Dozens of Caspian seals found dead on Iran’s northern coast
The deaths of dozens of Caspian seals along Iran’s northern coast have renewed concern over the fragile state of the Caspian Sea ecosystem, state media reported.
The deaths of dozens of Caspian seals along Iran’s northern coast have renewed concern over the fragile state of the Caspian Sea ecosystem, state media reported.
At least 54 dead seals have been found on the shores of Mazandaran Province since March, according to environmental officials quoted by Tasnim News Agency.
The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica), the sea’s only native mammal, faces growing threats from pollution, overfishing, shrinking freshwater inflows and rising water salinity.
Environmental experts said entanglement in fishing gear, motorboat strikes and disease are also contributing to the deaths.
They warned that the decline of the species -- a key predator in the marine food chain -- could disrupt the ecological balance of the world’s largest enclosed body of water.
Conservation groups have called for tighter controls on fishing, pollution reduction and regional cooperation among Caspian littoral states to protect the endangered species.
Lawmakers passed the measure with 144 votes in favor, 108 against, and three abstentions out of 262 present. The reform amends the Monetary and Banking Law to redefine the rial as equal to 10,000 current rials and introduces a new subunit, the qiran or gheran, worth one hundredth of a rial.
Under the legislation, both old and new rials will circulate for up to three years during a transition period. The Central Bank of Iran (CBI) must establish operational procedures within two years of enactment and publicly announce the start of the change through official media.
According to the new law, after the transition period, all financial obligations denominated in the current rial will be settled using the new unit.
The CBI will also be responsible for managing the withdrawal of old banknotes and coins and for setting foreign exchange rates under the country’s current exchange regime.
The plan -- first proposed by the government in 2019 and discussed across three administrations and parliamentary terms -- has undergone multiple revisions. The latest version retains the rial as Iran’s official currency, dropping earlier proposals to rename it the toman.
Shamseddin Hosseini, head of parliament’s Economic Committee, said the measure’s main purpose was to “make banknotes more functional and facilitate financial transactions.”
He added that the abundance of zeros in the national currency had caused accounting and operational difficulties, adding that similar redenominations had been undertaken by countries such as Turkey in 2003 and 2005.
Hosseini acknowledged that cutting zeros would not directly reduce inflation or address Iran’s underlying economic challenges, but called it “an unavoidable adjustment” given years of high inflation and declining purchasing power.
Iran’s central bank governor Mohammad Reza Farzin said in May that the redenomination would take place this year as part of wider banking reforms.
The change, he added, would align official usage with common practice among Iranians, who already express prices in tomans -- equivalent to 10,000 rials.
The reform comes amid persistent inflation of about40%, a more than 90% loss in the rial’s value since US sanctions were reimposed in 2018, and widespread economic hardship.
Economists say that while the move could have short-term psychological benefits, it is unlikely to solve Iran’s deeper structural issues, including fiscal imbalances, monetary instability, and limited central bank independence.
“This policy is largely cosmetic,” economist Ahmad Alavi told Iran International in August. “Without tackling the roots of inflation -- from liquidity growth to systemic inefficiencies -- removing zeros will not restore the rial’s value.”
Iran has debated currency reform for decades, with earlier efforts raised under the administrations of Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Hassan Rouhani. The current legislation, delayed several times by the Guardian Council, now returns to the body for final review before becoming law.
Hossein Shahrabi, head of the Tehran-based knowledge-based company Omid Faza, told Tasnim news agency that preparations for the satellite were complete and that it would be launched aboard the same rocket that carried Iran’s Kosar and Hodhod satellites last year.
He said the new spacecraft combines Earth observation and telecommunications functions, integrating improved solar arrays and communication links to address problems that limited image transmission in earlier models.
“The issue linking attitude control to solar energy absorption has been resolved,” Shahrabi said. The satellite adds an S-band link, enabling full attitude control from the ground, he added.
The Do-Namay 1 is a modified version of the Kosar platform and marks Iran’s growing use of private-sector firms in its space program.
According to Shahrabi, image resolution has improved to about 3.5 meters, and its optical payloads now achieve near-ground-test performance levels.
The official said the satellite would be delivered to the launch operator within a month, with a target launch date in Azar, the ninth month of the Iranian calendar (November–December).
Iran loses two satellites
Shahrabi, referring to technical issues with the Kosarsatellite, said its attitude control and power absorption systems had become unintentionally interdependent.
“This prevented us from first stabilizing the satellite’s orientation and then delivering the necessary power according to the original design,” he explained.
“Although the satellite remains in orbit and we receive signals in some areas with sufficient sunlight, we ultimately failed to obtain any imagery from it.”
He added that communication with the Hodhod satellite was lost about two weeks before the 12-day war.
“I don’t want to directly link the satellite’s condition to that event,” he said, “but a series of incidents occurred, and unfortunately the satellite received an unauthorized command from outside the control system. After that, we completely lost contact with Hodhod.”
