Friday prayer imam warns against panic-buying amid sanctions fears

Hashem Hosseini Bushehri, Friday prayer Imam in Qom, said Iranians must resist Western pressure with “initiative and resistance” like the people of Yemen, and warned that the snapback of UN sanctions amounts to Europe taking the Iranian people “hostage.”

Speaking at prayers in Qom on Friday, Hosseini Bushehri condemned the US for abandoning the nuclear deal and accused Europe of following suit by triggering the snapback mechanism. He said, “They tore up the agreement and now they want to hold the people of Iran accountable.”

Qom, located in central Iran, is one of the country’s key religious and political centers.

A senior aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader has criticized the activation of the UN snapback mechanism, saying it has no legal foundation and will only complicate the diplomatic landscape.

“The activation of snapback, which lacks legal grounds, will merely lead to a more complex diplomatic atmosphere,” Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to the Supreme Leader, wrote Friday on X.

He added that the move will not affect the Islamic Republic’s determination to preserve its independence and development.

The Friday Prayer Imam of Gorgan, a city in northern Iran, has rejected the legality of renewed UN sanctions on Iran, saying the move is driven by political pressure from the United States and Israel.

“The claim of reimposing sanctions has no legal legitimacy and is only being raised under pressure from America and the Zionist regime,” said Kazem Nourmofidi during his sermon.

He also said that the first violator of the JCPOA was the United States, and that Europe failed to uphold its commitments as well.

Nourmofidi added that Iran has powerful tools at its disposal and could consider measures such as withdrawing from the NPT if needed.

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has warned that the reimposition of UN sanctions under the snapback mechanism will have consequences more destructive than war and accused the Islamic Republic of being solely responsible for the crisis.

“While in war a bomb may destroy a building in an instant, these sanctions will slowly but more severely destroy the same infrastructure, devastate the economy, and further impoverish the people,” Ebadi said in a statement shared on social media.

Ebadi, a prominent human rights lawyer, criticized Iranian authorities for failing to seize diplomatic opportunities and instead alienating the entire international community. “They call the US an enemy, Israel an enemy, the UK, Germany and France enemies — even Australia. How can the whole world be your enemy, and you bear no responsibility?”

She accused the government of pushing the nation into international isolation and warned that the restoration of UN sanctions would erode the country’s already fragile economy, destroy vital infrastructure, and deepen social crises.

“Our people are not naïve — they see how the Islamic Republic has ignored reason and placed its knee on their necks,” she added. “Make no mistake: the snapback sanctions are more dangerous than war, and the Islamic Republic is the main culprit.”

The prosecutor of Mashhad Hassan Hemmati Far said the story first appeared in a social media post by a truck driver in the city of Fasa and quickly spread. He said security, police and intelligence services investigated the report and found it to be baseless.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB had earlier reported that Toosi was shot by unidentified gunmen in Mashhad and was hospitalized in critical condition. It gave no further details.

IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News also dismissed the reports as unconfirmed rumors, but said a competent authority should clarify the matter.

This came after Khorasan Daily reported that Toosi had been wounded and hospitalized. Earlier, his brother told the outlet there had been a physical attack.

Toosi gained national recognition after winning two international Qur’an recitation competitions and performing at events attended by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

However, in 2016, at least ten men came forward accusing him of sexual abuse during their teenage years, often while traveling with him for religious training or competitions. The allegations were first aired on Voice of America Persian, after judicial proceedings in the country stalled.

Despite an initial indictment, the case was later dismissed, prompting outrage from activists and victims who accused the judiciary of protecting a figure close to the establishment. Toosi denied all allegations, calling them “bogus and total lies.”