Saturday, August 22, 2026

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Barak Ravid, a reporter for the Axios website, reported on X on Saturday, 31 Mordad 1405, citing three U.S. officials, that around 40 oil tankers entered or exited the Strait of Hormuz via its deep-water southern route on Friday evening, carrying around 16 million barrels of oil out of the strait. At the same time, Iranian state media claimed that Tehran had allowed a number of Iraqi oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz following repeated requests from Baghdad. @VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline

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Ahmad Vahidi, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, wrote in a message to Peyman Jebelli, head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), expressing support for the organization’s approach: “During the recent war, IRIB played a valuable role in strengthening the Islamic Revolution’s media front by recording and preserving this epic.” Vahidi also described IRIB’s performance as “a valuable struggle and an effective contribution.” This comes as Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and Masoud Pezeshkian have openly criticized IRIB’s performance in recent days. On 27 Mordad, Ghalibaf said IRIB had not yet achieved the necessary success in “cognitive warfare.” The parliament speaker also said: “Explaining IRIB’s structural, strategic, and operational shortcomings would require extensive discussion.” Pezeshkian has also criticized the organization’s performance on several occasions. On 10 Khordad, he said IRIB’s accounts of the country’s situation were unrealistic and that the broadcaster needed a serious overhaul. @VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline

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Mohammad Reza Aref, Iran’s first vice president, stressed the need for what he called “reforming energy consumption patterns,” saying: “We need to explain to people that some of the country’s revenue is currently being spent on supplying gasoline, and this imposes costs and pressure on other sectors.” isna.ir Speaking on Saturday, 31 Mordad, at the “National Conference on Green Industry, Mining, and Services,” Aref pointed to differences in fuel consumption among income groups, saying that consumption by the tenth decile—the wealthiest segment of society—is about 23 to 24 times that of the first decile. Aref went on to link opposition to gasoline price increases to low-income groups’ reaction to changes in policies related to energy consumption. “When a reform is going to be made in this area, it is precisely some of the more vulnerable groups—and people who are facing difficulties in their lives—who are stirred up to say that gasoline must not become more expensive.” @ VahidOOnLine 📡 @VahidOnline

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Iranian Olympic sprinter Farzaneh Fasihi says she was threatened after protesting the killing of demonstrators in Dey 1404, and that officials prevented her from competing in the World Championships. In a post on her Instagram page, Fasihi wrote that she had repeatedly been warned during this period: “Watch your behavior. You know the World Championships and the Asian Games are coming up.” She went on to write: “That’s exactly what happened. They took away the World Championships—the biggest dream and aspiration of any athlete. As for the Asian Games, I’ll hand those over to you myself.” The Iranian sprinter says she was the only athlete from Iran to qualify for the World Championships and finished the season ranked first in Asia, but officials refused to register her for the competition. Writing about her silence over the past few months, Fasihi said: “I wrote and deleted [my posts] hundreds of times. No sentence could describe the depth of the injustice, unfairness and betrayal inflicted on me.” Without identifying the people or organizations that threatened her, she said she has begun pursuing her rights through legal channels and will not allow her rights “as an Iranian woman athlete” to be violated. The athlete concluded: “I will keep running—for my people, for my dreams.” She also expressed hope that “justice will take the place of oppression, merit will replace favoritism, and integrity will replace corruption.” In Bahman 1404, after the nationwide protests in Dey were crushed, Farzaneh Fasihi had posted on Instagram about her anger and grief over the killing of demonstrators. Fasihi is a prominent figure in Iranian women’s athletics and holds Iran’s indoor 60-meter record. She also competed at the Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games. @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on the social media platform X, without naming any country: “We have received numerous messages from neighboring countries about establishing new security arrangements and economic cooperation in the region.” He claimed that the United States had endangered its allies’ security by “bullying” them and disregarding their interests in favor of Israel, adding that a “native and independent order” could bring real peace and security to the region. Iranian state media described Ghalibaf’s remarks as a response to threats by Donald Trump’s administration against countries that continue economic cooperation with Tehran. His comments come amid renewed tensions in recent days between the Islamic Republic and some Arab countries along the Persian Gulf. Ali Abdollahi, chief of staff of the Islamic Republic’s armed forces, warned countries on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf on Wednesday against providing “any assistance or facilitation” to U.S. forces. Abdollahi said the Islamic Republic was monitoring U.S. military aircraft, including refueling planes stationed at bases in the region, and would consider any assistance to the U.S. military as participation in that country’s military operations. Addressing countries in the region, he said: “Nothing escapes our notice.” Arab countries in the region have previously denied taking part in U.S. attacks on Iran or allowing their territory to be used for the attacks. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates has suspended all commercial activity, trade and financial transactions with Iran until further notice—a move of particular significance for the Islamic Republic, given the UAE’s role as one of Iran’s most important trading partners. The decision was announced after Emirati officials said they had detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran. According to Abu Dhabi, one missile fell into the sea outside the UAE’s territorial waters and the other into the sea within them. Tehran has rejected the accusation. Ghalibaf’s claim that neighboring countries had requested new security arrangements comes as he has not named those countries, disclosed the contents of the alleged messages, or provided details of Tehran’s proposed “native and independent order.” @ VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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“Arezu Keshvar,” owner and manager of a beauty salon in Isfahan, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of “communicating with hostile governments.” Arezu Keshvar has been held in Isfahan’s Dowlatabad Prison since Bahman of last year. After her arrest in Bahman of last year, she was held in solitary confinement and subjected to lengthy interrogations—treatment that, in itself, constitutes torture. @VahidHeadline 📡 @VahidOnline

