Relatives of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman whose death nearly a year ago sparked mass protests in Iran, have confirmed reports that one of her uncles has been arrested ahead of the anniversary of her death.

A brother of Amini's, Ashkan Amini, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that Safa Aeli was arrested in their hometown of Saghez, in the northwestern Kurdistan Province, on September 5.

It is not known what the reasons are for the arrest or what entity carried it out, although social media posts indicated that security forces in Saghez were involved.

RFE/RL was unable to determine Aeli's whereabouts.

The arrest took place as the anniversary of Amini's September 16, 2022, death approaches.

Amini was arrested in Tehran on September 13, 2022, while visiting the Iranian capital with her family. She was detained by Iran's "morality police" for allegedly improperly wearing her hijab, or head scarf. Within hours of her detention, she was hospitalized in a coma and died on September 16.

Her family has denied that Amini suffered from a preexisting health condition that may have contributed to her death, as claimed by the Iranian authorities, and her father has cited eyewitnesses as saying she was beaten while en route to a detention facility.

Amini's death sparked protests in Saghez that spread around the country and ultimately posed one of the biggest threats to Iran's clerical establishment since the foundation of the Islamic republic in 1979.

At least 500 people were killed around the country after the Iranian authorities clamped down on the demonstrations with brutal force.

Ahead of the anniversary of her death, the authorities have stepped up pressure against family members of those killed, including through arrests, summons for questioning, and warnings against them holding memorial events in honor of Amini or their loved ones.

Imprisoned teacher Jafar Ebrahimi faces new charges of creating a public disturbance and insulting prison authorities, and has been transferred to another prison despite warnings from his lawyer that he should remain in Evin prison because of his "critical" health condition.

Erfan Karamveisi, the lawyer of the jailed spokesman of the Iranian Teachers' Union's Coordination Council, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on September 3 that the new case was announced after Ebrahimi, contrary to "promises made by prison officials," had been transferred along with several other political prisoners to the Ghezel Hesarp prison in Karaj.

"This transfer was illegal," Karamveisi wrote.

Karamveisi had recently expressed concern about the deteriorating physical condition of Ebrahimi, saying he urgently required medical attention due to "intestinal inflammation" and "diabetes." He has also warned about the risk of Ebrahimi losing his eyesight.

Earlier in August, a Tehran appeals court upheld a five-year prison sentence handed to Ebrahimi after he was detained in April 2022 ahead of protests to be held the next day, Teachers' Day in Iran.

Ebrahimi, along with Rasul Bodaghi, Ali Akbar Baghani, and Mohammad Habibi, all union activists, were also accused of coordinating the protests with French teachers' union official Cecile Kohler and her partner, Jacques Paris.

Iran has attempted to link the French nationals to the protesting Iranian teachers. The arrests were largely seen as an attempt to discredit the rallies and increase pressure on the Iranian Teachers' Union to stop the protests.

Iranian officials have accused the French couple of "entering the country to sow chaos and destabilize society."

Ebrahimi said in a November 2022 letter that after he was transferred from Tehran's infamous Evin prison to a hospital due to illness, he was chained to the hospital bed for 12 days and denied access to his lawyer and family.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Behrouz Chamanara, a professor at Kurdistan University in western Iran, has been dismissed following a directive from the Ministry of Intelligence as officials continue to attack academics for their support of protests over the death of a young woman in police custody for allegedly wearing her head scarf improperly.

The Student Guild Councils of Iran said on its Telegram channel that Chamanara's removal came after the Kurdistan Intelligence Office rejected his qualifications to serve as a faculty member. Consequently, the university administrators terminated his employment based on the office's letter.

Chamanara confirmed the news by sharing an image of a letter addressed to Hamed Ghaderzadeh, the president of Kurdistan University.

In the letter, Chamanara explained that despite submitting two files regarding employment status conversion and contract extension to the university's recruitment committee at the end of the Iranian calendar year, his request for an extension was declined for reasons unrelated to academic or university matters.

Chamanara faced detention by security forces on November 26 following a statement read by Kurdistan University professors on the university premises. He was released eight days later after posting bail.

As the first anniversary of the start of the protests sparked by Masha Amini's death on September 16 approaches and a new academic year begins, the authorities have made clear that they will not tolerate a repeat of the type of student demonstrations that have shaken universities across Iran over the past 12 months.

In recent weeks, officials have warned that students and educators will be under increased scrutiny, and there has been a wave of professors being removed from their positions.

Most appear to have been fired for allegedly supporting student protests related to Amini's death and against the requirement that all women over the age of 9 wear the hijab, or hair-covering head scarf.

On August 29, at least 10 professors were fired, some of them by telephone, in what student unions have described as a "new innovation in suppressing and dismissing university professors."

SEE ALSO:

'Era Of Repression': Iran Purges Ranks Of University Professors Ahead Of Protest Anniversary

Universities have historically been a battleground in the fight for social and political reforms in Iran.

During the Islamic Revolution of 1979, university students played a prominent role, including the occupation of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. After the clerics came to power, the authorities instigated a mass purge of Iranian universities, firing hundreds of professors and altering curriculums to promote Islamic values.

Since the revolution, university students have voiced their opposition to the clerical establishment, including during a 1999 protest against the closure of a reformist newspaper, resulting in a raid on a dormitory at Tehran University that left one student dead.

