Iran says US policies ‘hindering diplomacy’
The Iranian foreign ministry complained on Monday that US policy against Iran and its support for its ally Israel are hampering progress on diplomatic fronts and aggravating regional crises.
The Iranian foreign ministry complained on Monday that US policy against Iran and its support for its ally Israel are hampering progress on diplomatic fronts and aggravating regional crises.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei criticized what he described as Washington's persistent anti-Iran stance. The spokesperson said Monday that the crucial issue remains the administration’s policies.
“The fact is, US hostility against Iran has persisted over the past four years,” he said during his weekly briefing.
The spokesperson conveyed hope that “future American officials would learn from this situation,” and emphasized that “the region and all countries are watching US actions.”
The criticism comes as Iran’s support for proxy groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Shia militias in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen, and factions in Syria, has heightened regional tensions by enabling it to influence and pressure adversaries like Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the US without direct confrontation.
With increased alignment between Israel and Arab states, these proxies are becoming more active, amplifying the risk of broader conflicts and instability throughout the region.
Assassination attempts
Baghaei also dismissed recent US accusations linking Iran to assassination attempts on US officials. He argued that accusations of Iranian involvement in the assassination plot create unnecessary friction.
“This is a form of planting landmines in the complex relations between Iran and the US,” he said. These comments followed the unsealing of charges against an Afghan national acting on instructions from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump.
In discussions on international respect, Baghaei said that Iran’s expectations of the US extend beyond rhetoric. “Respect has a specific meaning in international relations. Respect means respecting laws, which is essential for peaceful coexistence between nations,” he added.
On Grossi’s visit
Baghaei’s remarks coincide with IAEA Director General Grossi’s planned visit to Tehran this week.
Discussing Grossi's visit to Tehran, he said: "Consider this trip as part of ongoing interactions and discussions between Iran and the IAEA. As a member of the NPT with a peaceful nuclear program, we have continuous engagements with the agency. These meetings can help improve interactions and cooperation."
Following the US withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018, Iran resumed high-grade uranium enrichment, accumulating stockpiles that the IAEA estimates could enable nuclear weapons development within weeks if further enriched. Iranian officials insist the program remains peaceful, though they have indicated that external threats could prompt reconsideration of their nuclear doctrine.
As tensions over Iran’s nuclear capabilities grow, the new US administration under President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 60%—an approach it claims is for civilian use—remains a point of contention, as experts assert such enrichment levels lack peaceful applications.
Addressing rapid demographic shifts, Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi warned on Sunday that declining birth rates could lead to a significantly smaller, aging population, with projections indicating a sharp decline. By 2101, the population could shrink by as much as 50%, with nearly half of the country potentially classified as elderly.
Raisi said that Iran has experienced one of the world’s fastest fertility declines, dropping from an average of six children per family to fewer than three within just a decade. If the trend continues, he explained, the country’s total population could decrease to around 42 million by the end of the century—a drastic change from the current level, which is over 87 million.
“This means half of Iran’s population will be elderly,” Raisi added, urging awareness of the potential social and economic consequences that such a shift may entail.
The issue of Iran’s aging population has drawn concern among officials and demographic experts alike. Hesameddin Allameh, former head of Iran's National Elderly Council, recently described a looming demographic pitfall, as nearly 10 million Iranians are now classified as elderly.
He said that today, the provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran have the oldest populations in Iran, while Sistan-Baluchestan and Hormozgan remaining the youngest, highlighting disparities across the country.
Despite calls from senior leaders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, for families to increase the national birth rate, these efforts have shown limited success. In spite of banning legal abortion, and offering benefits such as free land and insurance coverage, the government has failed to stem the tide.
Data from the National Organization for Civil Registration indicated a decrease of 17,000 births in 2023 compared to the previous year, suggesting that the government’s pro-natal policies have struggled to gain traction.
