Economy & Environment

A vast, dark cloud blankets Tehran. We don't even need to say when: it’s almost all the time, with fewer than ten days of clean air last year.

The top echelons of Iran’s ruling elite appear to remain divided on endorsing international conventions to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, according to a Tehran-based outlet.

As Moscow and Tehran seem determined to push ahead with plans for a gas pipeline linking their countries, critics within Iran argue against the project, warning that it could undercut Iran’s own gas exports.

On Monday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the government was forced to burn mazut, a highly polluting fuel, to prevent interruptions to household gas supplies this year.

A 45% drop in rainfall since last year and a 29% decrease in water flowing into dams compared to the five-year average have pushed Iran deeper into a water crisis, adding pressure amid the current economic crisis and high inflation.

Following reports on surging rebranded Iranian liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exports to Bangladesh, its Central Bank warned all domestic banks to stay alert regarding the import of products from countries that are subject to global sanctions.

Iran and Russia have implemented a bilateral currency agreement to settle trade using their national currencies, according to the governor of Iran's Central Bank.

A report by Iran's Central Bank has inadvertently highlighted the pervasiveness of insider dealings and corruption that threaten the integrity of Iran’s entire banking system.

When a key advisory body in Iran started revisiting the contentious issue of acceding to international monetary conventions, it not only faced opposition from hardliners but also raised questions about whether the Supreme Leader has moderated his stance.

A widespread network of brokers online are working to facilitate a trade in eggs, sperm, embryos and surrogate wombs, Iranian newspaper Ham-Mihan reported in an investigation.

The latest US sanctions targeting Russian and Iranian oil could significantly disrupt Russia's oil supply chains, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly report on Wednesday.

The cost of shipping oil from the Middle East to China surged by over a third in the wake of new US sanctions targeting 183 tankers carrying Russian and Iranian oil on Friday, according to a Reuters report.

Chinese state oil companies and major private refiners are rushing to secure crude supplies as tighter sanctions on Iran and Russia threaten to disrupt near-term oil flows, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.

Air pollution in Iran claimed the lives of over 30,000 people and cost the country an estimated $12 billion in last Iranian year, according to the Ministry of Health.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian has addressed the public's growing distrust in the government amid an economic crisis and energy shortages that have fueled widespread despair among the population.

Iran has begun shipping oil stored in China with Beijing's approval, sources told The Wall Street Journal, about two weeks after Iran International reported Tehran's determination to sell off the supplies ahead of harsher sanctions expected under Donald Trump.

Iran's presidential administration has proposed the remote and underdeveloped Makran region in southeastern Iran as a potential site for the country’s new capital, igniting widespread debate and controversy.

Around 30,000 general practitioners in Iran are unwilling to practice due to low doctor's fees, according to Mohammad Raiszadeh, head of the Medical Council.

Hardliners in the Iranian parliament are determined to impeach four cabinet ministers just five months after the government’s formation, during an unprecedented economic crisis.

As voices associated with Iran’s ruling establishment increasingly advocate for negotiations with the United States, a prominent newspaper has warned that up to 50% of the population is now living below the poverty line.

Poverty has affected 22 to 27 percent of Iran's population, the head of the state-run Institute of Labor and Social Welfare warned on Sunday as the country's economic outlook grows increasingly grim.

Iran’s parliament speaker has blamed mismanagement as the cause of the country's energy crisis during a special session of the Energy Committee on Sunday.

Data from oil tanker tracking firms reveal that during Joe Biden's presidency, Iran exported approximately 2 billion barrels of oil—a significant increase compared to the volumes recorded between 2019 and 2021.

Amid Iran's winter energy crisis, natural gas supplies to 12 petrochemical plants have been suspended due to high residential demand, an Iranian official announced Saturday.

Iran needs $45 billion in investment to resolve its chronic winter energy deficit and worsening air pollution, the country's Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said on Wednesday.

Iran’s economy minister announced on Tuesday that the Supreme Leader has approved revisiting two critical international conventions required to ease banking restrictions resulting from Iran's blacklisting by the money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The completion and filling of a dam in Afghanistan has raised concerns in Iran as the two neighbouring countries try to make the most of the region's limited water resources.

Iran is struggling with a sharp decline in oil exports to China and seeks to offload reserves stored in Chinese ports ahead of Donald Trump's return to Washington.

Business owners and employees in Tehran’s historic bazaar staged a rare strike on Sunday against runaway inflation and soaring foreign currency rates, spurring protests in other commercial hubs in the capital.

Fifty percent of Iran’s industrial parks have ceased operations due to power outages, according to the employers' representative in the Supreme Labor Council, as the electricity cuts further hamper the economy.

Iranian government politicians and clerics scrambled on Friday to counter mounting public disdain for their international and domestic setbacks, reaching for outlandish explanations and blasting critics.

Nearly 150 welders at Tehran Refinery have been fired, and 15 representatives of oil contract workers face dismissal for protesting unpaid wages and demanding better conditions as the government continues to quash dissent.

The sons of a former high-ranking Iranian judiciary official have been sentenced to a combined total of over 25 years in prison for their involvement in a financial corruption case.

Energy shortages have forced the shutdown of kilns at 22 cement factories across Iran, disrupting production and threatening supply to the construction industry, one of the country's few industries to have witnessed growth in 2024.

While the US dollar reached a new high against Iran’s currency on Wednesday, an economist warned that without an agreement with Washington soon, inflation could climb above 40% before the Iranian New Year in March.

A member of the Iranian parliament’s economic committee said on Wednesday that the administration has raised the official exchange rate of foreign currencies to generate revenue at the public's expense,warning of a looming inflationary wave.