The protests against Amini's death in September 2022 led to renewed pressure against students, specifically female students who failed to comply with the hijab law.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Josep Borrell, the European Union's top diplomat, confirmed that Johan Floderus, a Swedish diplomat working for the EU, has been captive in Iran for more than 500 days and said the bloc is working to secure his release.

"I want to stress that I personally, all my team at all levels -- European institutions in close coordination with the Swedish authorities, which have the first responsibility of consular protection -- and with his family, have been pushing the Iranian authorities to release him," Borrell said at a meeting on development in the Spanish city of Cadiz on September 5.

"Every time we had diplomatic meetings, at all levels, we have put the issue on the table. Relentlessly," he added.

A day earlier, Sweden and the EU announced that a 33-year-old Swedish national was detained in what is the latest known case of a foreigner being held there amid political tensions with the West.

Neither originally released Floderus's name, but the New York Times, quoting diplomatic sources, identified Floderus as the diplomat behind bars.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said on September 4 that he did not know about the case. The Intelligence Ministry, however, said a Swedish national had been included on a list of "suspects" of a counterespionage unit due to "some suspicious behavior and communications" during previous trips to Iran.

Iranian security forces have taken some 40 foreign nationals into custody during the current wave of unrest, often without revealing any charges.

Western countries have repeatedly said Iran is trying to take advantage of foreign countries by taking dual and foreign nationals hostage to use in prisoner swaps.

Relations between Tehran and Stockholm have been strained further in recent months after a man tore up and burned a Koran outside a mosque in the Swedish capital in July. In protest, Iran has refrained from sending a new ambassador to Sweden.

With reporting by AFP

Iran has shut down a water park for allowing women entry without the mandatory head scarf, local media reported on September 4. The closure is part of stepped-up measures by the authorities over the past few months against women and businesses who fail to observe the Islamic republic's strict dress code. "The Mojhaye Khorushan water park has been closed" since September 3 evening, Fars news agency quoted the complex manager, Mohammad Babaei, as saying. Babaei said the authorities had declared the park's closure due to people's "ignoring chastity and hjiab" rules.

Iran has slowed its enrichment of uranium at nearly weapons-grade levels, a report by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog seen by the Associated Press said on September 4. The confidential report comes as Iran and the United States are negotiating a prisoner swap and the release of billions of dollars in Iranian assets frozen in South Korea. Slowing its enrichment of uranium could serve as another sign that Tehran seeks to lower tensions between it and the United States after years of tensions since the collapse of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. To read the original story by AP, click here.

An explosion at a coal mine in northern Iran has killed six workers, state media reported on September 4. The blast took place in a tunnel at a depth of 400 meters in the northern city of Damghan, said the official IRNA news agency. It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion. "Six miners were trapped underground on September 3 when the coal mine explosion took place in Damghan," IRNA said. Efforts to rescue the miners were unsuccessful but the bodies were recovered in the morning of September 4, it added.

The first production co-directed by Iranian and Israeli filmmakers had to be shot in secret to prevent possible interference by Tehran, directors Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv told Reuters on September 3. Tatami, a tense thriller centered on a world judo championship, got its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend, receiving a standing ovation. The film takes place over the course of the single day of competition as an Iranian judoka champion, played by Farsi-speaking U.S. actress Arienne Mandi, is ordered to fake an injury to avoid a possible matchup with an Israeli competitor. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Two female Iranian journalists will spend around a month behind bars as part of a three-year partly suspended prison sentence for "conspiracy and "collusion,” local media reported on September 3. Under the sentence, Negin Bagheri and Elnaz Mohammadi will serve one-fortieth of the term, or less than a month, in prison, their lawyer Amir Raisian told the reformist Ham Mihan daily newspaper, where Mohammadi works. "The remaining period is suspended over five years," during which time they will be required to take "a professional ethics training" class and are "prohibited from leaving the country," the lawyer added.

A road accident killed 18 people, mostly Iranian pilgrims, north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, overnight, the state news agency INA reported on September 2. The "horrible accident" between Dujail and Samarra also injured 15 people, INA said, citing the toll from Khaled Burhan, director of health services in Salaheddine Province. Among the dead were 14 Iranians, two Afghans, and two people yet to be identified, according to a hospital official. Millions of Shi'ite pilgrims, many of them from Iran, head each year to the holy shrine city of Karbala for Arbaeen, one of the world's biggest religious gatherings. To read the original story by AFP, click here.

The Nobel Foundation said on September 2 that it would not after all invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus, and Iran to attend the Nobel Prize awards ceremony in Stockholm this year, reversing an earlier decision after widespread criticism. Last year, the foundation left out the ambassadors of Russia and its ally Belarus because of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The prize-winners are announced in early October and five of the six Nobel prizes are awarded in Stockholm every year after a nomination process that is kept secret for the next 50 years. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

Javad Rohi, an Iranian protester who was detained during the recent nationwide protests and had his death sentence overturned by the Supreme Court, has died under suspicious circumstances while in prison, raising concerns among human rights activists over his treatment behind bars.

"Javad Rohi, an inmate in the Nowshahr city prison, was transferred to Shahid Beheshti hospital in the city early on August 31 after suffering a seizure," the judiciary's Mizan Online news website reported, adding that medical personnel tried to treat him but failed to keep the 31-year-old alive.

