THIS PAGE WILL BE UPDATED WITH THE LATEST NEWS
UPDATE: 2:00 PM CEST
Canada Gave Contracts to Iran VP’s Son While Investigating Role in Regime Missile Program
he Canadian government awarded millions worth of contracts to the son of Iran’s former vice-president, despite an ongoing investigation into allegations he helped the Islamic Republic evade sanctions and develop missile systems, documents obtained by Global News reveal.
Since founding two companies in Alberta, an Edmonton resident named “Sal Ghafouri” has received more than $2 million in federal and provincial contracts, including from the RCMP and Department of National Defence, public records show.
The 45-year-old was part of an official Canadian trade mission to Latin America, received a federal business grant and was invited to “propose legislation” to the Alberta government at consultations backed by the province’s economic development minister.
But according to newly released records, Ghafouri is actually Mohammad Reza Ghafouri Fard, an Iranian who has been the subject of a long-running Canadian investigation into his alleged work for Iran’s military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
UPDATE: 7:00 AM CEST
From The Deserts of Iraq to the Streets of Iran: The Legacy of Ashraf
During the years that followed the 2003 war in Iraq, Iran’s regime launched a series of deadly military assaults and relentless sieges against the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) at Camp Ashraf in Iraq. The regime operated on a fatal miscalculation. They believed that by razing that isolated sanctuary, they could uproot the principal tree of organized Iranian resistance once and for all.
Yet tyranny routinely misreads the laws of historical struggle. In striking Ashraf, the regime did not extinguish the resistance; it shattered the husk and scattered its seeds across the length and breadth of Iran.
Carried by the winds of deep public grievance and unyielding resolve, those seeds took root in every city, town, and alley—from Tehran and Isfahan to Mashhad, Tabriz, Shiraz, Zahedan, and Sanandaj. Today, that scattered harvest has matured into an unyielding vanguard of defiant youth and organized urban fighters who challenge the regime’s security apparatus on its home turf daily.
Three Women Handed Death and Prison Sentences in Isfahan “Shohada Square” Trial
Three women, Taraneh Rahimi, her sister Romina Rahimi, and Setayesh Saedi, have been sentenced to death and lengthy prison terms by the Isfahan Revolutionary Court in the case known as the Isfahan’s “Shohada Square.”
Nine other protesters have also been sentenced to death in this case. Four others have been sentenced to long prison sentences.
Taraneh Rahimi, who was arrested during the January 2026 protests, has been sentenced to death and 11 years in prison.
Romina Rahimi, who was arrested during the January 2026 protests, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Setayesh Saedi has been sentenced to 5 years in prison in connection with the same case. Setayesh Saedi was arrested on February 2, 2026, while still under the age of 18. During her detention, she was kept in solitary confinement for a long period and subjected to pressure to extract forced confessions.
IAEA Reports Progress in Syria Investigation, None in Iran
VIENNA, Sept 1 (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear watchdog has resolved its outstanding questions from an investigation into secret nuclear activities in Syria under the Assad family’s rule but made no progress in Iran, it said on Tuesday in confidential reports seen by Reuters.
One of the International Atomic Energy Agency reports sent to member states ahead of next week’s quarterly meeting of the IAEA’s Board of Governors praised the new Syrian authorities for their “transparency and cooperation” in helping uncover the past activities and the material that remains.
Since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, Syria’s new authorities have committed to working with the IAEA.
“The agency, having received the necessary information and access from Syria, … has been able to clarify and resolve the agency’s questions concerning the outstanding safeguards issues previously reported to the (IAEA) Board,” it said.
Iran’s Inflation Crisis Enters a New Phase as Prices Threaten to Surge Toward 100 Percent
Iran’s economy has entered the second half of 1405 (2026) in a condition where debating a few percentage points of inflation is no longer the central issue. Official statistics, currency-market developments, restrictions on foreign trade, and warnings from economists all point toward another substantial increase in the general price level before the end of the year.
The more urgent question is therefore no longer simply how high inflation will be, but how much additional economic pressure Iranian households can withstand.
A Saturday, August 29, report by Donya-e Eqtesad outlined three possible inflation scenarios for the remainder of the year. Even its most optimistic scenario points to continued exceptionally high inflation, while continued sanctions and economic restrictions could push the country toward near-triple-digit annual price increases.
According to Iran’s Statistical Center, monthly inflation reached 3.4 percent in August, while year-on-year point-to-point inflation reached 89 percent. The Central Bank reported slightly different figures, putting monthly inflation at 3.7 percent and point-to-point inflation at 84.4 percent.
Undocumented Baluch Workers: Iran’s Most Vulnerable Laborers Trapped Between Poverty and Repression
A report by Iran’s ILNA news agency has described undocumented Baluch workers as “the most deprived section of Iran’s working class,” highlighting a crisis in which poverty, legal exclusion, and repression reinforce one another.
Published Tuesday, September 1, the report said these workers are scattered across Iran in search of the most basic means of survival. Many are employed in the country’s hardest and least secure jobs, receiving low wages and virtually no benefits. At the same time, they have little ability to protest exploitation because doing so can expose them to arrest, dismissal, or deportation.
According to ILNA, undocumented Baloch workers commonly collect recyclable materials and garbage, work as daily-wage construction laborers, or perform loading and unloading work at ports and southern docks. Most lack insurance and access to the legal protections available to other workers.
Their situation has become even more precarious as economic pressures deepen across Iran. For those living in border regions, unemployment and poverty leave families with increasingly desperate choices. Labor activist Abdollah Balvasi warned on August 30 that growing poverty among border families is pushing children and teenagers into kolbari—the dangerous transportation of goods across mountainous border routes—to help cover household expenses.
