Some Schools in Iran Force Parents to Clean the School for Not Paying Tuition
The state-run Etemad newspaper reported that some schools are forcing parents to clean the schools due to their inability to pay tuition fees. In Taybad, a girls’ school, Bahonar, threatened to expel a student if her father didn’t pay the tuition. In Tehran, a school compiled a list of underprivileged families and contacted them to clean the school.
*Etemad* on October 18, citing a report of a mother being forced to clean her child’s classroom, stated that this practice has also occurred in other schools.
According to the newspaper, the practice of having parents clean schools is not new. Some schools compel the parents of underprivileged students to clean the school during the registration process. If the families refuse, they are threatened with their child’s expulsion.
The report’s author noted that this situation has occurred in a school in Tehran and the Bahonar school in Taybad, Razavi Khorasan province. The investigation revealed that some students had been harassed and seriously harmed, to the point where some have dropped out.
In a state-run school in Qods City, Tehran, a student’s mother was forced to clean all the classrooms in order to register her child in school.
Nearly All of Iran Affected by Land Subsidence
Ali Beitollahi, member of the scientific council of the Road, Housing, and Urban Development Research Center of Iran, warned that, with the exception of Gilan Province, land subsidence has occurred in all provinces of the country. He noted that the rate of subsidence is expanding daily, yet policymakers, despite clear evidence, have not fully grasped the scale of the disaster.
Beitollahi highlighted cities with the highest levels of subsidence in Iran, adding: “In areas with high population density, the rate of subsidence is very high, including Mashhad, Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kerman, and other major cities.”
He emphasized that subsidence is particularly evident in historical sites and cultural heritage, warning that this phenomenon has been observed in historic cities such as Yazd and Isfahan.
This academic noted that the size of subsidence zones is increasing daily, adding: “For example, in the south and southwest of Tehran, there is a zone 60 kilometers long and 30 kilometers wide, and in southern Alborz province, the annual rate of subsidence is 37 centimeters.”
He added that the entire city of Isfahan is situated within a subsidence zone, and this phenomenon is expanding every day.
Subsidence in Historical Sites
Beitollahi pointed to subsidence in Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square, the city’s old mosques, Persepolis, and the Naqsh-e Rostam site, stating: “The images of subsidence at Naqsh-e Rostam are not accurate, but our inspections show that subsidence cracks exist in this location.” He expressed regret that no organization is taking responsibility for the subsidence, adding that historical landmarks and important buildings in major cities and subsidence zones require special repairs. However, the seventh development plan of the country does not include preventive measures to mitigate the risks of this phenomenon. This geologist stressed that enforceable regulations are necessary to combat land subsidence, but such laws have not yet been issued. According to Beitollahi, due to the lack of serious attention to the issue of subsidence, it only garners attention when the damage to historical sites becomes visible and is reported in the media. In Iran, Persepolis and other ancient structures around it, such as Naqsh-e Rostam, have faced land subsidence for years. Maryam Dehghani, a faculty member at Shiraz University, stated on October 18 that subsidence is occurring 300 to 500 meters from Persepolis and 10 meters from Naqsh-e Rostam, and the large cracks caused by the subsidence in these areas are fully visible.Land Subsidence in Iran
Iran has one of the highest rates of land subsidence in the world, and in some areas where underground water reservoirs have fully collapsed, the damage may be irreversible. One of the main reasons for Iran’s high rate of subsidence is the excessive extraction of groundwater. Experts say that Iran’s thousand-year-old groundwater reserves have been depleted in the last three decades. Land subsidence also affects infrastructure such as airports, roads, and railways. According to researchers, the unsustainable extraction of groundwater will push nearly 90 million people in the country into a water crisis. In late September, The Guardian reported that Iran had reached a critical point due to groundwater depletion, citing satellite images that show large cracks and sinkholes forming, with widespread areas sinking at a rate of more than 10 centimeters per year. A subsidence rate higher than four millimeters per year signifies a critical point, but in Iran, the subsidence rate is now being reported in centimeters instead of millimeters.Only $1.5 Million Paid Out of $70 Million in Taxes Owed by Luxury Homeowners in Iran
According to the Iranian regime’s Tax Authority, 135,509 luxury residential units and garden villas have been subjected to taxes amounting to 44.63 trillion rials (approximately $69.8 million), of which only 940 billion rials (approximately $1.471 million) have been collected.
According to the organization, the threshold for luxury home tax in 2024, based on the budget law, is set at 350 billion rials (approximately $547,730). All residential units and garden villas valued above this amount must pay taxes on the excess.