Majid Kaveh, Rohi's lawyer, confirmed the death of his client in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Further details of Rohi's death were not immediately available, but human rights activists said Rohi had been subjected to brutal torture after his arrest for "inciting a riot" by dancing, clapping, chanting, and throwing head scarves into bonfires.

Rohi was also convicted of allegedly burning a copy of the Koran.

In January, Amnesty International called Rohi's trial "grossly unfair" and said that he, along with two others who had been arrested during the same protests in the seaside city of Noshahr about 125 kilometers north of Tehran, had been subjected to beatings, floggings, electric shocks, suspension, death threats, and sexual violence to extract "confessions."

After receiving a death sentence from the court, Kaveh -- who was not allowed to be present at the trial -- said he was finally allowed access to the case. He said after reviewing the materials that there was no concrete evidence supporting the crimes for which Rohi was sentenced to death and the ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court in June.

The Iranian authorities' violations of due-process rights and fair-trial standards as well as the torture and ill-treatment of detainees have been systemic features of the government's crackdown against anti-government protests.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in an statement on September 1 that the "suspicious" circumstances under which Rohi died raised "grave concerns about his treatment."

The group said it had obtained information that agents of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had held Rohi in solitary confinement without providing any information to his family for over 40 days following his arrest.

It added that during that period, Rohi was exposed to freezing temperatures for 48-hour periods, beaten "severely" with batons, whipped and beaten to such an extent that he had lost control over some internal body functions, could not use one of his legs, and his speech was impaired.

"The Iranian prison authorities' egregious record of torture and mistreatment makes Javad Rohi's death in custody more than a little suspicious," said Tara Sepehri Far, senior Iran researcher at HRW.

“An international inquiry is needed since there’s no reason to believe Iranian authorities will carry out a transparent investigation.”

Kaveh last month had expressed deep concern over what he said seems to be the "disregard for the Supreme Court ruling."

Iran has executed at least seven anti-government protesters in hasty trials, triggering strong condemnation from human rights activists and numerous Western governments.

Human rights groups say the crackdown by the authorities in the wake of unrest sparked by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for an alleged head scarf violation has left more than 500 people dead and hundreds more injured.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Iranian social media users are posting and sharing videos of their own dance performances and renditions of songs by Mehdi Yarrahi as a protest against the singer's arrest for his latest song supporting women's rights.

Yarrahi was arrested on August 28 following the release of the song Your Head Scarf, which was accompanied by a video showing women in various social settings without their head scarves, some dancing to the music. No further details on Yarrahi's arrest have been released.

Yarrahi dedicated the song to the "brave women of Iran who shine courageously at the forefront of the ‘Women Life Freedom’ movement," a reference to protests sparked by the death last September of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for an alleged head scarf violation.

Embed share

Iranian Protesters Post Dance Videos To Support Detained Singer

Embed share

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

---

width px height px

---

The URL has been copied to your clipboard

No media source currently available

0:00 0:01:55 0:00

Renowned Iranian artists including Dariush Eghbali, Ebi, Kaveh Yaghmaei, and Taraneh Alidoosti, as well as various political activists and journalists, have also rallied behind Yarrahi since his arrest.

Acts of civil disobedience have increased in Iran since the death of the 22-year-old Amini. Authorities have responded with a brutal crackdown on all forms of dissent, detaining thousands across the country.

Violators of the hijab requirement can face up to two years in prison, although proposed legislation would increase the maximum sentence to up to three years for repeat offenders.

While the protests appear to be waning, resistance to the hijab, or mandatory head scarf for women, remains high as it is seen now as a symbol of the state's repression of women and the deadly crackdown on society.

Several cinematographers and prominent public figures have also been summoned by the police or arrested, including prominent rapper Toomaj Salehi.

Other celebrities, including prominent actresses Afsaneh Bayegan, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Katayon Riahi, and Pantea Bahram, have been interrogated and have faced legal action after they made public appearances without wearing the mandatory hijab to show support for the protesters.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Iran has accused Israel of being behind a failed plot to sabotage its defense industry and the production of missiles, state media reported on August 31. The two foes have been locked in a shadow war for decades, with mutual allegations of sabotage and assassination plots. "The intelligence unit of the Defense Ministry thwarted one of the largest sabotage plots targeting Iran's missile, aviation, and airspace military industry," Iranian state TV said. "This sabotage was carried out under the guidance of the Zionist intelligence services and their agents." There was no immediate response from Israel. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

The BRICS bloc, a group of developing countries seen as seeking to counter the United States and the West, agreed at a summit last week to admit six new countries -- Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The new members will make BRICS a commodities powerhouse, accounting for a substantial portion of global exports of oil, corn, and wheat. BRICS -- which stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- now accounts for 40 percent of the world's population, a share that will increase when the others join next year.

At the summit, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for the BRICS countries to create a common currency for trade and investment as a way to reduce the dominance of the U.S. dollar. In the days that followed, Russian state media played up the idea of a common BRICS currency and what they told audiences would be the decline of the dollar and of U.S. economic influence.

While BRICS members could make progress on cutting the share of the dollar in their bilateral trade, it will be tougher to get away from it as a reserve currency due to the far greater ease of buying and selling it, Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, a senior fellow in the Brookings Institution's Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, told RFE/RL in an interview on August 29.

Milesi-Ferretti, who previously served as deputy director of the International Monetary Fund's research department, said that the prospect of a BRICS common currency is scarcely credible, pointing to the wide disparities in the structure of members' economies, in their level of development, in the openness of their financial markets, and in the management of their currencies.