Human Rights Concerns in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran
Reports received from local sources and human rights organizations indicate the continued occurrence of serious human rights concerns in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province. Documented incidents raise concerns regarding the right to life, the prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, due process violations, violence against women, abuse of law enforcement powers, and violations of economic and social rights.
The incidents summarized below reflect ongoing concerns regarding the treatment of members of the Baluch minority and the broader human rights situation in the province.
According to reports, Anvar Shahli-Bar, a 40-year-old Baluch man, died while being held at the Criminal Investigation Department detention facility in Khash after being arrested by law enforcement authorities.
Sources allege that he was subjected to physical abuse and torture during interrogation with the aim of extracting a confession. It has further been reported that, at the time of reporting, his body had not been returned to his family.
Heavy Collapse in Iranian Workers’ Purchasing Power Over the Past 10 Years
In recent years, and particularly in the months following the recent war, workers’ “real wages” in Iran have experienced a severe collapse. By global standards, a daily wage below $10 constitutes absolute poverty. International organizations and labor bodies, including the International Trade Union Confederation, generally classify workers earning less than $5 a day as being in extreme poverty or as workers on the brink of famine and starvation.
Over a 10-year period, the base wage of workers covered by Iran’s labor law, or what is referred to as the “real wage of the working class,” has fallen from $232 to $83. In other words, workers’ real wages were 2.7 times higher 10 years ago than they are today.
Thus, according to official definitions, workers whose monthly wages are around $100 are considered “extremely poor” and at risk of hunger. Unfortunately, the majority of Iranian workers today fall into this category.
As of August 28, the price of the U.S. dollar in Iran’s market has reached nearly 200,000 tomans, or 2 million rials. This year, the minimum wage for married workers with one child, including all benefits, is 249 million rials, equivalent to $124. The base wage for workers this year has been set at 166.25 million rials, which at today’s exchange rate is $83.
Leila Abolhasani, Mother of Two Young Daughters, Sentenced to Death
Leila Abolhasani, a 43-year-old citizen and mother of two teenage daughters, is among those arrested during the January protests in Shahin Shahr, Isfahan Province.
She was arrested on the evening of January 8 during the protests. Security forces then transferred her to Dowlatabad Prison in Isfahan.
According to published reports, Leila was present at the scene when a fire broke out at one of the IRGC-run Ofogh Kourosh chain stores. Family members say she was filming the fire. They have denied that she had any involvement in starting the fire.
However, Branch 5 of the Revolutionary Court of Isfahan, presided over by Judge Vahid Hemmat-Nejad, sentenced Leila Abolhasani to death on charges of “waging war against God.” Following an appeal against the verdict, the case is now before the regime’s Supreme Court.
From a human rights perspective, the central issue in this case is not merely the imposition of a death sentence. The manner in which the case was handled and the defendant’s ability to access an effective defense are also of fundamental importance. Reports by Human Rights Activists in Iran say that Ms. Abolhasani was denied the right to choose her own lawyer during the proceedings.
Oil Surges Above $95 as Iran’s President Talks Diplomacy and IRGC Warns Hormuz Restrictions Will Tighten
TEHRAN — As a new round of fighting between Iran and the United States again unsettles oil markets and shipping through the Strait of Hormuz falls sharply, the government of Masoud Pezeshkian continues to raise the possibility of returning to an understanding with Washington, even as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warns of tighter restrictions on passage through the region’s most important oil waterway.
Brent crude reached $95.68 a barrel on Wednesday morning, September 2, while U.S. crude traded at $90.83, after both benchmarks had risen by more than $4 in the previous session. At the same time, preliminary Kpler data published by Reuters showed that only four commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, compared with 10 on Monday and an average of about 13 a day over the previous 10 days.
The developments came after the United States carried out strikes on IRGC targets in Iran on Tuesday, September 1, and Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on U.S. targets in the region. U.S. Central Command said it targeted air defenses, radar systems, naval equipment and facilities, mine-laying capabilities and IRGC communications centers. Iran said it attacked U.S. targets in Jordan and Iraq, while Iranian media also reported an attack on Bahrain.
PMOI Supporters Hold Book Table and Photo Exhibition in Paris to Protest Executions in Iran
Paris, France – September 1, 2026 – Supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a book table and photo exhibition in Paris to denounce the execution of political prisoners and the continued detention of protesters arrested during Iran’s January 2026 uprising.
The event highlighted what organizers described as the Iranian people’s call for a democratic republic and their aspirations for peace, freedom, justice, and fundamental rights. It also emphasized the Iranian Resistance’s appeal for greater international solidarity with the Iranian people.
Organizers called on the French public and the international community to acknowledge the suffering of the Iranian people and their rejection of all forms of dictatorship, whether monarchical or theocratic.
Through photographs, personal testimonies, and other materials, the exhibition highlighted the courage and sacrifices of those who participated in the January 2026 uprising. It also drew attention to what organizers described as the Iranian regime’s ongoing human rights violations, including the execution of political prisoners and the continued detention of protesters.
Hamburg Rally Calls for an End to Executions and Death Penalty in Iran
Hamburg, Germany – September 1, 2026: Supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) held a rally and photo exhibition in Hamburg to condemn executions carried out by Iran’s ruling regime and call for an end to the death penalty.
The participants urged the international community to take concrete action to halt executions in Iran and condemned the execution of PMOI political prisoners, as well as the continued detention and prosecution of protesters arrested during the January 2026 uprising. The event also expressed solidarity with the “No to Executions” campaign, which calls for an end to the use of the death penalty in Iran.