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Iran’s ruling establishment is intensifying security prosecutions and property seizures while its own institutions disclose widespread irregularities in pension funds, depleted government finances and mounting disruptions to household livelihoods. At the same time, hardline parliamentarians are openly attacking suspected advocates of political compromise and calling for more confrontational policies.
On October 31, the IRGC-aligned Fars News Agency reported the seizure of assets belonging to Alireza Ordoubadi, founder of the private Inverse School of Digital Arts, and said confiscation proceedings were underway. Fars accused him of insulting Shiites and engaging in propaganda against the political system. Ordoubadi said judicial action had also blocked the school’s website, bank accounts and payment systems, disrupting an educational institution he said had trained more than 70,000 people. He denied that the school had engaged in political activity.
The same day, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei demanded faster handling of cases involving alleged spies and collaborators with foreign adversaries. Although he invoked legal safeguards, his call for speed and severity comes amid a broad security crackdown. Judiciary spokesperson Ali Kazemi had previously acknowledged approximately 1,895 active cases, including 94 involving media workers, under accusations of cooperation with hostile countries.
The Iranian regime’s #economy minister was formally rebuked by parliament as point-to-point inflation nears 90%, negative growth and a 270,000-toman dollar threaten instability, while food and bread prices are rising, wheat farmers remain unpaid and stocks are falling sharply.…
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 27, 2026
Pension-Fund Irregularities and Depleted Public Finances
The Iranian regime’s Supreme Audit Court disclosed that 392 executives and board members in pension-fund companies simultaneously held management positions in violation of the Commercial Code. The findings expose widespread breaches of corporate-governance rules in institutions entrusted with retirement assets. This happens while millions of pensioners struggle with declining purchasing power and keep protesting on the streets on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, parliamentary Budget Commission member Mehrdad Lahouti acknowledged that the government lacked resources for salary increases. Borrowing from the National Development Fund, he said, had reached 526 trillion tomans against 439 trillion budgeted. He called for resources from powerful economic foundations, including the Mostazafan Foundation and the Execution of Imam Khomeini’s Order. His remarks highlight the contrast between constrained public finances and the substantial assets controlled by institutions closely connected to the ruling establishment.
Hardliners Warn Against Internal Compromise
In an October 29 speech in Qom, hardline parliamentarian Amirhossein Sabeti alleged that influential insiders had been prepared to change the country’s political direction immediately after Ali Khamenei’s death. Without naming them, he accused certain figures of signaling their willingness to reach an accommodation with Washington.
Iran’s deepening crisis: 88.7% #inflation, mass job losses, looming gas shortages, and mounting repression. Meanwhile, hardliners fear regional alliances could force a strategic retreat, erode loyalist morale, and leave the regime more vulnerable to renewed #IranProtests.
By Amir…— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 28, 2026
Sabeti insisted that pro-regime street rallies continue to prevent such a shift. He demanded harsher judicial action against domestic critics accused of echoing foreign adversaries and advocated executions for certain economic offenses during wartime.
The divisions extend to nuclear policy. MP Mahmoud Nabavian said he had publicly requested authorization to build a nuclear bomb, while Alireza Salimi asserted that legislation for withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty had been prepared. Deputy Speaker Hamidreza Haji Babaei declared that preserving the political system was an overriding obligation and advocated using every lawful means to secure its survival.
Fuel Protests and Water Shortages Threaten Livelihoods
On October 31, residents of Zahedan reportedly protested outside the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company after household kerosene allocations and registration codes were suspended without clear explanation. For families without piped gas, the loss of kerosene threatens access to essential heating fuel. Passenger-transport drivers on the Minab–Bandar Abbas route also reportedly protested gasoline shortages.
Iran’s domestic pressures deepen: Parliament quietly revisits sweeping #internet restrictions, food-voucher cuts threaten millions, intelligence officials announce new arrests, and transport, gas and #medicine shortages worsen. Even lawmakers warn that more controls could fuel…
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 29, 2026
Fuel restrictions also threaten southern fishing communities. Mehr’s reporting on fuel-allocation problems described complaints from fishing representatives that quotas were inadequate for operational needs. Industry officials have warned that approximately 12,000 unlicensed fishing boats in Hormozgan face difficulty accessing subsidized fuel, threatening employment and fish supplies.
The regime’s president Masoud Pezeshkian has meanwhile acknowledged that Tehran’s uncontrolled expansion is exhausting groundwater and forcing dependence on transfers from surrounding regions. He said the capital would have faced severe shortages without water brought from Taleqan and warned that continued development without sustainable resources would bring further damage.
The political picture is increasingly stark: corruption-related irregularities, depleted finances, fuel disruptions and infrastructure deterioration are accumulating alongside intensified prosecutions and property seizures. Rather than demonstrating a unified strategy for addressing domestic grievances, influential figures within the establishment are demanding tougher repression and greater confrontation. The combination exposes both institutional weakness and growing anxiety over the regime’s ability to maintain cohesion amid social and economic pressure.