If the dominance of the U.S. dollar fades substantially in the future, it will likely have more to do with poor management of the U.S. economy, such as ballooning deficits, than with any BRICS efforts to dethrone it, he said.

The following are excerpts from the interview:

RFE/RL: BRICS has been in existence for almost 13 years. How would you compare this bloc to the G7?

Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti: In my view, the BRICS so far has been more of a talking forum for some of the largest emerging economies rather than a structured entity with a complete commonality of views on the fundamentals of economics.

I think there are clearly elements that are common to these countries. But there are very substantial differences in the structure of the economies, in the level of development, in politics, in many respects, that go way beyond the dissimilarities across the G7, which tend to be countries with a common set of overall values, a similar general structure of the economy, and a similar level of development.

Of course, some are richer than others but overall, there is clearly more homogeneity in the G7 group than there is in the BRICS.

RFE/RL: BRICS will expand to include six more countries: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Will this make the organization stronger?

Milesi-Ferretti: I don't see this as making the group more homogeneous. It will add a trillion-plus dollars in overall GDP, but the differences in structure and economic challenges are massive. Think of Argentina fighting very high inflation and having a dramatic budget situation and compare that with Saudi Arabia splurging on the most expensive soccer players in the world with a level of disposable income, certainly for people born in Saudi Arabia, that is very elevated.

Even currency-wise, the Saudis have a peg to the dollar while Argentina has capital controls and a heavily managed exchange rate. And others have a float, like Brazil. It's just a very different set of economic circumstances and even institutions and policies as well.

RFE/RL: Following the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, Russian state TV has been making bold claims about the decline of U.S. global economic influence. What is your view?

Milesi-Ferretti: If you look at the share of GDP accounted for by the U.S., I think the evidence of decline is not there. It is true that on average, emerging economies have grown faster than advanced economies. China and India played a big role in that, and hence, the share of GDP accounted for by these economies has risen, compared to the share of the G7. But that is due to China and India. Not to Russia. Its growth rate has been quite modest for a number of years. Not for South Africa. It has horrible economic woes, falling GDP per capita. And certainly not for Brazil, which also had a middling growth rate, with some good years, but then a terrible recession in 2015-16. So just a lot of differences in economic performance.

But if you look at the role played by the U.S. in global financial markets, you will certainly not say that there is any evidence of a decline. U.S. firms have done incredibly well over the past decade and a half or so. Particularly companies linked to tech -- but if you look at stock-market capitalization, if you look at the performance of stocks overall, it's clear that U.S. companies have done extremely well.

If you focus more over the short term -- so the recovery from COVID -- also the U.S. economy has done extremely well. It was helped by a lot of stimulus, but it has done extremely well. So, I would certainly not agree with the statement that there is an overall decline, especially in recent years, in the weight of the U.S. economy.

RFE/RL: Russian state media has also talked about the prospects of a BRICS currency to counter the dollar. Is that a realistic proposition?

Milesi-Ferretti: I see that as a very far-fetched notion. As I was mentioning before, these are countries with incredibly different exchange-rate regimes, with obviously one country [China] that is extremely large and very reluctant to surrender any portion of sovereignty and control over its economy and its financial markets. So, there is a gradual opening [in China], but adopting something resembling a common currency implies some element of shared sovereignty, which is what you have in the eurozone, for instance, certainly on monetary policy. And it's just something I just don't see happening given these countries' preferences.

Let's also not forget China and India had border skirmishes relatively recently. From what I understand, the relations are improving, but we're not talking about long-standing allies, for sure. And you'll need quite a bit of commonality to share something as important as a currency.

RFE/RL: So, there is a lot of work to be done if they want to set it up?

Milesi-Ferretti: Setting up something like the euro, a true common currency, is something that requires a lot of preparation, a lot of similarities across countries. It is just unthinkable, again, that these countries would relinquish monetary sovereignty to a common authority, a common central bank, or a common issuer of the currency given the stark differences in economics, in politics, in history, everything. It is just very hard to see [happening]. One could think of something much more limited in scope but then it is not really a common currency. So, some common unit of denomination for trade.

But again, I don't quite see how you actually achieve that. Do you just construct a basket that is a weighted average of the currencies? That is not really a new currency. Is it just purely denomination of trade [in a BRICS currency basket]? Do you want to create financial instruments denominated in that basket? Who is going to invest in that? There's just a lot of question marks there.

So, it's very hard to make an assessment. The one I feel quite confident making is that a common currency in the literal sense of the term -- which is they get rid of the national currencies and adopt a common one -- seems to me completely out of the question.

RFE/RL: What are other risks involved with a common currency?

Milesi-Ferretti: A classical one, when you tie your currencies together, is the problem of so-called asymmetric shocks. So, shocks that affect one country differently from others. In general, exchange rates are a good way to absorb these shocks....

If you move to the BRICS, and you have exporters of commodities versus exporters of manufactured goods, the degree of difference is just very, very large. Think of oil prices. They go up, Russia is happy, Saudi Arabia is happy, but China is an oil importer, South Africa is an oil importer. India is a big oil importer. So, there you have a classic asymmetric shock. And, when oil prices go up, typically the ruble used to go up and Indian rupee would depreciate. With a common currency, you cannot have that.

RFE/RL: What about BRICS's talk of cutting the dollar out of bilateral trade?

