Iran VP says UN chief confided that regime change bid ended with June war

The suspect, identified as Noureddin Morteza Imani, allegedly demanded US$300 from the victims on Sukhumvit Road on October 1 after claiming they had committed offenses, Daily News reported. CCTV footage later showed him exchanging the cash at a money exchange shop, police said.

The two victims, Gaganddepp Singh, 32, and Prabhdeep Singh, 20, filed a complaint on October 5 at Bang Lamung Police Station. Police traced the rented motorcycle used in the incident and arrested Imani at his residence, where they also found he had overstayed his visa by more than a month.

Imani denied direct involvement and blamed a friend, but police said video evidence linked him to the extortion. Authorities are still searching for the second suspect.

Police said Imani faces extortion charges carrying up to five years in prison and a fine of 100,000 baht, along with immigration charges for overstaying his visa.

The meeting followed Eslami’s trip to Moscow last week, where Iran and Russia signed agreements on small reactors and a $25 billion project for four large nuclear power units in Hormozgan province.

The talks also covered small modular reactors and 1,250 megawatt power units, the report said.

The two sides reviewed current projects and stressed the need to speed up joint work, Iranian officials said. They also agreed Rosatom Director Alexey Likhachev would visit Iran soon to inspect progress on units two and three of the Bushehr nuclear plant.

The discussions came as a new strategic partnership treaty between Iran and Russia entered into force after approval by Russia’s lower house of parliament. The agreement covers wide cooperation in areas including nuclear energy.

The nuclear meetings followed reports this week that Iran has a €6 billion agreement with Russia for 48 Su-35 fighter jets, with deliveries expected between 2026 and 2028. Iranian lawmakers have said Moscow has already sent MiG-29 aircraft and that more advanced systems such as Su-35s and S-400 air defenses will follow.

Iranian respondents to a bulletin requesting input on their experiences seeking medicine submitted audio, video and text messages detailing daily struggles.

Several messages said the prices of both basic and specialized medicines have multiplied in recent weeks, forcing many to visit multiple pharmacies to find affordable essential drugs.

Some reported that even common cold and allergy medications are in short supply, adding that there appeared to be a near-immediate change after the sanctions' return.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council had previously ordered domestic media to limit coverage of the UN sanctions and portray their consequences as minimal.

While Iranian officials have sought to downplay the impact, the complaints from the public suggest otherwise.

Prices triple, quality falls

Some said drug prices have tripled or quadrupled while quality has declined. One consumer said the price of a five-tablet pack of antihistamines rose from 250,000 rials (about $2.16) to 1.2 million rials (about $10.37) in a month.

Others described searching multiple pharmacies only to find a lone remaining box of medicine sold at inflated prices.

“Previously, the medications we needed were available, and with approval from the Hemophilia Center and the Food and Drug Organization, we could obtain them from pharmacies. But now these drugs have become scarce, and we have to pay 20 million rials ($173) for each one,” one audio message said.

Iran’s minimum wage for 2025 is 104 million rials per month, equivalent to about $94.

Some messages indicated that people have had to ration medicines, skip meals, or make other sacrifices to afford treatment.

“My medicines were already expensive before the war and before sanctions, but now they are rationed. I have to skip meals because after every meal I need a pill, and I can’t afford more," A diabetic respondent said.

Another respondent said he had reduced his family’s food intake to pay for his wife’s medication. A homemaker reported spending over 60 million rials (about $518) on gastrointestinal drugs despite not earning an income.

Blame and frustration

Many Iranians blamed government policies for the crisis.

“The medicines were already scarce and expensive, but after the UN sanctions they became worse. Officials are not suffering; it’s the middle class and workers,” one respondent said.

Officials in Iran routinely attribute shortages to foreign pressure, while critics and dissidents cite mismanagement and corruption.

“If we can design a dignified deal that protects Iran’s interests and satisfies Trump’s sense of self-importance, that could mark the end of the hostilities—and such a thing is possible,” Zarif told foreign-policy experts and reporters at a Tehran seminar on Wednesday.

The former foreign minister, who negotiated the 2015 nuclear agreement, suggested both Tehran and Washington sought to avoid a full-scale conflict in the June war with Israel, and defused it through back-channel communication.

“In the end, one side called at four in the morning and said, ‘We’re not going to strike,’ and the other replied, ‘We won’t strike either,’” Zarif recalled. “Wars end through dialogue, but it’s better if that dialogue happens when we still have leverage.”

His comments appear to counter hardliners’ calls to abandon diplomacy following US attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites and the Europeans’ snapback of UN sanctions last month.

Israel, not the US, wants Iran 'collapse'

Zarif argued that while Israel and the United States share interests, their strategic goals differ.

“America’s policy is not to bring about Iran’s collapse, but Israel —even during the Pahlavi era—believed that Iran was too big and must be broken apart,” he said.

The veteran diplomat said the continuation of the conflict could have led to Iran's collapse, in rare wording for a prominent former official.

“Continuing would either expand the war or lead to Iran’s collapse,” he said. “Both outcomes would have trapped America further in the region, which contradicts its policy.”

'People more important than missiles'

Zarif is President Masoud Pezeshkian’s closest aide and the moderates’ most prominent voice on foreign policy. Still, he holds no official position after he resigned as vice-president in March and is loathed by Iran's ascendant hardliners.

Yet he, like many others, avoided mentioning the role of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who on the eve of Pezeshkian’s trip to New York ruled out any talks with the Trump administration.

He only alluded to Khamenei’s control when saying he was not authorized to negotiate beyond the nuclear issue during his tenure.

“Trying to solve the nuclear problem purely through the nuclear file is no longer possible. Back then it was, and that opportunity was wasted,” Zarif added, calling for “a broader framework” for other discussions, without elaborating.

Those “other discussions” may refer to Iran’s missile program—an issue Tehran has repeatedly said is off the table in any future talks.

“Missiles are important,” he said, “but people are more important. It’s the people who have kept Iran alive through the centuries.”

Several citizens have been charged with offenses including “insulting the leader of the Islamic Republic” and “propaganda against the state” for liking posts shared by opposition figures or independent media outlets on Instagram, the group said.

Most cases have been filed in smaller towns, though some have also been reported in the northeastern city of Mashhad.

While no verdicts have been issued yet, prosecutors have in some instances set heavy bail amounts for the defendants, according to Dadban.

Iran continues to enforce tight control over digital communication despite easing some bans late in 2024. Major platforms such as Facebook, X, Telegram and YouTube remain blocked or heavily filtered. Access to Instagram and WhatsApp has been periodically restricted, especially during protests.

Tehran also deploys throttling, or selective blocking of app features, and strict regulation of VPNs used to bypass censorship.

In December 2024, Iranian authorities lifted a ban on WhatsApp and Google Play, a move seen as a limited concession to broader social media use.

Still, officials concurrently advanced legislation to regulate cyberspace more tightly and promote domestic replacements for foreign apps.

Critics warn that these constraints further limit free expression and undermine online commerce, especially for small businesses relying on social platforms.

Iran's President Pezeshkian submitted an urgent bill to parliament in July that would impose harsher penalties on social media users and content creators who publish what authorities describe as false or misleading information.

Later the same month, the government withdrew the internet bill amid mounting public pressure and accusations that it sought to criminalize dissent under the guise of combating false information.

Over 2,000 people were arrested during and after the 12-day war with Israel accused of spreading false information online.