Iran is moving to ratify the Caspian treaty it left dormant for seven years, choosing the depths of a war to settle the status of its one quiet frontier, and reopening the oldest wound in its modern diplomacy: the belief that Tehran signed away half a sea.

Late last month, Iran's finest striker sat across from the country's judiciary chief and asked him to help her find a job. Last week, two of her former teammates became Australian citizens. Between those two scenes lies everything the Islamic Republic offers its sportswomen.

Iranian hardliners are intensifying pressure on authorities to enforce compulsory hijab, as recent cafe closures and online campaigns raise fears of a renewed crackdown despite widespread defiance of the dress code.

A cleric tied by marriage to Iran's ruling family has declared the Islamic Republic obsolete, telling followers that a shadow government already exists and urging them to build a 250,000-strong network to replace the system with an "Islamic government."

Ending the Iran war could expose the Islamic Republic to one of its greatest vulnerabilities, experts say, as Tehran confronts a battered post-war economy that may strain its ability to finance the institutions underpinning its rule.

President Masoud Pezeshkian drew angry reactions from Iranians after rejecting higher estimates of those killed in Iran's January protests and calling those who cite such figures "traitors" in an interview published on Wednesday.

Iran and Oman appear close to agreeing new navigation arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz, but Tehran insists any reopening must take place under a new post-war security framework rather than a return to the pre-war status quo.

Petty thefts of basic food items are becoming a symbol of Iran's economic hardship, according to a newspaper investigation published on Wednesday that linked supermarket shoplifting to inflation and shrinking purchasing power.

Italy’s Foreign Ministry said the Lion and Sun flag emoji — used on Iran’s national flag before 1979 and now widely adopted by opponents of the Islamic Republic — was removed from Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani’s X post solely because of a technical issue, not external pressure.

Six years after Iranian-German dissident Jamshid Sharmahd vanished during a trip to the United Arab Emirates, many questions surrounding his abduction, imprisonment and death in the custody of the Islamic Republic remain unresolved.

Iran's parliament has become all but irrelevant since the war, as power has shifted further toward the Revolutionary Guards and decision-making has moved ever deeper behind closed doors amid the unresolved leadership transition.

Cyberattacks targeting water and wastewater facilities in at least seven US states appear to have been intended less to cripple infrastructure than to demonstrate Iranian reach, intimidate the public and shape perceptions, cybersecurity experts told Iran International.

"Take care of my sons." Those were the final words of Hayatullah, an Afghan migrant who used his phone to record what would become the last moments of his life in the scorching desert as he tried to reach Iran.