Milesi-Ferretti: The objective of reducing reliance on the dollar is something I put more credence in -- in terms of intentions. How is that achieved is going to be a big question mark.

I think one issue is the currency you adopt for denomination of the trade, for settlement, but there is an overall question as to how you manage your external finances. What currency do you put your foreign-exchange reserves [in]? Which currency is used by your firms to finance themselves on international markets? On all those grounds, it is much more difficult to avoid the centrality of the dollar.

I think, again, it is possible that in certain domains you will see some erosion in the role of the dollar in some aspects of international trade. But that is very different from adopting a financial strategy that avoids the dollar altogether.

RFE/RL: With respect to financial strategy, Russia has increased the share of the Chinese yuan in its foreign-currency reserves. Why wouldn't more countries follow Russia's path? What are the risks countries face in holding yuan as opposed to dollars?

Milesi-Ferretti: Well, one issue is the safety and tradability of the financial instruments you use. China has still pervasive capital controls, and hence the trading of financial instruments denominated in yuan does not guarantee the same degree of immediate liquidity and flexibility to trading instruments denominated in dollars. You also have a financial system that is definitely more opaque and with a heavier public hand, in terms of how the system is managed and how it evolves over time.

China has had historically low inflation, the currency has been overall quite stable, and given the size of the Chinese economy and its track record, it is not surprising that you have some share of reserves that are denominated in [Chinese currency]. But again, in a global financial system where the country still retains a lot of restrictions on the ability of nonresidents to invest in or trade financial instruments in China, it is hard to envisage a central role for the [Chinese] currency with the same order of magnitude as the dollar.

And I presume also -- if you think about geopolitical concerns -- it is not just the U.S. that has strong international preferences on what countries are allies and [what] countries it considers more as challengers. That holds for China as well. So, I would assume that even [foreign-currency] reserve managers would not consider that if they put money in U.S. treasuries, then there is a risk of some U.S. response if they don't do what the U.S. wants, but that [this] is not going to happen if they put the money in China.

RFE/RL: What is the best BRICS can achieve?

Milesi-Ferretti: We have a lot of evidence in general that more integration can help efficient use of resources. So, reducing trade barriers among them would certainly be helpful. You could think of some aspects of financial integration, too -- easing financial transactions among them, even though I would say the potential for this to have large benefits across the group is probably more limited, considering that they punch above their weight in trade -- particularly China for manufacturing and the others for commodities -- but in financial markets they still have a more limited role.

So those two aspects -- reducing trade barriers, fostering trade integration, technology transfer -- all those things could be potentially beneficial. But I presume some of the driving forces may go beyond the economics I mentioned.

RFE/RL: Is there anything the United States can or should do to maintain dollar dominance?

Milesi-Ferretti: I would say that is a side benefit of good macroeconomic management. So, if I can flip your question, it would be how to avoid what could lead to a decline, an erosion, in the role of the dollar that goes beyond a natural, healthy process whereby other countries gradually converge income levels. That will be bad macroeconomic management in the U.S.

We have objectively daunting fiscal challenges coming in the U.S. We are at full employment, but the budget deficit is not just large, but projected to remain large for a number of years, and [there is] not much agreement on how to bring it down -- rather, no agreement on how to bring it down. It is an issue that eventually the U.S. is going to have to face.

It is not the only country facing these challenges, but not dealing with those in a timely fashion is the type of mistake that has a repercussion that could also affect the overall status of the dollar on international markets. I'm not talking about any short-term dramatic change, but more about accelerating a longer-term process. The health of the economy, the health of financial markets, good macroeconomic management -- these are the sort of fundamentals that sustain the role of the dollar as a safe asset and currency.

Iran on August 30 banned weightlifter Mustafa Radschaie Langrudi for life, claiming he acted "contrary to the ideals of the Islamic republic" when a photo of him by a medals stand showed him together with an athlete from Israel. Langrudi won two silver medals at the competition in the Polish city of Wieliczka where the picture was taken. In one photo, Langrudi and his Israeli rival are seen talking with smiling faces and holding hands. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, click here.

Iranian journalist Nazila Marofian, who was released from prison two weeks ago, has been arrested again on as officials continue to clamp down on activists ahead of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini next month.

The Tasnim News Agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported that Marofian was arrested on August 30 through an order from the judiciary's "Guidance Court" on charges of "promoting indifference toward religious fundamentals."

Tasnim added that "inappropriate attire in public and disseminating images of this on social media" are among the reasons cited by the Guidance Court for her arrest.

According to reports received by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, Marofian was detained at her home, with security forces using force during her arrest.

This marks the fourth time in the past year that the outspoken journalist has been detained.

Marofian was initially arrested by security forces on November 29, 2022, following the publication of an interview with Amjad Amini, the father of the 22-year-old woman whose death in September 2022 sparked widespread protests across the country.

Mahsa Amini was in police custody at the time of her death for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly.

Before her most-recent detention, Marofian had expressed support for Mehdi Yarrahi, the Iranian protest singer. Addressing Yarrahi, Marofian wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "My dear Mehdi Yarrahi, the path of my journey is the very message at the beginning of your magnificent song."

Yarrahi was arrested on August 28 following the release of the song Your Head Scarf, which was accompanied by a video showing women in various social settings without their heads covered, some dancing to the music. He dedicated the song to the "brave women of Iran who shine courageously at the forefront of the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ movement."

