Over nine out of every ten barrels of oil Iran exports are sold to China and often at steep discounts, a senior Iranian trade official said, adding that the dependence risks captivity in “colonial trap”.
The remarks were rare criticism by Iranian officialdom of the budding cooperation between a deeply isolated Islamic Republic and nuclear-armed economic powerhouse China.
Sanctions have left Tehran heavily dependent on China, the world's top oil importer, forcing it to navigate costly logistical hurdles to evade US-led restrictions.
“These sanctions have trapped us in a nineteenth century colonial trap, leaving the government no choice but to manage the economy at significantly higher costs than normal,” said Hojatollah Mirzaei, head of the Research Center at the Iran Chamber of Commerce.
Around 92 percent of Iranian oil goes to China, often at discounts at around 30 percent, according to Mirzaei, who bemoaned the fact that his country has little say over the transactions.
“China dictates how payments are made,” he said. “They might say, ‘use this money to buy electric buses at the price we set.’ Then Tehran’s municipality proudly announces, ‘We brought you electric buses.’”
He underlined the economic strains during a budget review session on Wednesday.
“More than half the value of each barrel is consumed in circumventing sanctions,” Mirzaei said, in apparent reference to the added expense of shipping and insuring the covert oil exports.
China has continued to purchase Iranian oil, despite US sanctions. The oil is transferred using "ghost fleets", vessels with switched off transponders and concealed ownership.
The parliament plans to formally refer the law on December 13 to President Masoud Pezeshkian, who is legally required to sign and implement it within five days.
The legislation, passed by parliament in September 2022 and approved by Iran's Guardian Council in late September this year, has faced delays as authorities weighed public backlash.
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a hardliner and a former senior Revolutionary Guards commander, said enforcement of the law will avoid direct confrontation with women - a controversial practice which has stoked mass protests.
"If an act of unveiling occurs, a text message will first be sent as a warning, followed by a second warning. Although the fine for the first offense is registered, it is not enforced initially. However, if the offense is repeated, the second fine will be applied," he added.
Hijab patrols have been eliminated, and the provisions, Ghalibaf said, are "clarified transparently and thoroughly."
Heavy penalties and adjusted timing
The law introduces significant fines, starting at 30 million rials (approximately $45) for a first violation, with repeat offenders facing fines of up to 240 million rials (around $350). The penalties, enforced through automated systems, represent a burden in a country where average monthly salaries range between $170 and $200.
The timing of the law's formal announcement was adjusted, Ghalibaf said, to account for security considerations tied to the anniversary of protests following the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in morality police custody in 2022.
The months of mass demonstrations which followed saw many women publicly flout the compulsory Islamic dress code.
Ghalibaf in his remarks on Wednesday criticized the failure of most institutions to enforce previous hijab-related laws, saying that only the police had fulfilled their duties, albeit with occasional shortcomings.
However, questions linger about the infrastructure needed for implementation. Advanced equipment, such as surveillance cameras, remains limited. Ghalibaf acknowledged the gaps but added that measures are underway to ensure enforcement.
Public resistance and government control
The legislation faces strong public resistance, particularly since the Woman, Life, Freedom movement which lingers following Amini’s death.
Many women openly defy the hijab mandate, despite government crackdowns that have included the closure of businesses and impounding of vehicles linked to hijab violations.
Official reports indicate that at least 3,500 vehicles have been confiscated due to passengers violating hijab laws. Despite these crackdowns, many women continue to resist, with acts of civil disobedience such as public unveiling, sharing photos unveiled on social media and participating in protests.
This defiance highlights the pushback against what many perceive as a symbol of oppression, as widespread opposition to official inroads on women's rights and personal freedoms in the country festers.
Ahoo Daryaie, a 30-year-old Iranian doctoral student in French literature at Tehran's Islamic Azad University, became the latest symbol of resistance against Iran's compulsory hijab laws.
On November 2, after reportedly being confronted and harassed by Basij paramilitary forces over her attire, she protested by removing her clothes and sitting partially undressed in the university courtyard.
Following her protest, Daryaie was detained by Iranian authorities, leading to concerns about her whereabouts and treatment. Reports indicate she may have been held in a psychiatric facility, raising international alarm over her condition.
Her action has drawn global attention, with human rights organizations calling for her immediate release.
Daryaie's protest occurred two years after the death of Mahsa Amini, which had previously sparked nationwide demonstrations against Iran's strict dress code laws.
Amnesty International in May condemned Iran's harsh hijab crackdown, describing it as a war on women.
“Iranian authorities are waging a war on women to punish defiance of forced veiling in the wake of the Woman Life Freedom uprising.”
The organization has called on Iranian authorities to end the punishment of women and girls for exercising their rights to bodily autonomy, freedom of expression, and freedom of religion. Amnesty has urged the immediate repeal of all mandatory hijab laws and regulations and demanded the dissolution of security forces tasked with enforcing these laws.
The accused allegedly assisted in transporting weapon components for the assassination in November 2020 of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a leading figure in Iran’s nuclear program.
The senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official was killed by a vehicle-mounted robotic gun, in a complex operation likely carried out by Tehran's arch-nemesis Israel.
Iran’s judiciary announced last week the sentencing of three cross-border porters, called Kolbars in Kurdish, to death for unwittingly bringing in components of the weapon into Iran from neighboring Iraq.
The men were identified earlier this month as Edris Aali, Azad Shojaei, and Rasul Ahmad Mohammad, the latter being a Sulaymaniyah resident in Iraqi Kurdistan.
In July 2023, after initial trials in Fakhrizadeh’s case, Iranian security forces arrested the three in Sardasht. One of them, Aali, spent eight months in detention before being moved to Urmia Central Prison.
Shojaei confessed to smuggling weapon parts under torture, Iran International has learned. Mohammad, the third accused, was apprehended after investigators found his number on Aali’s phone.
Two sources in Sardasht in Western Iran, and a contact close to the families told Iran International that two other porters, Rahman Qanjeh and Khaled Elyasi, were detained one month after Fakhrizadeh’s assassination in November 2020.
Qanjeh, a father of three who smuggled alcohol for his livelihood, and Elyasi, a porter between Iraqi Kurdistan and Iran, were accused of unknowingly transporting robotic weapon components.
Both men later confessed under duress, information obtained by Iran International shows, leading to an 8-year prison sentence.
A former Iranian intelligence minister, Mahmoud Alavi, acknowledged this week that the key perpetrators behind Fakhrizadeh’s killing had successfully fled the country.
He described intelligence operations that tracked suspects through Tehran, Arak, Hamedan, and Sanandaj before losing their trail in Saqqez.
"However, the case of (Mohsen) Fakhrizadeh was different. Everyone was identified. Nevertheless, we faced a vigilant enemy who, typically, would flee just half an hour before we could reach them,” added Alavi.
That admission appears to contradict the fresh death sentences related to the case for the Kurdish porters.
The November 2020 assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh near Tehran initially appeared to be an armed ambush. However, it was later revealed that he was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun, smuggled into Iran in parts and assembled on-site. Israeli intelligence allegedly deployed artificial intelligence and facial recognition to execute the attack, which lasted just minutes.
In the operation's aftermath, Iranian authorities detained 20 individuals in Baneh near the Iraqi border, even showcasing photos of a suspected insider from Fakhrizadeh’s security team. Nevertheless, the intelligence minister’s admission of failure in apprehending the primary culprits has drawn criticism.
Activists accuse Tehran of scapegoating porters through forced confessions and harsh sentences to deflect attention from their intelligence failures.