Two senior members of President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration urged officials and citizens to refrain from public criticism of the government, describing Iran’s current economic and political situation as “wartime conditions.”
First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said on Sunday that criticism of the government’s performance was serving the enemy. Speaking at a meeting of the Market Regulation Headquarters, Aref accused outside actors of spreading “malicious and misleading analyses” following the recent 12-day conflict, which he said were being echoed domestically.
Iran’s Chamber of Commerce in September projected a worst-case scenario of a 60% currency plunge, inflation at 75%, and unemployment at 14% in the coming months.
Responding to growing discontent over the government’s handling of poverty and rising living costs, Aref said supervisory and economic institutions must “avoid giving excuses to the enemy” and “not dishearten the public.” He warned officials against airing internal disagreements in public, adding that “there is no need for officials to discuss disputes at podiums; such issues should be resolved in meetings.”
Officials defend government amid rising hardship
President Pezeshkian last week acknowledged that his administration’s economic policies were contributing to inflation, saying, “We are creating inflation. We are sleeping on gold, yet the people are hungry.” His remarks drew criticism from Javan, a newspaper affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which urged the president to address inequality instead of “repeating the word hunger.”
Mounting inflation, shrinking household purchasing power, and soaring living costs have deepened public frustration, exacerbated by the reactivation of the UN’s snapback sanctions mechanism against Iran.
Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, Pezeshkian’s executive deputy, also described the current situation as wartime on Sunday. Rising sanctions, he said, meant “the country must be evaluated in exceptional, not normal, circumstances.”
“Parliament members have the right to criticize the government,” Ghaempanah said. “But this is not the time to question how the country is being managed.”
Their remarks came amid intensifying domestic criticism over economic hardship, while Iranian officials continue to stress the need for “internal cohesion” against what they call a “hybrid war.”
The Mossad named Sardar Ammar, a senior Quds Force officer operating under commander Esmail Ghaani, as the leader of a network responsible for planned operations in Australia, Greece, and Germany during 2024-2025, a statement released via the prime minister’s office on behalf of the Mossad said on Sunday.
The Mossad described the network’s methods as “terror without Iranian fingerprints,” using foreign recruits, criminal intermediaries, and covert communications to conceal Tehran’s role.
“Thanks to intensive activity with partners in Israel and abroad, dozens of attack tracks were thwarted, saving many lives,” the statement said.
In August, Australia expelled Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi and announced plans to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, after intelligence linked Tehran to antisemitic arson attacks in Melbourne and Sydney. Sadeghi denied the allegations upon his departure.
In Germany, authorities summoned Iran’s ambassador, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, in July after the arrest of a Danish suspect accused of spying on Jewish and Israeli-linked sites in Berlin for Iranian intelligence. German officials said the surveillance could have been preparatory to terrorist attacks.
Iran’s covert campaign and regional reach
The Mossad accused Iran of pursuing a long-term strategy “to harm innocents around the globe while maintaining deniability,” but said the recent revelations “strip Iran of its space for denial and impose heavy diplomatic costs.”
The statement cited earlier cases in Greece as part of the same pattern. In 2024, Greek police arrested suspects, including Iranian and Afghan nationals, over arson attacks on an Israeli-owned hotel and a synagogue in Athens.
A year earlier, two Pakistani men were charged with plotting attacks on Israeli and Jewish sites in the city under Iranian direction.
The dismantling of Ammar’s network and the resulting diplomatic pressure, the Mossad said, marked a significant blow to Iran’s covert operations abroad, demonstrating what it called the Islamic Republic’s “repeated operational failures and growing international isolation.”
The State Attorney’s Office filed the indictment on Sunday at the Nazareth District Court against Rahman Gokayer, Younes Ozel, and Oktay Asci, accusing them of illegal entry, weapons trafficking, and ties to foreign arms dealers. Asci also faces a charge of aiding terrorist activities.
Gokayer and Asci traveled from Turkey to Saudi Arabia and then to Jordan in September 2025, where they agreed to infiltrate Israel and smuggle three handguns supplied by Iranian intermediaries, according to the indictment.
The plan was later abandoned after internal disagreements, but the two crossed illegally near Kibbutz Shaar HaGolan.
Asci had previously lived in Israel without a permit for more than two years before being deported in July 2025. During that period, prosecutors say, he obtained a firearm in Bat Yam, buried it near his apartment, and later handed it to an unidentified individual.
After his deportation, Asci maintained contact with Gokayer and Iranian brokers through Turkish intermediaries, planning to route guns from Iran to Jordan and into Israel via Palestinian laborers. Gokayer’s role was to collect the weapons, transfer them to others, and manage the proceeds, for a promised payment of one million dollars.
“The plan was to transport the guns to Jordan and smuggle them into Israel using workers crossing the border. Gokair was supposed to receive the guns and transfer them to other parties and collect the money from the transactions. For his role in the smuggling network, Gokair was promised a payment of $1 million,” reads the indictment.
Ozel, already in Israel, was told to complete a weapons deal in Tel Aviv but twice left empty-handed. Prosecutors say he kept 5,000 shekels from the funds meant for the transaction. All three men remain in custody.
Iranian smuggling networks foiled
Earlier this month, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency said it had thwarted a major Iranian attempt to move a cache of advanced weapons into the West Bank for planned attacks. The haul included explosive devices, drones, anti-tank weapons, grenades, rifles, and ammunition.
Shin Bet traced the operation to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, involving Unit 400 under Javad Ghafari and Unit 18840 in Syria, which reports to Asghar Bakri, head of the covert Unit 840. Two IRGC operatives killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon in July -- Salah al-Husseini and Muhammad Shuayb -- were also involved.
Iran is pursuing a broader strategy to arm groups in the West Bank to attack Israeli civilians and forces, the agency said.
In March 2024, Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces intercepted another Iranian arms shipment that included grenade launchers, explosives, mines, and assault rifles.