Tehran bans advertisements for global brands linked to Israel

Mohammad Reza Farzin, the governor of Iran’s Central Bank, unveiled the institution’s new report at a press conference on March 13, presenting various charts to journalists and describing the country’s economic situation as undergoing "acceptable progress."

He even displayed a chart comparing Iran’s economic growth with countries such as the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the Eurozone, based on estimates from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He tried to persuade the public that Iran's economic growth surpasses these countries, and only India and China show higher growth rates than Iran.

In fact, prices for essential goods have increased by an average of 100% since Iran’s currency began a steep dive in September 2024, and a severe energy shortage shut down many industries.

The surprising issue is that IMF’s estimates about Iran’s economic growth is based on the statistics provided by Iran’s Central Bank to this international entity. Given the opaque and securitized nature of the Islamic Republic’s economy, no international institution has an independent estimate of Iran’s GDP growth.

The another issue is that different institutions of the Islamic Republic even provide contradictory estimates of economic growth, which also starkly contradict other economic indicators.

For example, while Iran’s Statistics Center has reported the country’s GDP growth in the first nine months of the current fiscal year (starting March 21, 2024) at 3.1%, the Central Bank has put this figure at 3.7%.

Contradictions with other indicators

The economic growth rates reported by Iran’s Central Bank and Statistics Center are based on constant 2021 prices. However, their figures conflict with other key economic indicators.

For instance, the Statistics Center claims that the agricultural sector grew by 3.3% from March to December 2024. Yet, its own labor market data shows a steady decline in agricultural employment since 2021, with the sector's share of national employment dropping from 15.4% to 13.7%.

Customs data further challenges these growth claims, showing that Iran’s agricultural imports surged from $11.5 billion to nearly $18 billion over the same period. Meanwhile, agricultural exports, which account for only a third of that amount, have remained largely stagnant. Despite these indicators, the Central Bank reports an even higher agricultural growth rate of 3.7% for the first nine months of the fiscal year.

The natural gas sector presents another discrepancy. While official data from Iran’s Oil Ministry and the International Energy Agency (based on 2024 statistics) indicate that Iran’s gas production growth has remained below 2%, the Statistics Center reports a significantly higher 5.7% growth rate.

Similarly, the industrial sector data raises concerns. Industry insiders report that widespread electricity shortages in the summer and combined electricity and gas shortages in the autumn led to the shutdown of 30% to 40% of industrial capacity for months. Yet, the Central Bank claims that industrial output still managed to grow by 1% in the summer and 3.4% in the autumn.

Further complicating the picture, a previous Central Bank report submitted to the Iranian Parliament’s Research Center estimated industrial growth at 1.7% for the summer and 2.9% for the autumn—figures that contradict its latest claims.

Discrepancies in inflation data

These contradictions are not limited to economic growth estimates. Even inflation statistics from the Central Bank and the Statistics Center differ significantly. While the Central Bank has reported Iran’s 2024 inflation rate at 45%, the Statistics Center has placed this figure at 35%.

Even more surprisingly, the International Monetary Fund, relying on data from Iran’s Central Bank, has reported Iran's 2024 inflation rate below 30%.

The exact real inflation rate in the country remains unclear. However, recent domestic media reports, indicate a sharp doubling of prices for food items, medicines, and other essentials. Meanwhile, official entities estimate much lower figures for these items.

Along with the VOA, the government's grantee agreement with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) was also terminated, essentially closing down the 75-year-old broadcaster and media organization based in Prague, Czechia.

Both media organizations have extensive news-gathering and dissemination operations covering Russia, Ukraine, and Iran. The Persian department of VOA beams television news programs into Iran and maintains a news website. RFE/RL's Persian Service, Radio Farda, produces news and analysis in audio and video formats, as well as maintains a news website. Both also have extensive social media operations.

