Iran's judiciary has announced that Belgian air worker Olivier Vandecasteele has been sentenced to 40 years in prison and 74 lashes on four separate charges. Under Iran's law, he might serve the longest of the priosn sentences handed to him, which is 12.5 years. Article 134 of Iran's Islamic Penal Code states that when an individual is convicted of at least three separate crimes that do not carry the death penalty, the person will serve the longest of those sentences.

Unclear if this applies to Vandecasteele.

Iran's intelligence ministry says among those arrested in the protests are nine foreign nationals, including citizens of Germany, Poland, Italy, France, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The ministry alleges that they were either among the "rioters" or otherwise involved in the protests "behind the scenes".

Internet restrictions imposed by Iranian authorities are making it difficult to confirm whether protests are held in a given location.

What few videos that made it on social media last night suggest gatherings were held in Tehran, Karaj, Yazd, Sanandaj, and Chabahar.

https://twitter.com/1500tasvir/status/1574831864052944927

Disruptions to internet access have been going on since 19 Sept. Since 21 Sept, @netblocks has recorded a nation-scale shutdown of mobile networks.

Iran's Interior Ministry Vahidi says the disruptions will continue as long as the protests persist.

https://twitter.com/netblocks/status/1574840341051707396

Believe it or not, the Kremlin vs Jewish Agency story is of interest to Iran's state-linked media.

The SNSC-affiliated Nour News said Russia-Israel relations will never go back to normal while Al Alam TV somehow managed to bring the "imaginary" Holocaust into the mix. Nour News said Russia will likely "reduce its punitive measures" against Israel for its condemnation of the Ukraine war once Israel "adjusts its stance" on the invasion.

"However, it is doubtful that the level of relations will go back to what they were."

This one seems to have gone under the radar: The Iranian parliament's Research Centre last week released a 40-page report that explored the possibility of a "long-term strategic agreement" with Russia.

Long story short: it said Iran should go for it.

bit.ly/3tARYB4 The RC said a strategic deal with Russia could become a "turning point" in relations between Tehran and Moscow. It argued that there were enough "motivators and drivers" to strike a long-term deal.

British Foreign Secretary Raab and Iranian FM Amir-Abdollahian spoke on the phone today for the first time since the latter took office.

AA reiterated that Iran would return to Vienna talks after "internal discussions on how to resume the negotiations".

tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1400/0… The readout doesn't mention dual nationals imprisoned in Iran but that it says Raab spoke of the UK's "commitment" to repay its debt to Iran.

That very likely means the topic was discussed but didn't make it to the Iranian readout of the conversation. It's happened before.

Citing an "informed source", Press TV reports that IAEA boss Grossi's meeting tomorrow with Iran's atomic energy chief Eslami will be about "servicing" the agency's monitoring equipment.

"There will be no change" to restrictions imposed by Iran.

presstv.ir/Detail/2021/09… There's been no official comment on Press TV's report.

Meanwhile, the SNSC-linked Nour News claims to have obtained info suggesting that the IAEA's Board of Governors is not planning to introduce a resolution against Iran. The BoG is convening on Monday.

nournews.ir/%D8%A8%D8%AE%D…

#Iran's Army today test-fired an "optimised" version of its Mersad-16 SAM System, according to the state broadcaster IRIB.

They've only released two pictures so far. The "new-gen" Mersad-16 is meant to be an improvement on the SAM tested back in October 2020.

https://twitter.com/AuroraIntel/status/1319009606874632196

While Iranians are no strangers to unplanned blackouts, this year has been particularly bad as unscheduled outages have become far more frequent.

The only trending hashtag today in #Iran is "power cut" in Persian. One video purportedly shows an ICU without power.

#قطعی_برق Hardliners blame the blackouts on the JCPOA – for allegedly limiting nuclear power generation – & the Paris climate accord – for ostensibly preventing Iran from building power plants.

Iran hasn't ratified the climate agreement & the JCPOA allows peaceful use of nuclear energy.

#Iran's President Rouhani said today that Trump, who "will be disgraced for his crimes... will not only be ousted from power, but also life in the next few weeks".

Added that Iran and Mideast nations will avenge Soleimani's assassination. He also compared Trump to Saddam, like he did last week.

https://twitter.com/KianSharifi/status/1341700000888320005

Tayyebeh Mokhber has become the first person to receive #Iran's #Covid19 vaccine as the vaccine's clinical trial begins.

In the video below, reporters are told constantly to keep their distance from her, to no avail. Iranian media are highlighting the fact that she's the daughter of the head of the state-run organisation behind the development of the vaccine.

Two other people are expected to be inoculated today.

Deputy Commander of #Iran's Army RAdm Sayyari has criticised everyone from the state TV to the IRGC itself for promoting the Guards are expense of the Army. IRNA released 13 mins of its exclusive interview w/ Sayyari before taking it down today.

But Google cache remembers. 1/5 Like other armies around the world, he said, Iran's Army "doesn't believe in publicising everything it does" because it would risk exposing "national security capabilities".

"We're not a refrigerator manufacturer," he said, prompting the interviewers to smile. (00:27)

2/5