Marofian, who had previously shared a photo without wearing the compulsory hijab on X right after her release, has been a vocal critic of the Iranian government.

In February 2023, she was sentenced by the Revolutionary Court for publishing the interview, even though she did not receive a proper court hearing and was not allowed to mount a defense.

Since Amini's death, Iranians have flooded onto the streets across the country to protest against a lack of rights, with women and schoolgirls making unprecedented shows of support in the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said that at least 527 people had been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces muzzle dissent.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Hundreds of Afghan migrants who fled to Iran say they are living in squalid camps located in the southeastern city of Zahedan, battling hunger and dehydration under relentless summer conditions as they wait for news about their return to Afghanistan.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans are said to have migrated across the border since Taliban militants seized power in August 2021 following the hasty departure of international peacekeeping forces. The influx has come at a time when Tehran is already struggling with economic woes sparked by the imposition of drastic international sanctions over its nuclear program.

Taliban officials have said they seek the safe return of the refugees, but little movement on the issue has been made to address the situation as more and more people cross the border.

One pregnant woman in the Zahedan camp told RFERL’s Radio Azadi that, after a week in the camp, she is without steady access to water, food, or health services.

She and her family fled soon after the Taliban took power, and they have been moving around trying to find some stability. But a lack of legal documents and the harassment of her husband by Iranian police have left her with little hope other than to eventually return home.

"We are stuck inside the camp in Zahedan, and now we can't leave. There is no food, no water, we are about 500 people, young, old, and children, we are all stuck here in this hot weather and there is no one to help us," she said.

"We say we are going to Afghanistan and they [Iranian authorities] say go, but how? How? There is no solution, there is no hotel to stay at and we don't have a bus to go to Afghanistan."

While the refugees say conditions were never good at camps like the one in Zahedan, they have deteriorated in recent months and their treatment by local officials has also worsened, with many complaining of constant harassment.

International human rights groups have documented years of violations against Afghan refugees and migrants in Iran, including physical abuse, detention in unsanitary and inhumane conditions, forced payment for transportation and accommodation in camps, slave labor, and the separation of families.

In 2015, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a decree allowing all Afghan children to go to school. But Afghans are still denied many other basic services, including access to medical care, jobs, and housing.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

The trial has begun in Tehran's Islamic Revolutionary Court of Mohammad Saleh Nikbakht -- the famed lawyer for the family of the 22-year-old Iranian woman whose death in police custody has led to months of mass protests, local media reported on August 30.

The Iranian Etemaad newspaper reported that Nikbakht was notified on August 29 in an initial hearing that he faces charges of "propaganda against the system" stemming from having spoken to local and foreign media involving the “Mahsa Amini affair in particular."

The report said Nikbakht's lawyer urged for his acquittal, saying he had "only criticized the running of the country by the authorities."

If convicted, Nikbakht faces a prison term of one to three years.

Nikbakht has a long history of representing Iranian personalities in rights-related cases, including most recently that of the acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was released from prison days after going on a hunger strike to protest “the illegal and inhumane behavior" of Iran's judiciary and security apparatus.

Beyond the dispute over Amini's death, the lawyer's comments on a range of issues, from women's rights to motorcycle driving licenses to the treatment of Afghan migrants, have been cited as evidence of his alleged propaganda activities.

Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who was arrested while visiting Tehran for allegedly violating the country’s mandatory head-scarf law law, died in police custody nearly one year ago.

Nikbakht was vocal in media interviews, assailing the official findings on the cause of Amini's death, which authorities blamed on health issues.

Amini’s family and supporters rejected the official explanation, saying witnesses saw her being beaten when arrested.

Amini's death prompted thousands of Iranians to take to the streets nationwide to demand more freedoms and women's rights. The widespread unrest, which continues, represents the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.

The Norway-based Iran Human Rights group has said the unrest led to the deaths of at least 587 people, including dozens of children and other youths.

The government, fearing a flare up in protests ahead of the first anniversary of Amini's death on September 16, has ramped up its crackdown against activists and families of those killed in the protests.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda and AFP

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry is reportedly pressuring 12 women's rights activists detained in Gilan Province to make confessions to build fake cases against them as officials try to silence critics ahead of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini next month.

Sources close to the activists told RFE/RL's Radio Farda on August 30 that, in the two weeks since their detention on trumped-up charges, pressure on the 12 women to confess to "fabricated scenarios" to prepare the ground for "severe sentencing is glaringly evident."

One source said some of the women have faced "intense interrogation pressure and physical abuse."

The 12 activists were arrested separately on August 16 by security and intelligence forces in the northern cities of Rasht, Fuman, Anzali, and Lahijan. Among those detained were Matin Yazdani, Forough Sami'nia, Yasmin Hashdari, Jelveh Javaheri, Zahra Dadres, Negin Rezaei, Shiva Shahsiah, and Vahehdeh Khoshsirat.

A day after their detention, the police commander of Gilan Province and the Gilan Intelligence Department accused them of "communicating with the families of protesters killed during the demonstrations and "inciting them," while also participating in "propaganda activities aimed at overthrowing" the country's leadership.

According to the sources, Sara Jahani, a pharmacist at the Burns Hospital in Rasht, was beaten by officers during her arrest due to her refusal to provide the password for her mobile phone.

Sisters Zahra and Zohreh Dadres also suffered physical abuse for the same reason, the sources said.