Failure to pay taxes by luxury homeowners comes at a time when reports show that tax evasion by the wealthy has become commonplace. According to the Tax Authority, in the spring of 2024, government revenues from income and salary taxes grew by 15%, revenues from goods and services taxes grew by 36.5%, while wealth tax revenues dropped by 28.5%.
Government performance indicates that in recent years, due to the decline in foreign exchange revenues, the regime has focused its efforts on collecting taxes to cover some of its ongoing expenses.
On September 24, the head of Iran’s Tax Authority stated that the organization’s revenue collection in the first half of this year had increased by 49% compared to the same period last year, saying: “We collected a total of 511.389 trillion rials (approximately $8 billion), which is about 1.67 quadrillion rials (around $2.6 billion) more than the same period last year.”
In May 2024, *Mehr News Agency* reported that government tax revenues had risen from 1.09 quadrillion rials (about $1.7 billion) in 2018 to about 8.06 quadrillion rials (around $12.6 billion), marking a 740% increase over six years.
While tax revenues have increased, many experts believe that the government does not provide services commensurate with the amount of taxes collected. Moreover, there is no transparency or report on how tax revenues are being spent.
This comes at a time when a significant portion of the economy, estimated by experts to account for over 50% of Iran’s total economy, is under the control of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and exempt from taxes. In fact, the largest share of tax evasion relates to the assets of the regime’s leaders.
Iran: Amnesty International Raises Concern Over Potential Execution of Four Political Prisoners in Ahvaz
In a statement, Amnesty International Germany announced that the transfer of four political prisoners to solitary confinement in Ahvaz prison indicates the possibility of their execution in the coming days.
According to this human rights organization, Ali Mojadam, Moein Khenfari, Mohammadreza Moghaddam, and Adnan Ghabishavi are at risk of execution.
In Amnesty International Germany’s statement, it was noted that the status of two other prisoners involved in the same case as these four political prisoners is unclear. It is unknown whether Salem Mousavi and Habib Deris have also been transferred to solitary cells.
In recent days, civil rights activists and human rights organizations have continued to respond to the news of the possible execution of the four political prisoners in Ahvaz.
According to reports, on February 14, 2023, Branch 4 of the Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Court in Ahvaz sentenced “Ali Mojdam, Habib Deris, Salem Mousavi, Mohammadreza Moghaddam, Adnan Mousavi, and Moein Khenfari” to death on charges of moharebeh (waging war against God). On March 6, 2023, Mizan News Agency, affiliated with Iran’s judiciary, officially announced the issuance of death sentences for these political prisoners, accusing them of killing two Basij members, a police officer, and a soldier.
The charge against these four prisoners and their two co-defendants is the “murder of four security officers” in Khorramshahr and Sarbandar. However, Amnesty Internationa emphasized that these “six Arab political prisoners were tortured to make forced confessions and sentenced to death for the charge of baghi (armed rebellion).”
This is the second time these individuals have been transferred to solitary confinement. In May 2023, the Iran Human Rights Organization also announced that “six Ahvazi Arab political prisoners, sentenced to death on security-related charges, were moved to solitary confinement in Sheyban prison in Ahvaz for the execution of their sentences.” The organization identified these six political prisoners as Ali Mojdam, Mohammadreza Moghaddam, Adnan Mousavi, Salem Mousavi Alboshoukeh, Moein Khenfari, and Habib Deris.
Amnesty International Condemns Iran’s Death Sentence for Juvenile Offender in Shiraz
Amnesty International, on Friday, October 18, issued a statement urging Iran’s regime to not execute Mohammad Reza Azizi, a 21-year-old who was only 17 at the time of the crime he was charged with.
Amnesty International stated that Iranian authorities plan to carry out Azizi’s execution on Monday, October 21, in Shiraz.
The international human rights organization condemned Azizi’s death sentence as a violation of international laws that prohibit executing individuals who were under 18 at the time of the alleged crime, a commitment to which Iran’s regime is also a signatory.
Mohammad Reza Azizi, a juvenile offender incarcerated in Shiraz Central Prison, was arrested and sentenced to qisas (retribution) for “premeditated murder.”
Azizi, born on August 24, 2003, was arrested on September 19, 2020, when he was just 17 years and 27 days old.
