TOP STORIES
Iran’s Currency Drops to a Record Low | Reuters
Iran’s currency drops to a record low of 1,039,000 rial to the US dollar today, according to Iranian currency tracking website Bonbast.com, losing more than half its value since President Masoud Pezeshkian took office in August.
Cyber Officials Say Iranian, Hezbollah Attacks Against Israel Tripled Since Oct. 7 | Times of Israel
[Israeli d]eputy cyber defense chief Nitzan Amar says that the intensity of cyberattacks against Israel has tripled since the outbreak of the Hamas war on October 7, 2023, as Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah, joined hacking efforts.
An Iranian activist has been sentenced to 178 lashes and 18 months in prison after being arrested for not wearing a hijab. Hamideh Zarei, a Gilak activist and former political prisoner, was released earlier this month from Rasht Central Prison after spending nearly a month behind bars - only to now face a brutal new sentence.
UANI IN THE NEWS
In 1979, when the Islamic Republic was established in Iran, the new clerical regime enjoyed broad popular support across Iranian society. It would gradually lose that base across the ensuing four decades. Now, as the Islamic revolution turns 46, new evidence indicates that even its last core supporters—an ultra-ideological constituency loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—are beginning to turn their backs on the system.
China Helps Iran Support the Houthis | Redtram (translated from Ukrainian)
The US president said that Iran will face severe consequences if the Houthis do not stop attacking ships. This terrorist group, with the support of Tehran, is attacking American ships in the Red Sea. China is the largest buyer of Iranian oil. And oil for Iran is one of the main sources of income. In 2024, China bought more than 90% of Iranian oil in circumvention of US sanctions, according to the non-profit organization United Against Nuclear Iran. Iran directs part of its revenues to organizations it supports, including the Houthis.
NUCLEAR DIPLOMACY & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Israel to Urge US: Set Timeframe for ‘Maximum Pressure’ on Iran | Jewish News Syndicate
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will lead an Israeli delegation set to hold a series of strategic talks in Washington in the coming days, focused on confronting Iran‘s nuclear program. Dermer will convey a message to the Trump administration urging that its “maximum pressure” policy on Iran‘s nuclear program be time-bound, Israel Hayom has learned.
SANCTIONS, SHIPPING, BUSINESS RISKS, & OTHER ECONOMIC NEWS
Iran Denies Reports Its Tankers Have Been Seized by the US | Reuters
Iran’s oil ministry denies reports, attributed to the Iraqi oil minister, about Iranian oil tankers being seized by the United States, Iran’s oil ministry news agency SHANA reports.
PROTESTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Iranian Teachers’ Union Activist Sentenced to Three Years in Prison | IranWire
A court in Iran has sentenced Kobra Taherkhani, a school principal and teachers’ union activist from Qazvin, to three years in prison on political charges. Branch Two of the Qazvin Revolutionary Court convicted Taherkhani of “insulting Khamenei” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic” based on content she shared on her Instagram account and a report filed by the Qazvin IRGC Intelligence Organization.
Drones, Informers and Apps: Iran Intensifies Surveillance on Women to Enforce Hijab Law | Guardian
Like many women in Iran, Darya is used to feeling under surveillance. Yet in recent months, the 25-year-old finance analyst from northern Tehran says that she never knows who could be watching her every move. She says she has received messages from the police before warning her of suspected violations of the country’s strict hijab laws, but last November she was sent an SMS message containing her car registration plate that stated the exact time and place that she had been recorded driving without her head properly covered. Next time it happened, the SMS warned, her car would be impounded.
UN Rights Council Set to Extend Iran Fact-finding Mission and Rapporteur Remit | Iran International
The United Nations Human Rights Council is set to vote on extending the mandates of both its fact-finding mission on Iran and its human rights rapporteur, citing ongoing and systemic human rights violations, according to a draft resolution seen by Iran International. The resolution, expected to be voted on within 10 days, condemns systematic human rights violations in Iran and calls on the Islamic Republic to end its structural impunity for perpetrators of crimes and to fully cooperate with the UN’s Special Rapporteur and the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission.
U.S.-IRAN RELATIONS
Iran Condemns US Threats to Use Force and Vows to Defend Its Sovereignty | Associated Press
The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, in a letter to the UN Security Council, slams “baseless accusations” and threats by senior US administration officials and President Donald Trump against Iran while trying to justify what he said were unlawful attacks against Yemen. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani warns that “any act of aggression will have severe consequences, for which the United States will bear full responsibility.” He says Iran will “resolutely defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests under international law against any hostile action.”
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
How Iran Sheltered an International Terrorist for 19 Years and Later Used Him as a Pawn | IranWire
According to recent revelations by former Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, domestic forces deliberately sabotaged the 2015 nuclear agreement (JCPOA) by orchestrating the capture of a terrorist who had been hiding in Iran for 19 years. According to two former Iranian security officials, the individual Rouhani referenced was Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Mughassil, born June 27, 1967, in Qatif, Saudi Arabia. Al-Mughassil was the military commander of Saudi Hezbollah (Hezbollah Al-Hejaz), a group of Saudi Shia supported by the IRGC. Al-Mughassil is known as the mastermind behind the June 25, 1996, bombing that targeted a housing complex for U.S. Air Force personnel in Khobar, Saudi Arabia. A truck bomb was used in the attack, killing 19 American military personnel and injuring 372 others.
Iran Warns Against Attack as US Warships Move Closer | Newsweek
Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Foreign Minister said: “The preparedness of our Armed Forces, government, emergency responders, and civilian capabilities is at its highest level. This readiness grants us immunity and strength, ensuring that no one dares to invade our land.”
The unveiling of the Boeing F-47 by former US President Donald Trump this week was met not with awe across the globe, but with widespread skepticism, criticism and ridicule—particularly from China, Russia, Iran, and Arabic-speaking countries, where analysts and commentators questioned its cost, capabilities, and the political motives behind the announcement.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran's Top Medical Body Warns of Skilled Staff Exodus | Iran International
Iran’s health system faces an uphill battle filling vacancies, the country's medical regulatory body warned on Monday, citing shortages of doctors and nurses as the most pressing challenge in the year ahead. Since August, nurses in dozens of cities across Iran have been staging ongoing protests against harsh working conditions and the government’s failure to pay wages consistently.
EUROPE & IRAN
Hundreds Protest in Central London Against Pro-Iran Al Quds Day March | Jewish News
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in central London on Sunday to oppose the annual Al Quds Day march, calling for the UK government to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and take firmer action against extremism and antisemitic hate speech.
Why Won’t Britain Take the Threat of Iran Seriously? | Melanie Phillips in the Times of London
Plots by Tehran to murder dissidents in the U.S. and UK show decades of appeasement have backfired.
IRAQ & IRAN
US Warns Iraq to Crack Down on Iranian-backed Militant Groups | Independent
The State Department on Monday issued a forceful statement aimed at Iraq’s government that condemned the continued exist[e]nce of militant groups within Iraq that refuse cooperation with the government, including groups backed by Iran. Militant groups within the country including most predominantly the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) continue to represent a major headache for the US government. The PMF holds major political influence within Iraq’s parliament and broader government, to say nothing of the estimated tens of thousands of forces it commands in various brigades around the country.
Iraqi, Iranian FMs Discuss Trump’s Message to Khamenei amid Regional Tensions | Kurdistan24
Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi held a phone call on Monday, during which Araghchi disclosed the contents of a message sent by U.S. President Donald Trump to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.