The main factor driving this decline is the economic crisis which has seen over a third of Iranians now living below the poverty line, with inflation staying above 40% for five consecutive years. Other factors include shifting social norms, and urban lifestyle changes, which are increasingly affecting family planning choices.
In addition to Iran’s internal population shifts, Raisi raised concerns about the nation’s demographics relative to its neighbors. While Iran looks likely to soon face a population decline, nearby countries are projected to experience significant population growth.
This disparity, he argued, could have serious implications for Iran's economic and geopolitical standing in the region if current trends persist.
The demographic challenge is contrasted by the country’s annual death rate, currently around 450,000, and an annual birth rate of roughly one million. With a net population increase of approximately 550,000 people each year, the nation is seeing its growth rate decline.
Raisi cautioned that, without meaningful policy changes, Iran could face an existential threat. “If the situation persists, in 100 years, there will be no country called Iran,” he stated, calling for unified action among government officials to confront the issue.
Shahla Kazemipour, a demographer and university professor, said the birth rate decline is nationwide, indicating that the trend will likely continue without targeted intervention. Kazemipour added that Iran’s aging population, which is becoming an inevitable reality, will pose significant economic and social challenges in the coming decades, on top of the country's crisis amid global sanctions.
Currently, the country’s elderly population stands at around seven million, approximately 8% of Iran’s total population, according to Ahmad Moazen Zadeh, head of the Iranian Physiotherapy Association. With the projected growth of this demographic, health and social services are preparing for increased demand, which will require extensive planning and resources to manage.
As Iran contends with the realities of an aging society and the potential for long-term population decline, the future stability of its workforce, economic resilience, and healthcare infrastructure may depend on policy reforms designed to encourage sustainable demographic growth.
These retirees, who include those who traveled from cities across Iran, say they have yet to receive 60 percent of their promised retirement benefits after 30 years of teaching.
During the demonstration, they chanted slogans such as “Incompetent minister, resign, resign,” “A nation has never seen such injustice,” “One fewer embezzlement, and our problem is solved,” and “Teacher, rise up to end discrimination.”
Images circulating on social media show that some retirees had slept in Tehran’s parks the night before, braving the cold to ensure they could attend the protest.
Reports from retiree and teacher networks indicate that the protest will continue on Monday, November 11, outside the Ministry of Education building in Tehran.
Last month the minister of education, Alireza Kazemi said that 50 percent of retiree payments would be allocated in the budget for the current and next fiscal years to address payment delays. However, these retired educators, some of whom have been waiting over a year post-retirement, have yet to receive their end-of-service bonuses.
This protest follows an earlier demonstration on October 22, when retirees gathered outside Tehran’s Social Security Organization.
Despite promises from the authorities, the retirees say that delays in their unpaid wages are eroding the value of their money, ILNA reported on Sunday.
Amid rising tensions with Israel, the Iranian rial last week plunged to a historic low of less than 1/10,000th of its pre-Islamic Republic value, trading at over 705,000 rials to the US dollar in Iran's free market
Amid soaring inflation over 40%, the rial’s continued decline has deepened Iran's economic crisis, leaving retirees struggling as their unpaid pensions lose value daily.
London-based Iranian labor rights activist Sattar Rahmani says the protests were entirely self-organized, with retirees independently mobilizing across cities in Iran, gathering outside the ministry in Tehran to once again voice their long-standing demands.
He sharply criticized Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration’s budget for next year as “entirely military-oriented,” emphasizing that funds have been allocated to security forces while essential sectors like education are neglected.
Pezeshkian unveiled next year’s budget recently, allocating nearly 20% of Iran’s oil export revenue—estimated to exceed $10 billion—exclusively to the Revolutionary Guard.
“There should be a budget set aside to ensure that the needs of education are met, so that teachers can be supported and don’t end up living below the poverty line,” Rahmani said in an interview with Iran International. He argued that Pezeshkian's administration is continuing the militaristic approach of Raisi’s government, leaving crucial societal needs, like education, unmet.