In response, Sara Hashash, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“The planned execution of Mohammed Reza Azizi puts on full display the Iranian authorities’ cruelty. Their repeated flagrant disregard for the right to life is an abhorrent assault on children’s rights. Using the death penalty against someone who was a child at the time of the crime is prohibited under international human rights and customary law and violates Iran’s international obligations.”
Amnesty International has called for the immediate cancellation of Azizi’s death sentence and urged the regime to give him a retrial, fully adhering to international standards, without resorting to the death penalty.
Amnesty International claims to have reviewed the legal documents of the case and found that the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, under the supervision of the judiciary, concluded—without explaining the circumstances of the crime—that Azizi had reached mental maturity at the time of the offense.
The “No to Executions on Tuesdays” campaign, made up of prisoners on hunger strike in over 22 Iranian prisons, issued a statement on October 15, announcing that more than 36 people had been executed the previous week. Among them were two juveniles, Mehdi Barahoui and Ali Shirvani, aged 17 and 15 at the time of their arrest, who were executed in violation of the “Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
The Iranian regime has repeatedly sentenced juvenile offenders to death, and Iran has the highest number of executions of minors in the world.
Despite the fact that the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights prohibit the sentencing and execution of individuals under 18, the Iranian regime continues to enforce such sentences, justifying it as being in accordance with Sharia law and domestic regulations.
Escalating Student Protests and Public Demonstrations Across Iran
On Wednesday, October 16, protests by various segments of the public were accompanied by a student protest.
On Wednesday, the second protest by medical students from Islamic Azad University Science and Research Branch took place in front of the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.
First-year students in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy at the Science and Research Branch of Islamic Azad University protested the sudden increase in tuition fees without prior notice.
The students had also held a similar protest in front of the Science and Research University the previous day.
The new students are protesting the sudden tuition hike that was announced after the final 2024 entrance exam results. Tuition fees for these programs have increased from 300 million rials (approximately $471) per semester to 900 million rials (approximately $1,413).
In Bushehr, car buyers gathered in front of the sealed “Bustan Arya Khodro” car dealership, hoping for action to recover their money.
They said, as usual, all the city officials are complicit, and these cases have gotten nowhere so far. “A knife doesn’t cut its own handle!”
Additionally, disabled individuals in several cities held protests in front of the Welfare Organization and provincial government offices, demanding the allocation of a budget for the full implementation of Article 27 of the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the 2025 budget bill.
Protests by disabled individuals took place in Tehran, Kerman, Ardabil, and in front of the Khuzestan Governor’s Office in Ahvaz.
Expansion of Anti-Regime Protests
Tehran—Supporters of Esteghlal Football Club also held a protest in front of the Persian Gulf Holding in Tehran.
Similarly, service staff at Vali-e-Asr and Mousavi Hospitals in Zanjan held protests in front of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences.
Holding placards and banners, these individuals demanded fairness in wage payments and protested the current practices in the hospitals.
One of the service workers said, “It’s not clear at all what our duties are in the hospital!”
He criticized the behavior of hospital officials towards service workers, saying, “The way the hospital treats service staff is like slavery, and they have no respect for us just because we are called service workers.”
Hospital officials, in response to the service workers’ protest, said, “Wait two months until we leave, and the next government and president will address your issues.”
Another service worker at the protest said, “The hospital is facing a shortage of service staff, so we can’t even take leave under the most urgent circumstances.”
“Ten days ago, we asked the university president to solve our problems, but nothing has happened.”
Iran’s Social Security Fund on the Brink of Bankruptcy
In recent years, Iran’s Social Security Fund, a key pillar for the economic security of retirees and workers, has faced serious challenges. A sharp decline in the ratio of contributors to pensioners, massive government debt, rising retirement costs, and mismanagement have pushed this fund to the brink of crisis.
This situation has not only affected the lives of millions of retirees but has also cast a shadow over the entire national economy. The government-affiliated newspaper Jahan-e Sanat analyzed the condition of the Social Security Fund on October 15. This analysis is based on their report.
Current Situation and Challenges
The significant decline in the number of contributors relative to pensioners is severely threatening the financial stability of the fund. This is due to increased life expectancy, declining birth rates, and the growing elderly population. The government’s debt to the Social Security Fund has reached astronomical figures. This massive debt has severely limited the fund’s financial resources, reducing its ability to meet its obligations. With the rising retirement age and inflation, the cost of paying pensions has increased dramatically, placing immense pressure on the fund’s financial resources. Mismanagement, corruption, and a lack of transparency have led to resource wastage and a loss of public trust. Complex and inflexible regulations have increased production costs and discouraged employers from hiring formal employees.Consequences of the Social Security Fund Crisis
Low pensions and rising inflation have significantly reduced retirees’ purchasing power, leaving them with serious livelihood challenges. Burdensome regulations and high insurance costs have pushed employers toward hiring informal workers, leading to a rise in unemployment. The problems of the Social Security Fund have impacted the entire economy, leading to reduced production and economic growth.Root Causes of the Crisis and Can They Be Fixed?
