Nearly three-quarters of respondents to an Iran International Instagram poll backed continued US pressure on the Islamic Republic, while thousands of comments revealed deep divisions over its economic cost and whether it could bring political change.

The International Monetary Fund forecast Tuesday that Iran’s economy would shrink 7.6% in 2026, a worse outlook than for its main Middle Eastern rivals amid the war, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE facing smaller contractions and Israel and Turkey expected to grow.

Iranian state television has begun referring to the country’s northern sea as Caspian in Persian, a departure from the customary Khazar, after airing claims that the older familiar name serves alleged Israeli ambitions in the Caucasus.

The deadly attacks on Riyadh’s main airport mirror Iranian warnings to disrupt regional air travel in response to US sanctions, analysts say, while serving the Houthis’ own goal of pressuring Saudi Arabia over its support for rival forces in Yemen.

A protest over the name of a newly created county in central Iran turned violent after security forces moved to disperse demonstrators, with videos sent to Iran International capturing gunfire, tear gas and injured protesters.

The Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that five members of an alleged kidnapping cell and one of its personnel were killed near Zahedan, while separate reports said more than 20 members of an Iran-backed militia were killed or wounded in the area.

The Islamic Republic’s threats to target undersea internet cables in the Persian Gulf drew mockery and criticism from readers who told Iran International that such attacks could deepen Iran’s isolation and damage its own connectivity.

A man accused of plotting an attack on Iran International journalists in Britain discussed an “embassy” visit with one contact and told another he had been promised £150,000 and help resolving his criminal case in Iran, a London court heard.

Meta and Google removed Iran’s “Adam and Eve” matchmaking app and related promotional accounts after an investigation found girls as young as 13 were being listed as prospective spouses, US-based rights group HRANA said Monday.

Footage and images showing men wielding machetes and swords at an IRGC-backed rally in the central Iranian city of Isfahan have renewed scrutiny of the Islamic Republic's history of using unofficial armed groups to suppress anti-government protests.