Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) blocked the leading tech platform Divar from going public on the Tehran stock exchange, The Washington Post reported. According to sources familiar with the matter, the decision followed a series of refusals by Divar’s founder, Hessam Armandehi, to comply with demands from security authorities, including the provision of user data and the allocation of company shares to regime-linked entities. The IRGC’s intervention fuels growing concerns among investors about the escalating restrictions on digital entrepreneurship in the country.
A man posing as a Traditional Medicine Practitioner was arrested in western Tehran after selling weight loss treatments laced with methamphetamine to women. Despite having no more than a high-school diploma, he operated a private clinic, marketing himself as “Dr. Shifa.” Authorities uncovered a clandestine meth lab in his home, in addition to over 200 cellular phones he used in the scheme. He faces charges of medical fraud and endangering public health.
Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, delivered a critique of Iran’s nuclear policy during the annual Nobel Peace Center conference, held this year to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In her remarks, Mohammadi described the regime’s rhetoric about a “peaceful nuclear program” as empty and deceptive, arguing that it has only led to poverty, environmental harm, global isolation, and the persistent threat of war. She emphasized that the Iranian public plays no role in shaping the country’s nuclear decisions and does not see the program as a source of national pride, but rather as a symbol of repression that distances the nation from freedom, dignity, and peaceful coexistence with the world.
Two children were killed in a deadly gas explosion in a rural home in northern Iran’s Golestan province. According to reports, a power outage led to a gas leak inside the home. When electricity was suddenly restored, a spark ignited the gas buildup, it triggered a massive blast that leveled the structure. The incident occurred amid a wave of recurring power outages driven by aging infrastructure, rising summer demand, and mismanagement of the national power grid. Frequent blackouts, particularly in rural areas, have heightened the risk of accidents with deadly consequences. The mother of the children, who survived the incident, described: “They had just begun to live and enter society. Suddenly, the electricity came back on, and there was an explosion. I came and saw that the wall had collapsed on my daughter”.