The government’s flawed economic and social policies, including failure to repay debts to the fund, rising government expenses, and lack of structural economic reforms, have exacerbated the crisis. Demographic changes, including the increasing proportion of elderly in the population, have put immense pressure on the fund’s resources. The lack of transparency and administrative corruption have resulted in resource wastage and diminished public trust. In Iran, all budget deficits are covered by drawing from the pension fund. This causes the crisis to directly impact the lives of retirees, who are already under severe economic pressure. For this reason, retirees are frequently protesting in the streets to demand their rights.Saving the Social Security Fund from Crisis
The Social Security Fund is heading toward a deep crisis that could lead to its financial collapse, along with rising unemployment and poverty. The regime is unable to settle its debts to the fund. However, in a democratic government, both the people’s demands are met, and economic pressures on their lives are alleviated.Khamenei’s Orders the Acceleration of Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program
Simultaneously with the rise of Massoud Pezeshkian as the president of Iran’s regime, supreme leader Ali Khamenei ordered the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to complete and expedite the nuclear weapons project. Prior to this, the Iranian regime had tried to hide the project or portray it as purely for peaceful purposes. However, the Iranian opposition group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) exposed the regime’s atomic bomb project. Only then did the public become aware of the scale of this project, as well as the regime’s missile program.
These days, Iranian regime officials openly talk about building an atomic bomb, revealing their original intentions.
The primary reason for this is a strategic escape from the quagmire of war and the survival of the Iranian regime through nuclear weapons.
The nuclear project began in 1990, one year after then regime supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini’s death. In a confidential internal report from the IRGC addressed to the leaders of the nuclear project, Khamenei’s desired path is explained:
“Given the course of war in the region and the prospect of its expansion, Iran needs a higher level of deterrence. The current balance is insufficient for the next stages of war. In these circumstances, the best way is to change the nuclear doctrine and design a new model of balance of power. In a conventional battle, the enemy’s capabilities, backed by imperialist support, create problems.”
The Iranian regime will face difficulties in a prolonged, conventional war. Therefore, according to regime officials, the time has come to take the “final step.”
In another report following Iran’s second missile attack on October 1, it was revealed that the “True Promise 2” operation used Khorramshahr, Ghadr, Emad, Kheibar, Qiam, Shahab-3, and the hypersonic Fattah-1 ballistic missiles. However, “repeating similar missile attacks will yield no new results.” Therefore, the next step must establish a balance of power with “high destructive capability and heavy casualties” and “a higher level of deterrence.”
Some senior officials have publicly addressed this issue in Iranian state media.
For example, on October 5, Hassan Khomeini explicitly said: “Our military deterrence must rise to a higher level; deterrence comes from power, not smiles.”
He also added that negotiations are useful, but “velvet gloves hide iron fists.” If we lack power, our hands will be crushed.
On October 9, 39 members of the regime’s parliament wrote a letter to the Supreme National Security Council, calling for a change in defense doctrine to include nuclear weapons.
Hassan Ali Akhlaghi Amiri, a member of the parliament’s cultural commission, referred to Khamenei’s fatwa on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, saying: “Time and place influence rulings, and secondary rulings can replace primary ones.”
On the same day, Mohammad Reza Sabaqian, another parliament member, announced that they would ask Khamenei to change the strategy and fatwa on nuclear weapons if deemed appropriate.
He added: “Building a nuclear weapon will be easy for us, and under the current conditions, creating deterrence capabilities and ensuring national security is essential. The enemy seeks to weaken Iran’s deterrence.”
On October 11, Kamal Kharazi, head of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, said in an interview with Al Jazeera: “If Israel harms Iran’s nuclear facilities, our level of deterrence will change, and if Iran’s existence is threatened, we will be forced to change our nuclear doctrine.”
On October 11, Brigadier General Ahmad Haq-Talab, commander of Iran’s “Nuclear Facilities Protection Corps,” said: “Revising Iran’s nuclear doctrine and departing from previously announced considerations is likely.”
