Persian-language reality shows filmed outside Iran are giving young Iranians freedoms that would be impossible on television under the Islamic Republic, while revealing another side of life abroad: uncertainty over work, residency, identity and where ultimately to belong.

Iran is moving to ratify the Caspian treaty it left dormant for seven years, choosing the depths of a war to settle the status of its one quiet frontier, and reopening the oldest wound in its modern diplomacy: the belief that Tehran signed away half a sea.

Late last month, Iran's finest striker sat across from the country's judiciary chief and asked him to help her find a job. Last week, two of her former teammates became Australian citizens. Between those two scenes lies everything the Islamic Republic offers its sportswomen.

Iranian cleric Mohammad-Bagher Kharrazi was summoned to the Special Clerical Court after calling for the Islamic Republic to be replaced by a more hardline “Islamic government” and outlining plans to mobilize a 250,000-strong network capable of surrounding government sites.

Iranian hardliners are intensifying pressure on authorities to enforce compulsory hijab, as recent cafe closures and online campaigns raise fears of a renewed crackdown despite widespread defiance of the dress code.

President Masoud Pezeshkian drew angry reactions from Iranians after rejecting higher estimates of those killed in Iran's January protests and calling those who cite such figures "traitors" in an interview published on Wednesday.

Iran and Oman appear close to agreeing new navigation arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran insists any reopening must take place under a new post-war security framework rather than a return to the pre-war status quo.

Cyberattacks targeting water and wastewater facilities in at least seven US states appear to have been intended less to cripple infrastructure than to demonstrate Iranian reach, intimidate the public and shape perceptions, cybersecurity experts told Iran International.