Hundreds of Iranian prisoners stage hunger strike as executions rise

“I have no serious concern about plots by the United States or others, because their hostility is obvious,” Pezeshkian told a cabinet meeting, state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying in a cabinet meeting.

“But I am deeply worried about the spread of false polarizations, divisions, and constant efforts to discredit and blacken everything inside the country.”

Hardline lawmakers have four of Pezeshkian’s cabinet ministers in their crosshairs for impeachment proceedings they launched this month, in what critics say is a bid to stall the government rather than to offer alternatives.

'People despair'

The conservatives have reportedly tabled motions against Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi, Roads and Urban Planning Minister Farzaneh Sadegh, Agriculture Minister Gholamreza Nouri and Labor Minister Ahmad Maydari.

“Such behavior fuels anger, anxiety, and despair among the people. In these circumstances, we must all join hands and take positive steps together to overcome the difficult times ahead and give people hope,” Pezeshkian added, without specifically addressing the moves by his opponents.

The return last month of UN sanctions triggered by European powers has further hobbled Iran's economy after a punishing conflict with Israel and the United States in a 12-day war in June.

The reimposition of the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions by US President Donald Trump has also piled pressure on the government.

“I can handle foreign issues, but I am worried about our internal problems,” Pezeshkian added.

Chronic division

Ideological clashes have limited his ability to advance campaign promises to reduce diplomatic isolation and improve standards of living.

Despite repeated calls for unity, divisions over foreign policy and domestic priorities continue to stall cohesion within Iran’s political establishment.

Iran declined to attend the Gaza peace summit hosted by Egypt this week, signaling a deliberate diplomatic snub amid deep regional tensions.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iranian diplomats could not “sit with countries that have attacked the Iranian people and continue to threaten and sanction us."

The commentariat in Tehran remain divided about the wisdom of the snub. Some view the boycott as a principled stand against Western and Arab pressure, while others see it as a missed opportunity to influence postwar diplomacy in the region.

Eslami said any decision on withdrawal “would have to be made by the relevant authorities,” adding that “the overall conclusion is that leaving the NPT is not on the agenda.” He said the IAEA “should have condemned the attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, but it did not,” and criticized the agency for not ensuring the protection of sensitive nuclear data.

“The agency has issued no declaration to guarantee the safeguarding of information related to our nuclear industry,” Eslami said. He added that Iran’s cooperation with the agency is now governed by a parliamentary law passed after the June strikes, which requires the IAEA to act within that framework.

Limited inspections, no IAEA staff in Iran

Eslami said inspectors have visited Iran only twice since the attacks, both times with clearance from the Supreme National Security Council, to the Bushehr and Tehran reactor sites. “No IAEA inspector is currently in the country,” he said.

The comments come after Iran and the IAEA reached a cooperation agreement in Cairo in September to resume inspections suspended following the June airstrikes. The deal, negotiated between Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, outlined “practical modalities” for monitoring Iran’s declared sites under what Tehran called “postwar conditions.” Both sides described it as a step in the right direction, but Iranian officials warned the accord could collapse if UN sanctions were reinstated.

Tensions over snapback sanctions and oversight

Western governments triggered the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran in late September, saying Tehran had failed to meet its obligations. Araghchi later said the fate of the Cairo accord rested with Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, while hardline lawmakers renewed calls to end cooperation with the agency altogether.

Last month, Eslami told Japan’s Kyodo News that Iran faced “wartime conditions” after the US and Israeli strikes and that inspections would not fully resume without new guarantees to protect its facilities and data. IAEA chief Grossi said later that Iran remains bound by its treaty obligations even if sanctions are restored, stressing that cooperation “must be permanent.”

Masoud Nazari, a Kurdish religious and political activist from the city of Javanrud in Iran’s Kermanshah province, was shot several times late Tuesday as he returned from a mosque to his home in Istanbul’s Arnavutköy district, the Turkish news outlet Haberler reported. The attack took place around 8:30 p.m. on Salih Street in the Islambey neighborhood. The gunman, who had followed Nazari, fled the scene on foot after the shooting.