Meanwhile, since June 1991, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has held 120 press conferences, notably exposing uranium enrichment projects at Natanz and heavy water projects at Arak, to raise awareness of this threat among the Iranian people and the world.
The council emphasizes the need to invoke the snapback mechanism in UN Security Council Resolution 2231 and reactivate halted resolutions related to the regime’s nuclear projects.
Delays and inaction in this regard give the Iranian regime the opportunity to advance its plans. The NCRI, led by Maryam Rajavi, sees the overthrow of the mullahs’ regime by the Iranian resistance and people as the final solution to the regional crisis, stressing that external attacks will not bring down the mullahs.
Workers on Strike at Several South Pars Gas Refineries in Iran
On 15th October, workers at several gas refineries in Iran’s South Pars complex went on strike. This strike, as part of the “Protest Tuesdays,” entered its eleventh week. Workers held large gatherings demanding their unmet needs.
According to the report by the Council for Organizing Protests of Oil Contract Workers on Tuesday, October 15, contract workers at refineries 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 in the South Pars Gas Complex went on strike.
According to this report, these refinery workers “held large protest gatherings, pursuing their unmet demands.” These protests continue despite “obstructions by security forces, managers, and contractors.”
The main demands of the protesters include “the right to form labor unions and protest, the complete elimination of contractor middlemen, reinstatement of dismissed protesting workers, an end to security crackdowns on protesting workers, enforcement of prior agreements on vacation entitlements and camp pay, and the fair implementation of a 14-day work and 14-day rest cycle.”
According to Article 10 of the “Duties and Powers of the Ministry of Oil” law, which was passed by the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament) in April 2012, the administrative and employment system, as well as the pay and benefits of employees in the operational and specialized units of companies under the Ministry of Oil, are exempt from the National Civil Service Law. Instead, their system is prepared with the recommendation of the Ministry of Oil and the approval of the Vice President’s Office of Development and Human Resources.
The Council for Organizing Protests of Oil Contract Workers also reported that on Monday, official employees of the oil and gas industry “refused to issue work permits in operational areas of the refineries as a form of protest.”
The council, quoting protesting contract workers, reported that “in solidarity, we have stopped work, and even in the refineries where our protests have been blocked, work has completely halted.”
In the past weeks, on Mondays, employees in the oil-rich southern regions, oil platforms, and all sectors involved in the oil industry have gone on strike, and on Tuesdays, the strikes at various refineries in the South Pars Gas Complex and protests by official colleagues have continued.
The Council for Organizing Protests of Oil Contract Workers has announced that it supports and backs the protests and strikes “of all sectors working in the oil industry.”
How Iran’s Regime Fans the Flames of Civil War in Sudan
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, October 15, that weapons secretly supplied by foreign countries to both sides of the conflict in Sudan—including ammunition and drones sent by the Iranian regime and the United Arab Emirates—are fueling Sudan’s devastating civil war.
In the section concerning Iran, the report, based on classified assessments, a report funded by the U.S. State Department, and evidence collected from weapons seized in Sudan, revealed that the Sudanese army has been using foreign-armed drones, particularly those covertly supplied by the Iranian regime, since late last year.
The report tracked seven flights between Iran and Sudan from December 2023 to July 2024, identifying four as military flights that returned to the Iranian Air Force base at Tehran Airport. According to the report, three other planes turned off their transponders when landing in Iran, a “suspicious behavior” suggesting they were also carrying military cargo.
Although Sudanese military officials denied receiving drones from the Iranian government, a Sudanese security official confirmed the accuracy of the report in an interview with The Washington Post. The newspaper said Iranian regime officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023 after months of escalating tensions between the military and the so-called Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In addition to Iran and the UAE, countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Russia are closely monitoring developments in Sudan due to its strategic location on the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s shipping passes.
In 2023, Sudanese military leaders restored relations with Tehran after an eight-year break in ties between Sudan and Iran.
The report states that secret flights from Iran to Sudan began in December of the same year, using an aircraft previously identified by the U.S. government as being involved in transporting weapons to Syrian fighters linked to the Iranian regime.
According to the report, these flights were operated by the Iranian company Fars Air Qeshm, originating from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport, stopping in Bandar Abbas, and then heading to their destination in Port Sudan.
The report highlights the growing presence of Iranian-made weapons in Sudan, citing the downing of an Iranian-made Mohajer-6 drone in Khartoum, a Mohajer-6 ground control station, and significant quantities of Iranian-made artillery and ammunition discovered in the country.