Michael Abramowitz, VOA’s director, said nearly the entire staff had been put on administrative leave, crippling the broadcaster, which operates in nearly 50 languages. “For the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” he wrote on LinkedIn, calling it a blow to press freedom.

The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees VOA, also cut funding for Radio Free Asia, which broadcast to China, and North Korea. Trump’s directives are expected to devastate these organizations, which serve as rare sources of independent news in authoritarian or semi-democratic states.

The White House in another announcement on Saturday listed several issues with VOA and criticism of its operations and approach, with the headline, "The Voice of Radical America."

RFE/RL CEO Stephen Capus said that cutting funding to the organization "would be a massive gift to America’s enemies. The Iranian Ayatollahs, Chinese communist leaders, and autocrats in Moscow and Minsk would celebrate the demise of RFE/RL after 75 years. Handing our adversaries a win would make them stronger and America weaker."

RFE/RL was established in the early 1950s at the height of the Cold War to broadcast into Russia and its expanding sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. Initially operated by the CIA, it became a publicly funded entity under direct congressional oversight in 1974.

Founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA now reaches 360 million people weekly. USAGM employs about 3,500 workers with an $886-million budget, according to its latest congressional report.

VOA’s Seoul Bureau Chief William Gallo told Reuters he had been locked out of company systems. “All I’ve ever wanted to do is tell the truth. If that’s a threat to anyone, so be it,” he posted on Bluesky.

Kari Lake, Trump’s nominee for VOA director, called USAGM “a giant rot and burden to taxpayers” and vowed to shrink it to the legal minimum. Meanwhile, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky praised VOA and RFE as “beacons” for those under totalitarian rule, while free press advocates condemned the move.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders warned the cuts “threaten press freedom worldwide,” and National Press Club President Mike Balsamo said they undermine America’s commitment to independent journalism. Radio Free Asia’s president, Bay Fang, called the move “a reward to dictators.”

Some Republicans have accused VOA of left-wing bias and backed its closure, aligning with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has already cut 100,000 federal jobs, frozen foreign aid, and canceled thousands of contracts. Musk mocked the USAGM cuts on X, temporarily renaming it the “Department of Propaganda Everywhere (DOPE).”

Trump’s order also targeted the Woodrow Wilson Center, the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, and several other agencies, directing them to operate at only the legally required minimum. The White House defended the cuts, saying they would prevent taxpayers from funding “radical propaganda.”

"Today, I have ordered the United States Military to launch decisive and powerful Military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen," Trump said in a post on his Truth Social account.

He urged the Houthis' sponsors in Iran to "immediately stop their support."

"Do NOT threaten the American People, their President... If you do, BEWARE, because America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!" the US president said in his warning to Iran.

The New York Times cited US officials as saying the Saturday airstrike, the most significant military action of Trump’s second term so far, "was also meant to send a warning signal to Iran."

The airstrikes against Yemen's Houthis may continue for days or even weeks, Reuters reported, citing an American official.

Trump said the Houthis "waged an unrelenting campaign of piracy, violence, and terrorism against American, and other, ships, aircraft, and drones."

"The Houthis have choked off shipping in one of the most important Waterways of the World, grinding vast swaths of global commerce to a halt, and attacking the core principle of Freedom of Navigation upon which International Trade and Commerce depends," he said.

Trump warned the Houthis that their time is up. "Your attacks must stop, starting today. If they don’t, hell will rain down upon you like nothing you have ever seen before!"

Following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the beginning of the Gaza war, the Houthis started massive missile and drone strikes against commercial vessels in an effort to pressure for a ceasefire in Gaza. They imposed a blockade in the Red Sea region, significantly disrupting global shipping routes.

Shortly after Trump's inauguration, Iran directed its allied forces across the Middle East including the Houthis to act with restraint, the Telegraph reported, citing a senior Iranian official in Tehran.

“Forces and allies in the region have been instructed to act with caution as [the regime] feels an existential threat with Trump’s return,” the Iranian official said.