Iranian officials have repeatedly expressed concerns in recent weeks about the possibility of protests escalating as the anniversary approaches.

At least 500 people have been killed since protests broke out following the death of Amini, an Iranian Kurdish woman who was arrested while visiting Tehran for allegedly violating the country’s hijab law.

In addition, a man detained in Gilan Province at the same time, Hooman Taheri, has also been beaten multiple times while in detention, sources said.

The former student of Tehran’s Amirkabir University, was beaten "to the extent that one of his teeth was broken, his face severely swollen, and bruises and scratches are present on various parts of his body," the source said, adding that officials have prohibited Taheri from making phone calls and having visitors until the signs of the beatings have faded.

The protests in support of Amini began as a rebuke against the brutal enforcement of the mandatory head-scarf legislation, but soon snowballed into one of the most sustained demonstrations against Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Officials have blamed the West for inciting the protests and vowed to crack down even harder on the demonstrations.

Several thousand people have been arrested, including many protesters, as well as journalists, lawyers, activists, digital rights defenders, and others.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Encouraging students to hold unauthorized demonstrations.

Encouraging students to sing antiestablishment slogans.

Encouraging female students to remove their head scarves.

Undermining Islamic values and acting against the interests of the system.

These are the list of reasons the Iranian authorities are using to increasingly purge the ranks of university professors in the wake of nationwide protests that rattled the clerical establishment.

That is according to a long-tenured university professor who was recently suspended. The academic, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, came under intense scrutiny after students held demonstrations in solidarity with the nationwide protests.

The demonstrations broke out after the September 2022 death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating Iran's hijab law on Islamic dress. The protests began as a rebuke against the brutal enforcement of the hijab, but soon snowballed into one of the most sustained demonstrations against Iran's theocracy.

As the anniversary of the start of the protests approaches and a new academic year begins, the authorities have made clear that they will not tolerate a repeat of the type of student demonstrations that shook universities across Iran last year.

In recent days and weeks, officials have warned that students and educators will be under increased scrutiny, and there has been a wave of professors being removed from their positions.

Most appear to have been fired for allegedly supporting student protests related to Amini's death and against the requirement that all women over the age of 9 wear the hijab, or hair-covering head scarf.

On August 29, at least 10 professors were fired, some of them by way of a telephone call in what student unions have described as a "new innovation in suppressing and dismissing university professors."

In the case of the professor who spoke this week to RFE/RL's Radio Farda, the pressure is nothing new, though. "The events in my case are not recent and have been happening since the beginning of the protests," the professor said. "I was the first member of the official faculty to make a statement in support of the students."

After contesting the university's legal right to invoke a suspension, the professor was brought before a disciplinary committee and informed that official complaints had been filed. More visits to various investigative committees followed.

The issue came to a head after student demonstrators at the campus were "brutally attacked" by university security personnel last year, according to the professor. That is when the professor was charged with five counts of "encouraging" the demonstrators, which the professor denied attending. Scores of students were also suspended by the university for participating in the protests, and the professor continued to support them.

"During this era of repression and intimidation, I stood by the students," the professor said, adding that most "professors have no desire to involve themselves with the students' issues."

"This is the ugly story and sadness of Iran's universities today," the professor added. "Scientists, experts, and professors whose responsibility is to protect the independence of the university and preserve the dignity of the youth...why are they asleep?"

"Every day when I think about this fact, tears flow across my face and in my troubled heart," the professor said. "It's really unfortunate."

'They Fear The Universities'

Universities have historically been a battleground in the fight for social and political reforms in Iran.

During the Islamic Revolution of 1979, university students played a prominent role, including the occupation of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. After the clerics came to power, the authorities instigated a mass purge of Iranian universities, firing hundreds of professors and altering curriculums to promote Islamic values.

Since the revolution, university students have voiced their opposition to the clerical establishment, including during a 1999 protest against the closure of a reformist newspaper, resulting in a raid on a dormitory at Tehran University that left one student dead.

The protests against Amini's death on September 16 led to renewed pressure against students, specifically female students who failed to comply with the hijab law.

The targeting of professors and students by the authorities, however, is seen as a risk as Iran reels from an education crisis fueled in part by the exodus of academics to the West. More than 60 professors have reportedly been dismissed over the past two years.

In an interview with Radio Farda on August 30, one suspended educator said that while the authorities seek to Islamicize universities and purge them of educators who might pose a challenge to the clerical establishment, they are wary of going too far.

"The past 44 years have demonstrated that a part of the establishment, and I'm not saying all of them, but a segment, is afraid of universities, especially of social sciences," said Dariush Rahmanian, an assistant history professor at Tehran University.

The Iranian Writers Association in a recent statement decried the moves against professors, warning that "the cycle of repression has become tighter and among the repressed are those who were the silent witnesses of previous repressions."

"If society remains silent in the face of what is happening in universities today, it is feared that the tragedy of the university purges of the [past] will be repeated," the statement added.

Michael Scollon contributed to this report.

A student group says officials at Ferdowsi University in the city of Mashhad have decided to segregate classes by gender for the upcoming school year.

The Student Guild Councils of Iran published photos on August 28 showing an internal memo approved by Abolfazl Ghaffari, the school's vice president for cultural, social, and student affairs, that outlines the implementation of the plan, which was sent to the dean of the Mathematics Department and will be issued to other department heads as well.