He added that Hodhod had been turning on and off repeatedly since the incident. “Unfortunately, we now have even less communication with Hodhod than with Kosar. I emphasize that I am not attributing this to the war -- since I am not certain -- but I mention it simply to inform those who want to know the latest status of the satellite.”
“We consider a technical malfunction more likely,” he added, “but there are two ambiguities -- first, the coincidence of this incident with the 12-day war, as it occurred roughly two weeks before; and second, the fact that we received a command from outside the guidance system prior to it.”
The announced launch comes as Iran accelerates plans to expand its space activities. The head of the Iranian Space Agency, Hassan Salarieh, said last month that Iran aims to launch four satellites by March 2026 and inaugurate a new spaceport in Chabahar, in the country’s southeast.
These include an updated Kosar Earth-observation satellite and prototype satellites from the planned Soleimani narrowband constellation, intended to support Internet of Things services.
Western governments have repeatedly expressed concern that Iran’s satellite launches could aid its ballistic missile program, citing overlapping technologies. Tehran says its space program is purely civilian and aimed at scientific and communication applications.
Iran, along with the likes of Brazil and South Korea, has long prized surgically enhanced beauty standards especially in the form of rhinoplasty. But demand has now expanded to liposuction, tummy tucks and breast and buttock augmentations.
Women make up nearly 80 percent of patients, with operations estimated to number several hundred thousand each year.
One aspiring patient, Neda, 29, from Tehran, confessed to seeking to reshape her body under the influence of her partner. “My boyfriend keeps liking bloggers with huge butts and breasts, and I want to be what he likes,” she wrote.
“I’m terrified he will lose interest if I don’t change.”
Another, Sara, 31, also from Tehran, discussed the financial burden. “I’m paying in monthly installments. That’s the only way I can do this. I just want my body to look right in clothes.”
Interviewees spoke to Iran International on condition that their names not be revealed.
A theocracy for 46 years which has enforced Islamic veiling and loose clothing on women, the country has inched toward more laxity as a stringent new hijab and chastity law was paused this year out of concern it would stoke unrest.
'Can't look away'
Ladan, 27, described proudly how cosmetic operations reshaped her social life as much as her body. “With a Brazilian butt and big breasts, all eyes are on me at weekend gatherings,” she said. “Even married men can’t look away.”
Her story reflects how surgery is often pursued not in private but for public recognition.
This view is challenged by many women who point to the subtle but constant pressures of patriarchy behind these choices.
"A question I often hear here is women asking men, 'are you a boobs or butt guy?'” UK-based Iranian feminist Samaneh Savadi wrote on X. “Each time I’m surprised and wonder to myself whether these women are secretly hoping the answer will be, ‘Neither, personality matters more to me’.
"As American author Naomi Wolf has argued, a culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty, but an obsession about female obedience.”
Image obsession
Instagram plays a central role in all of this.
Beauty bloggers and influencers, their photos sculpted by filters as much as surgery, set new expectations for how a body should look. For many, the pressure is relentless.
“It’s not just about beauty—it’s about staying relevant,” Sara explained. “You see the perfect pictures and wonder if anyone will notice you if you don’t look like that.”
Not all accounts are triumphant. Farnaz, 36, a mother of two, described the sacrifices behind her decision.
“After childbirth my breasts sagged and my stomach was loose. I feared my husband would lose interest. I sold my jewelry to pay for implants, lipo, and a butt lift. Now he is pleased, and my sex life mattered more than gold.”
Such experiences show how beauty operations are framed not only as self-improvement but as survival—of marriages, relationships or social standing.
While women make up the majority of patients, there is a surge in male clients seeking procedures once considered taboo.
Popular operations include hair transplants, liposuction, jawline contouring and even pectoral and ab sculpting.
Clinics advertise these services in the same breath as breast lifts or nose jobs, underscoring how beauty standards are increasingly marketed to men as well.
Beauty prices
Price lists explain the demand. Breast augmentations range from $850 to $1,700. Liposuction for one area costs $300–600, with full-body packages starting at $1,800. Brazilian butt lifts run between $500 and $1,500.
The contrast with global prices is stark. In the United States or the United Kingdom, such procedures often exceed $10,000. Iran’s bargain rates draw foreign clients, while locals depend on financing.
Clinics advertise repayment plans that spread costs across years, normalizing surgery as a consumer purchase.
'No magic'
But beneath the glossy ads lie dangers.
Qualified surgeons warn of unlicensed operators who flourish on social media, promising impossible results with manipulated images in “before and after” galleries.
With no central registry, complications are hidden, and patients often rely only on word of mouth.
“People believe surgery is magic,” a Tehran-based surgeon who spoke on condition of anonymity told Iran International. “But bodies are different, and there are limits. Some patients don’t want to hear that part.”
From boyfriends comparing them to bloggers to mothers pawning jewelry to preserve marriages, stories in clinics and forums highlight the personal sacrifices behind Iran’s cosmetic surgery boom.
In today’s Iran, beauty is pursued through loans and credit which buy beauty and lasting financial strain in equal measure.