operators will not be able to invest, and improving internet quality will be impossible,” Alireza Rafiei said on Monday.

In the near future, he said, Iranians should expect scheduled internet outages just like the country's routine power cuts.

Iran’s internet crisis, marked by declining quality, frequent disruptions, and GPS interference, has persisted for two months since the 12-day war with Israel when blackouts rocked the country, affecting everything from tracing the whereabouts of loved ones to online banking and GPS services for businesses dependent on them.

Consumption has steadily increased while tariffs have remained frozen for years, even as electricity, equipment, and operational costs have multiplied, Rafiei added. Without higher rates, he argued, operators cannot invest in upgrades.

Iran ranks among the worst for connectivity

A report by the Internet and Infrastructure Commission of Tehran’s E-Commerce Association last week ranked Iran 97th out of 100 countries in terms of quality, describing the network as “unreliable, restricted and slow.”

Citizens across Iran have told Iran International of widespread issues, saying outages and slow speeds add to the pressure of power cuts, water shortages, inflation, and unemployment.

Government officials have blamed the June war with Israel for worsening connectivity. On July 15, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani linked new restrictions to security decisions taken during the conflict, while Communications Minister Sattar Hashemi acknowledged poor quality service earlier in August.

Interference was partly introduced after reports that GPS signals were being used to guide drones, he said.

However, the E-Commerce Association report said that disruptions had been recorded long before the conflict and remain unresolved even two months since its end.

Power cuts and GPS disruptions

Constant electricity blackouts make matters worse as operators cannot recharge backup systems in time, Rafiei said.

“The batteries we use, even in the best case, only work 45 minutes to one hour,” he explained. “With repeated outages, sometimes we don’t even get the chance to recharge them.”

If two hours of daily power cuts accumulate, it means “two percent of sites are permanently off, creating extraordinary dissatisfaction,” added Rafiei.

The crisis has been compounded by widespread GPS disruptions.

Since the war, users continue to report erratic location shifts of hundreds of kilometers, disrupting services such as ride-hailing apps and logistics businesses.

The Iranian government continues to promote its long-term national internet project, designed to tighten control over information flows.

A group of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard officials travelled to Kabul last week, where the Taliban handed them a leaked list containing personal details of Afghans who had applied for asylum in Britain — including soldiers, intelligence assets and special forces members — in exchange for Iran’s potential recognition of their rule, senior Iranian and Afghan officials told the paper.

The Telegraph said the officials travelled without the knowledge of Iran’s civilian government.

A senior Iranian official told the paper that four Guards members promised the Taliban they would push Tehran to speed up recognition of the Islamist group.

“The Taliban gave them the list. They want to find British spies before the ‘snapback’ to have something to pressure London behind closed doors,” the official was quoted as saying.

Iranian border forces have already detained several people whose names appeared on the leaked list, the report said.

“Many were released because they were only former Afghan soldiers, while others are being held for further checks. The focus is just on British spies,” the source added.

The database, dubbed a “kill list” by British media, was accidentally leaked in 2022 when a Royal Marine emailed the full file to Afghan contacts. It included names, phone numbers and email addresses of around 25,000 Afghans and more than 100 British special forces personnel and MI6 operatives who endorsed Afghan relocation applications.

The Taliban’s decision to share the file followed internal debate, the paper said, with some officials objecting due to Iran’s treatment of Afghan refugees.

“Some argued that we should not do any favors for the Iranians … but if they were willing to recognize the Islamic Emirate in return, that would not be a bad deal,” a Taliban official was quoted as saying.

Earlier on Monday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that recognizing the Taliban was a “sovereign decision,” adding that Tehran maintains extensive interactions with Afghanistan due to shared ties, a long border and common challenges, and would make a decision on recognition “whenever its national interests require.”

The reported development comes as Britain, France and Germany warned they would trigger the 'snapback' mechanism to restore UN sanctions unless Iran resumes nuclear talks before the end of August.

Baghaei told reporters that Tehran remained ready to take steps to reassure the world about the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, but only if sanctions were lifted.

“We are prepared to adopt a series of measures to provide assurances about the peaceful nature of our nuclear program, conditional upon the removal of oppressive sanctions,” he said at his weekly press briefing.

Baghaei dismissed speculation about third-party mediation in its relations with the UN nuclear watchdog, saying, “Our relationship with the Agency is direct. Last week, one of its deputies visited Tehran. We also had discussions on drafting a cooperation framework,” he said. “Our representative in Vienna is in constant contact with the Agency.”

‘European have no right for snapback’

The spokesperson also criticized Britain, France, and Germany over threats to use the so-called snapback mechanism that could restore UN sanctions.

“The very act of Europe using this tool as a means of pressure against Iran is an illegal move,” Baghaei said.

“The three European countries failed to fulfill their obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, and after the US and Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities, they neither condemned it nor even tried to provide a logical explanation of their positions. We believe the three European countries have no right to use this mechanism.”

He added: “We never cut off negotiations with these three countries. They must decide whether they want to play a constructive role or a negative role aligned with the interests of the Zionist regime.”

Responding to a question on whether Iran might consider extending the deadline set by Britain, France and Germany in their recent letter to the United Nations, Baghaei said Tehran had no such plans. “The Islamic Republic has no program to extend the snapback mechanism,” he said.

His comments followed a letter sent last week by the foreign ministers of the three European powers — known as the E3 — to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the Security Council, warning that they were prepared to reimpose international sanctions unless Tehran resumed nuclear negotiations with Washington and restored cooperation with the IAEA before the end of August, or accepted an extension.

Caucasus concerns

On regional issues, Baghaei said Iran closely monitored developments in the South Caucasus.

“We have been very clear that we are sensitive to the presence of extra-regional actors,” he said.

“We conveyed this explicitly to our friends in Armenia and listened to their explanations. For us, the unblocking of routes must not harm internationally recognized borders or contradict Armenia’s national sovereignty. We are monitoring the situation carefully and will raise concerns whenever necessary.”

Last week, US President Donald Trump brokered a peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which gives Washington leasing rights to develop the Zangezur transit route connecting Azerbaijan with its exclave, Nakhchivan. It will be renamed the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).

Epstein case not linked to talks

Asked about reports linking the Jeffrey Epstein case to negotiations with Washington, Baghaei said Iran would not speculate.

“The so-called Epstein case is an issue that is not limited to the United States; many officials from different countries were implicated. We do not engage in speculation about the motives of US officials. What matters to us are their actions and Iran’s interests,” he said.