Nazari was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and later died, Haberler said. Police have launched a large-scale investigation, but no suspect has been detained and no group has claimed responsibility.

Haalvsh said Nazari left Iran about ten years ago after facing pressure over his religious and political activities and had lived in Turkey since then. Citing his family and friends, the outlet said he had “repeatedly received threats from Iranian security agencies” and that “the fingerprints of the Islamic Republic’s security institutions are clear in this incident.”

Nazari was known among Kurdish Sunni activists for his criticism of Iran’s religious policies. Haalvsh described him as a cleric and political critic who had opposed the Islamic Republic for years.

Rights groups have long accused Iran of targeting its critics abroad. The Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, a Washington-based human rights foundation, said in a report last year that it had documented at least 862 extrajudicial killings and more than 120 abduction or assassination attempts linked to the Iranian government since 1979.

The 34-year-old, a director of an Auburn-based remittance company, is accused of processing 543 international transfers worth $649,308 to sanctioned Iranian banks over a year, the AFP said in a joint statement with the Australian Sanctions Office and AUSTRAC.

Search warrants were executed in July at a Wentworthville home and an Auburn business, where investigators seized electronic devices. Forensic examination allegedly revealed evidence of funds transfers to designated banks.

The man has been ordered to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday charged with contravening Australian sanction laws, an offence carrying a maximum of 10 years in prison and fines of up to three times the transaction value.

AFP Detective Superintendent Peter Fogarty said the force “works closely with the Australian Government and partners to ensure Australians aren’t breaching sanctions and dealing with foreign entities which engage in concerning conduct.” He added, “If you are contravening Australian sanctions, be warned – the AFP is ready and willing to act to disrupt your criminal activities.”

AUSTRAC national manager Anthony Helmond said, “Every time a business is instructed to transfer funds internationally, they must report that to AUSTRAC. We monitor these reports for signs of this type of activity and other criminality.”

Authorities said the Auburn company’s registration had been suspended for one year. The Australian Sanctions Office said it continues to monitor remittance companies to ensure compliance with financial sanctions.

“One of the officials of the Zionist regime used the phrase ‘Trump as Cyrus the Great,’” Kazem Jalali, said at a ceremony in Moscow on . “Those who call the US president by such a title should be reminded that a person who supports the killing of tens of thousands in Gaza cannot be called a defender of human rights,” he said.

The remarks appeared to answer comments by Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, who on Monday called Trump “a giant of Jewish history” and compared him to the ancient Persian ruler.

Ohana made the remarks during Trump’s visit to Jerusalem, where he addressed Israeli lawmakers after brokering a ceasefire in Gaza.

Banners in Tel Aviv posted this week by the Friends of Zion, a Christian organization dedicated to backing Israel, proclaimed "Cyrus is Alive!" alongside Trump's picture.

Cyrus is revered as a powerful ancient ruler by Iranians and remembered fondly in the Jewish tradition for ending the so-called Babylonian Captivity of Jews when his forces conquered that empire and allowed exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem.

A decree after his conquest recorded on an ancient artifact called the Cyrus Cylinder created in 539 BC enshrined aspects of religious freedom and has been hailed as the first bill of human rights.

Trump received a hero’s welcome in Israel this week after helping to secure a truce that ended two years of war in Gaza and freed the last living Israeli hostages. During his visit, he signed a Gaza ceasefire deal at a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh and said US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities had “obliterated” the program.

“The bully of the Middle East has been taken down,” Trump said, adding that Iran “will not return to the nuclear world again.”

Iran has denied pursuing nuclear weapons and accused Israel of misleading the US president into authorizing the attacks. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that Trump had been “badly fed the fake line” that Iran was close to producing a bomb.

Araghchi wrote on X that Trump was “being misled by the same warmongers who derailed American diplomacy with Iran for many years.” He said the US could not call for peace while leading military action against Iran and reinstating sanctions.

“The real bully of the Middle East, Mr. President, is the same parasitic actor that has long been bullying and milking the United States,” he wrote, referring to Israel.