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UPDATE: 12:30 PM CEST
Iran ‘Deliberately Undermining Iraq’s Security’, Says Al Zaidi Adviser
Iran is committing serious violations against Iraq, including security breaches, economic disruption and drug trafficking, said an adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister, as Baghdad closed some border crossings over security issues.
Abdelamir Taiban, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi, told local media that Iran had “deliberately undermined Iraq’s security”, alleging that Iranian-linked people were entering the country without authorisation and causing “chaos” along the border.
Mr Taiban said Tehran must take “strict legal measures” against those responsible. His remarks this week appeared to be an unusually direct public criticism by an Iraqi government official of Iran’s influence over Iraqi state affairs.
Iraqi citizens had been kidnapped after crossing into Iran, particularly near the Shalamcheh and Al Sheeb border points, he said. The government must expand new electronic monitoring and automation systems to all crossings with Iran, he added.
A German Bank in Tehran’s Crosshairs
TEN31 Bank in Ottobrunn, near Munich, offers conventional banking services for the housing sector, such as rental deposit accounts and property financing for condominium owners’ associations.
But in the summer of 2023, a very different line of business suddenly emerged, with links pointing to the Iranian regime. Over a period of ten months, €147 million flowed through a single TEN31 account, much of it from companies with ties to the regime. This is revealed in internal correspondence from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), obtained by ARD’s political affairs program Report Mainz and Der Spiegel.
According to the documents, transactions suspected of having links to Iran accounted for more than half of the bank’s total balance sheet. And that was not all: an “opaque corporate network” was attempting to acquire a majority stake in the bank, the correspondence stated. The apparent aim was to continue Iran-related business that had previously been prohibited at another bank.
UPDATE: 7:00 AM CEST
Iran’s regime intensifies persecution of PMOI political prisoners and their families
Iran’s regime continues to intensify its campaign against people associated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The regime’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of political prisoner Manouchehr Fallah, while security forces have arrested Ali Alipour, father of executed PMOI member Babak Alipour.
Together, the cases show how regime authorities are using death sentences and arrests of relatives to exert pressure on organized opposition and its supporters.
Political prisoner Manouchehr Fallah faces an immediate threat to his life after the regime’s Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on a charge of membership in the PMOI. His case has been transferred to the Implementation of Verdicts Office in Rasht, the stage at which the ruling can be carried out.
Fallah was sentenced to death in February 2025 by Branch Two of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht, presided over by Mohammad Ali Darvish Goftar. The Supreme Court subsequently referred his case to another branch for review.
Iran Regime’s Existential Crisis Deepens as Internal Factions Clash Over Its Future
Iran’s ruling establishment is facing a deepening existential crisis, marked by intensifying internal power struggles, growing social opposition, and mounting uncertainty over the country’s political future. The crisis extends beyond disagreements over policy or leadership. It concerns the foundations of a system built around the absolute authority of the supreme leader and its ability to maintain power amid mounting domestic and international pressures.
The regime continues to rely on executions and repression to contain dissent, while divisions within its own political ranks increasingly expose uncertainty over how the system can survive. Even among insiders, the viability of preserving the existing structure under the doctrine of velayat-e faqih—the rule of the supreme cleric—is becoming a subject of dispute.
The prospect of war and the possibility of negotiations have created competing risks for Iran’s ruling factions. Neither course offers an easy solution: each could produce consequences that threaten the interests of different power centers within the regime.
Recent factional disputes illustrate the growing intensity of these struggles. Calls to remove, imprison, or prosecute former president Hassan Rouhani and former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have emerged alongside accusations from reformist figures that rival factions are pursuing suspicious activities.
Iran: Appointment of Dadkhoda Salari to Head Kerman Judiciary Despite Record of Executions, Repression
This report examines the judicial record of Dadkhoda Salari Manzari, the newly appointed Head of the Judiciary of Kerman Province. An assessment of his performance throughout various positions, from presiding over the Kerman Revolutionary Court to serving as Prosecutor of Kerman Province and later as Director General of the Provincial Inspectorate, reveals a persistent pattern of violations of fundamental human rights.
Available documentation indicates his involvement, either through direct judicial authority or managerial responsibility, in cases involving the widespread issuance and implementation of death sentences, including the execution of an individual for an offense allegedly committed at the age of 16, the arrest of protesters, restrictions on online freedom of expression, systematic pressure against members of the Baha’i community, interference with citizens’ right to privacy, and judicial actions against family members of activists and justice-seekers.
His appointment as Head of the Kerman Judiciary without any independent review of these allegations raises serious concerns regarding the continued lack of accountability and the persistence of impunity within the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran Inflation at 83.8% as Trade and Shipping Costs Rise
Central Bank figures show that point-to-point inflation fell from 84.4% in August to 83.8% in September, while monthly inflation remained at 3.9%. The same report put Iran’s economic growth in spring 1405 at negative 10.1%.
Lotfali Aghili, an economist and faculty member at the Institute for Economic Research at Tarbiat Modares University, said the decline in point-to-point inflation was not sufficient to conclude that rising prices had been brought under control. “The decline that has occurred is very slight and cannot be relied upon to any significant extent,” he said. According to Aghili, even a lower inflation rate does not mean prices are falling, and households are still facing sharp increases in costs compared with the previous year.
Donya-e-Eqtesad reported that shifting part of trade from sea routes to land borders has increased demand for transportation and customs services, causing congestion and delays at some crossings.
Ghadir Ghiafeh, vice president of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, criticized the number of institutions involved in foreign trade. “We have no particular request from the government; just leave us alone so we can do our work,” he said. He also said some exporters are unable to return foreign currency within the designated deadline for reasons beyond their control, including stalled shipments or problems transferring money, but still face legal consequences for the delay.
Berlin Sit-In Marks 235 Days as Supporters Back UN Rapporteur’s Hunger Strike Against Iran Executions
Berlin, Germany — October 20, 2026: On the 235th consecutive day of their protest sit-in outside the Iranian regime’s embassy in Berlin, supporters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) condemned the regime’s escalating executions and demanded an immediate end to the death penalty. The demonstrators particularly denounced the execution of political prisoners and the wave of death sentences imposed on protesters arrested during uprisings across Iran.
Support for UN Rapporteur
The participants also expressed strong appreciation and support for Leopoldo Maldonado Gutiérrez, the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, who joined the political prisoners’ hunger strike on Tuesday, October 20. His action coincided with the 143rd week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” campaign, in which prisoners in 66 prisons across Iran are protesting executions and defending the right to life.
Maldonado announced a 24-hour hunger strike in solidarity with Iran’s political prisoners and called for an immediate halt to executions, the commutation of death sentences, and a review of cases that failed to meet fair-trial standards.