However, the Houthis for the first time fired surface-to-air missiles at a US F-16 fighter jet over the Red Sea last month in what officials described as a significant escalation in the Iran-backed group's ongoing conflict with the US military.

They also fired a surface-to-air missile at an American MQ-9 Reaper drone that the US military was flying over Yemen.

The Houthis have earlier shot down several MQ-9 Reaper drones over the past year. Every single one of these drones costs about $32 million, according to a Congressional report.

"We stand firmly against any threat, and if a threat is carried out, we will respond in the most severe manner—decisive, crushing, and devastating," IRGC Chief-Commander Hossein Salami said.

Trump has in a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei offered talks toward a deal on its nuclear program and warned that the alternative was a military intervention.

Salami downplayed Trump's offer of talks as superficial, saying, "The enemy deceitfully talks about direct negotiations under the shadow of threats. Enemies are untrustworthy and do not honor any commitments or agreements."

The IRGC commander said it was the United States that tore up the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers and "turned to violent and aggressive measures such as pressure, sanctions, and threats."

"The Iranian nation deeply understands its enemy and never pays attention to its superficial words."

The platform, designed to operate on domestic languages and remain functional even with internet disruptions, is slated for full release by March 2026, according to the Vice Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy.

"This platform is a living entity and must be constantly updated," said ‌‌Vice-President Hossein Afshin, during the unveiling ceremony.

He outlined a phased rollout, with initial testing and optimization in 2025, followed by limited access for experts and knowledge-based companies, a public beta release, and the final version in March 2026.

Framing the project as a strategic move in a global "war of chips and algorithms.”

Afshin and other officials present in the ceremony cited the platform's open-source nature and domestic infrastructure as key advantages, which they said will ensure its functionality even under sanctions or internet disruptions.

"If they want to sanction us, Iran has already obtained this technology," Afshin said.

"We are moving forward with the world," said Hamidreza Rabiei, head of the Advanced Information and Communication Technology Research Institute. "We are not taking any API from any foreign platform, and if the internet is cut off, nothing will happen to the platform because we are connected to the national internet."

The project, involving nearly 100 researchers and experts, aims to address Iran's lagging AI development compared to regional peers.

"We do not have a good situation in AI indicators compared to the countries of the region," said Hossein Asadi, director of the Rapid Processing Center and Sharif University's representative in the project. He cited declining research articles and slow growth in AI-focused companies as evidence.

A key partner in Iran's new AI platform, Sharif University is under international sanctions for its involvement in military and ballistic missile projects. The university, which maintains close ties with the Ministry of Defense, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the IRGC Air Force, has faced sanctions from the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

A demo of the AI platform was unveiled during a visit of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to an exhibition called "Pioneers of Progress" in late January.

According to the creators, the platform's features include a GPU-based processing infrastructure, large language and multi-modal models, intelligent agents, and application layers for various industries.

The country’s first AI platform was unveiled a few months after a European Union report raised concerns about Iran's increasing reliance on AI-driven technologies for surveillance and suppression, highlighting the development of systems aimed at enforcing state control over digital information.

The report, titled "Artificial intelligence (AI) and human rights: Using AI as a weapon of repression and its impact on human rights," detailed how Iran is deploying AI-based tools to enhance its monitoring capabilities.

"Examples include the use of facial recognition technology during protests, the use of AI-driven bots and automated accounts to amplify content favorable to the regime, and the use of AI-based tools to produce content in different languages, in order to reach a global audience,” read the report.

Specifically, the report points to Iran's development of the National Information Network (NIN), a domestically focused internet infrastructure designed to isolate Iranian users from the global web.

The network, the report said, significantly strengthens the government's ability to impose censorship and restrict access to counter-narratives disseminated on foreign websites.

According to the report, Iran's AI development is bolstered by partnerships with Chinese entities, including major companies supplying technology to its police and military. Hardware imports, primarily from the UAE but also from China, Turkey, and India, further support these capabilities.