In the directive, Ghaffari references a decision by Iran’s Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, which mandates the observance of Islamic guidelines in educational settings, endorsing the separation of male and female students in classes.

Gender segregation has long been a contentious issue at Iranian universities.

Over the past four decades, various university facilities, including cafeterias and libraries, have seen the implementation of the gender-segregation policy, sparking protests from students. Some universities have even been established exclusively for one gender.

Despite these measures, specialized course classrooms have largely remained co-ed, primarily due to opposition from the academic community and financial constraints.

In the 1980s, Iranian universities implemented a system where classes were divided by a curtain to separate male and female students. This measure faced opposition from Ali Khamenei, who was then president and is now Iran's supreme leader.

Over the past two decades, Khamenei has consistently stressed the importance of "Islamizing universities" and has advocated against the organization of "mixed-gender recreational camps" in his addresses.

Universities and students have long been at the forefront of the struggle for greater social and political freedoms in Iran. In 1999, students protested the closure of a reformist daily newspaper, prompting a brutal raid on the dorms of Tehran University that left one student dead.

Over the years, the authorities have arrested student activists and leaders, sentencing them to prison and banning them from studying.

The activist HRANA news agency says at least 700 university students have been arrested during the recent unrest.

Many have faced sentences such as imprisonment and flogging, and dozens of students have been expelled from universities or suspended from their studies, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Iranian authorities have dismissed at least 10 university professors who supported nationwide protests that began last September following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Just weeks ahead of the anniversary of her demise, reports on social media showed that Hamideh Khademi and Ameneh Aali, two professors from Allameh University in Tehran, were dismissed via phone call, while the Student Guild Council of Iran reported the dismissal of seven professors from the Faculty of Literature at the University of Tehran.

Universities and students have long been at the forefront of the struggle for greater social and political freedoms in Iran. In 1999, students protested the closure of a reformist daily, prompting a brutal raid on the dorms of Tehran University that left one student dead. Amini's death while being detained for an alleged head-scarf violation in September last year has once again made campuses a hotbed of dissent.

Over the years, the authorities have arrested student activists and leaders, sentencing them to prison and banning them from studying.

The 'United Students' channel, which covers news related to students and academia, pointed out that last year during the protests, Hamideh Khademi and Ameneh Aali "not only opposed the suppression of students but also supported detained and suspended students."

Student guild councils across the country, called the method -- a phone call used by the head of the Psychology Department at Allameh University to announce the dismissal of Hamideh Khademi and Ameneh Aali -- as a "new innovation in suppressing and dismissing university professors."

Aali shot back in an open letter on August 28, saying that 'we, as teachers, cannot and should not be obedient and followers of governments.'

She also pointed out in her letter that teachers receive their salaries from the nation's budget and that 'schools and universities are the homes of this nation's children, and we are the defenders of these children's rights and the guardians of this homeland.'

On August 26, Ali Sharifi Zarchi, a faculty member at the Computer Engineering Department of Tehran’s Sharif University, announced on his Twitter account that he had received a dismissal letter from the university.

During the recent nationwide protests, Zarchi repeatedly supported the students and at one point declared that he would suspend his classes until all detained students from Sharif University were released.

The activist HRANA news agency says at least 700 university students have been arrested during the recent unrest.

Many have faced sentences such as imprisonment, flogging, and dozens of students have been expelled from universities or suspended from their studies, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Prominent Iranian pop singer Mehdi Yarrahi has been arrested following the release of an "illegal" song urging women to remove their mandatory head scarves as officials continue to clamp down on dissent ahead of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini next month.

The official IRNA news agency reported on August 28 that Yarrahi's arrest was ordered by the Tehran prosecutor over the release of the song Your Head Scarf, which was accompanied by a video showing women in various social settings without their head scarves, some dancing to the music. No further details on Yarrahi's arrest were given.

The move came the same day a government official announced that "cultural activists" who have removed their hijab won't be allowed to work in the country.

Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaeili told a meeting of ministry directors on August 28 that cultural activists "who act against national interests" will be banned from working in Iran.

"Anyone who has removed their hijab will not be permitted to work," he said.

Esmaeili did not elaborate further, but he has previously said that actresses opposing the mandatory hijab, "would not be allowed to work in cinema" and that the removal of the hijab was a "red line" for his ministry.

Such acts of civil disobedience have increased in Iran since the death of the 22-year-old Amini while in custody of the morality police in September 2022 for an alleged head-scarf offense.

Violators of the hijab requirement can face up to two years in prison, although proposed legislation would increase the maximum sentence to up to three years for repeat offenders.

In July, Esmaeili's deputy, Mohammad Hashemi, announced that the government had taken steps to prevent a film company from hiring an actress who had refused to wear the hijab.

While Hashemi did not provide her name, media reports suggested he was referring to 44-year-old Shaghayegh Dehghan, who was charged in June for posting a photo of herself without a hijab on social media.

While the protests appear to be waning, resistance to the hijab, or mandatory head scarf for women, is likely to increase, analysts say, as it is seen now as a symbol of the state's repression of women and the deadly crackdown on society.

Several cinematographers and prominent public figures have also been summoned by the police or arrested, including director Hamid Porazari.

Other celebrities, including prominent actresses Afsaneh Bayegan, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Katayon Riahi, and Pantea Bahram, have been interrogated and faced legal action after they made public appearances without wearing the mandatory hijab to show support for the protesters.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda