Iran plotted to kill Israeli envoy to Mexico - Axios

The paper described the phenomenon as “a quiet but persistent trend” that has taken root across the capital. Certain late-night hangouts now, it said, serve as meeting points for affluent middle-aged and older men and women who approach younger partners seeking either short-term encounters or longer-term financial arrangements.

“I accepted to talk because I want others to know that if they enter such relationships, they might later face disappointment or worse consequences and lose their youth for money,” said Bardya, a 22-year-old university student quoted by the paper.

He described his relationship with a 52-year-old divorced woman named Nazanin as beginning with a single online message.

Bardya now visits Nazanin’s home every few days at her request and sometimes stays for several nights.

Nazanin, who also spoke to Haft-e Sobh, said she saw nothing shameful in the arrangement. “I provide for him financially -- his education, a good car, a nice home, luxury trips -- I spend money on him. But let’s be honest, this isn’t love, it’s a deal.”

These encounters, according to the report, often occur along upscale streets and squares where luxury cars gather near midnight. Agreements range from one-night arrangements worth a few million rials to ongoing relationships in which the older partner provides steady financial support. Some business owners, the paper added, hire younger men and women while simultaneously acting as “sugar patrons.”

A symptom of deeper social breakdown

The spread of such relationships reflects the failure of Iran’s main institutions -- economic, political, religious, educational, and social -- to maintain balance and stability, Sociologist Alireza Sharifi Yazdi told Haft-e Sobh.

“When the economic and political systems fail to perform their duties, inequality widens, insecurity rises, and social disorders begin,” he said.

High unemployment, inflation, and falling marriage rates, he added, have pushed many young people into what he called “compulsory singleness,” while the wealthy exploit their vulnerability through money and influence.

“It’s a shortcut to dreams -- luxury, travel, comfort -- but it ends in emotional exhaustion and loss of self-worth.”

Emotional cost and threat to family life

Such relationships, Sharifi warned, often lead to depression and disillusionment among young people once the initial material benefits fade.

“They begin to feel emotionally enslaved,” he said, adding that the trend also weakens the foundation of marriage and family life. “When expectations from relationships become transactional, genuine partnerships lose meaning.”

Reversing the trend, the Haft-e Sobh concluded, requires addressing its economic roots -- unemployment, inflation, and lack of affordable housing -- while promoting education about healthy relationships. Without reform, it warned, “Iran risks seeing its family structures eroded by the quiet normalization of money-for-affection relationships.”

Between March to early November, total cinema revenues reached 13.2 trillion rials (about $12.2 million), with 16.65 million tickets sold. The figures mark a nearly 20 percent decline in attendance compared with the same period last year, when 20 million people went to theaters.

Economic hardship hits entertainment spending

Film industry observers attribute the downturn to worsening economic and social conditions, as well as public fatigue with repetitive film genres. The news outlet Didban Iran reported that “the 12-day Iran-Israel war and the country’s social climate directly affected audience turnout and cinema revenues.”

Years of soaring inflation and stagnation have sharply reduced the share of entertainment -- including travel and cinema -- in Iranian household budgets. Many families now prioritize basic necessities over leisure activities as the cost of living continues to climb.

Media reports in recent months have pointed to steep increases in food and consumer prices, with the shrinking household table becoming a widely used expression of hardship. The Statistical Center of Iran’s latest data showed broad-based inflation in essential goods and the government’s failure to control rising prices, fueling widespread economic anxiety.

Warnings of deeper economic distress

Economists warn that the country could face severe stagflation if inflationary pressures persist. On November 1, an Iranian economist said that if President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration fails to stabilize the economy and calm political tensions, inflation could exceed 60 percent by the end of the year.

With inflation approaching 50 percent on a year-on-year basis, the decline in cinema attendance has become another indicator of how deeply economic hardship is reshaping everyday life.

The message was delivered to Iraqi officials as political negotiations over the formation of a new cabinet intensified ahead of the November 11 parliamentary elections, the source said.

“If any ministry is given to militias affiliated with Iran, the United States will refuse to recognize the government.”

Disputes over presidency and premiership

Responding to comments by some Sunni leaders about the presidency, the source said Shiite and Kurdish blocs had already agreed that the post would go to the Kurds, with Tehran also approving the arrangement. However, he said the possibility of appointing a Sunni figure as prime minister “would raise concern in Tehran.”