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The Iran-related parts of Donald Trump’s speech in South Carolina, where races for U.S. Senate seats are underway, as recognized and translated by a machine: 🔻 And as soon as we’re finished with the Islamic Republic of Iran, oil prices will be lower than they were even a short time ago. 🔻 But despite all this good news, I said—and I don’t like saying this, but—we have to change course a little and turn to the Islamic Republic of Iran. We have to deal with the nuclear weapons issue, because they’re getting close to having nuclear weapons, and we can’t let them have them. We can’t let Iran have nuclear weapons; well, you’d see some very bad things. So we went in there and stopped them. They will never have nuclear weapons. They badly want to make a deal. We don’t even know if we want one, because right now I consider the Strait of Hormuz American territory. It’s American territory. 🔻 We’re doing just as well in Iran as we did in [Venezuela]. The fake media just don’t want to report it that way, but now they’re starting to admit it, because they don’t have much to say. When a country no longer has a navy, an air force, radar, technical equipment, or production, its leaders are gone, too. The second tier of leaders is gone, too. Parts of the third tier are gone, too. In fact, this is one of my biggest problems. I don’t know who I’m even supposed to deal with. That’s a problem. It’s the only country in the world where nobody wants to be president. They say, “Who wants to be president?” “No, no, I don’t want to be president.” So that’s a bit of a problem. 🔻 He [Lindsey Graham] was really concerned about foreign countries harming our country. He was concerned about Iran having nuclear weapons. He was very passionate about it. Look, if that had happened—if they had gotten their hands on them—they would have used them. They would have destroyed Israel immediately. They would have destroyed the Middle East. And you don’t think they would come here, too? You’d be asking, “Which city is next?” We’re not going to let that happen. We already had... those B-2 bombers; a year ago, they put an end to that hope. 🔻 Look, it’s Friday night. We’ve got plenty of time, right? What else do I have to do? Go back and bomb Iran a little more? What else? 📡 @VahidOnline

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🔺 Reporter: Does moving toward economic warfare against Iran show that the U.S.’s military options in the region are limited? 🔻 Trump: No, not at all. It just means we’re seeing what happens. They have no money. They have no navy. They have no air force. They’re not paying their soldiers. They’re not paying their police. Their inflation is 350 percent. So we just want to see, to some extent, what happens. And as you know, we have complete control. If you look at the blockade, we have complete control over it. The entire area related to the Strait of Hormuz—and that means deep inland, including land areas. So they really want to make a deal, but in my view, they’re still not ready to make the right deal. 📡 @VahidOnline