All Shiite factions, according to the source, oppose another term for Mohammed Shia al-Sudani as prime minister, though Mark Safaya, US President Donald Trump’s representative for Iraq, “has a personal relationship with Sudani and may influence the process.”

Unlike in previous election cycles, the source added, the Islamic Republic “no longer holds the same sway” in deciding Iraq’s leadership. “This time, the United States and European countries are far more determined to shape the outcome.”

Election dynamics and foreign pressure

Reuters reported on November 4 that Sudani has entered the campaign with growing public support, seeking to portray himself as capable of maintaining balanced ties with both Washington and Tehran. The 55-year-old prime minister has focused his campaign on improving public services and hopes to secure the largest bloc in parliament.

As the country moves toward the vote, Sudani’s government faces mounting US pressure to curb Iran-backed militias.

Sudani has said previously that disarming these militias would be impossible as long as the US-led coalition remains in Iraq.

Iran supports Iraqi groups through financing, training, and arms, primarily focusing on Shia militias that are often integrated into the official Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). This support helps groups like the Badr Organization and Kata'ib Hezbollah exert military and political influence, though some factions like Harakat Hezbollah Al-Nujaba have focused more on military operations. The support allows Iran to pursue its regional objectives, gain influence, and destabilize Iraqi politics while coordinating attacks against US forces.

Behrouz Morovati, a disability rights activist, said the situation for people with disabilities has become extremely critical, with government support far below subsistence levels.

“Even in the best case, when a person with a severe disability receives a stipend, subsidy, and livelihood allowance, the total comes to around thirty million rials per month (nearly $28),” Morovati told the ILNA on Friday.

“In a country where the poverty line is estimated at 300 to 700 million rials (around $277 to $650), this gap shows how impossible it has become for people with disabilities to meet basic needs.”

Years of delay in job fund implementation

The Employment Opportunity Fund for Persons with Disabilities was supposed to launch in 2018 but has made no progress after nearly seven years, ILNA reported.

The fund’s legal framework, Morovati said, dates back to 2004 but has been repeatedly stalled by bureaucratic disputes, objections to its bylaws, and political disagreements over leadership appointments.

“This delay has only deepened the financial strain on disabled people,” he said.

Incomplete welfare payments and unfulfilled quotas

The government, according to Morovati, has failed to fully implement Article 27 of the law, which requires that monthly disability payments equal at least 20 percent of the annual minimum wage. Around 300,000 eligible people are still waiting for assistance, he added.

He further criticized the government for not meeting the legally mandated three-percent employment quota for persons with disabilities, saying only about one percent of those positions have been filled.

According to Iran’s Welfare Organization, there are more than 9.7 million people with disabilities nationwide -- around 11.5 percent of the population -- with roughly 60,000 new cases added each year, mostly from road accidents.

Although the June attacks on Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordo “severely damaged” Iran’s nuclear program, the country retains the knowledge and material “to manufacture a few nuclear weapons,” Grossi told FRANCE 24.

“To reconstruct that industrial technological base, Iran would need time,” Grossi said, adding that the strikes marked a sharp shift “from diplomacy to the use of force” and urging a return to negotiations. “Diplomacy is the only path toward a durable solution,” he said.

Politicized report and call for renewed talks

Grossi dismissed remarks that an IAEA safeguards report provided justification for the strikes, saying it had been politicized and contained nothing new. He also rejected suggestions that artificial intelligence influenced the agency’s conclusions, emphasizing that “our findings are made by human inspectors, not machines.”

The IAEA’s Board of Governors found Iran in non-compliance with its nuclear obligations on June 12 after the agency said Tehran had failed to explain the presence of undeclared nuclear material at multiple sites. Inspectors last verified more than 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium in Iran shortly before the June conflict began.

In late September, 70 members of Iranian parliament in a letter to the heads of the branches of government and the Supreme National Security Council requested that, by changing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s previous fatwa and in order to create deterrence, the Islamic Republic undertake the manufacture and possession of a nuclear bomb.

In recent months, and especially after the 12-day war with Israel, several officials of the Islamic Republic have criticized Grossi’s reports. Some called him a “Mossad agent,” and even Kayhan -- a newspaper overseen by Khamenei’s representative -- demanded his execution on charges of spying for Israel.