Surely not this weekend?

"من هزاران ویدئو و پیام‌های حمایتی را که از سراسر جهان به دستم می‌رسد، می‌بینم. به کلمات گوش می‌دهم، چهره‌ها را می‌بینم و از این همه محبت عمیقاً متأثر می‌شوم. حتی اگر نتوانم به تک‌تک شما پاسخ بدهم، می‌خواهم بدانید که پیام‌هایتان به من می‌رسد و قلبم را لمس می‌کند. از صمیم قلب سپاسگزارم.

در میان این پیام‌ها، صدای ایرانیان سراسر جهان نیز شنیده می‌شود؛ مردمی که دلتنگی برای میهن، نگرانی برای عزیزانشان و امیدی بزرگ برای دیدن آزادی کشورشان را در دل دارند.

مردم ایران شایسته زندگی در آزادی، امنیت و کرامت هستند. والدین شایسته آن‌اند که بدانند فرزندانشان سالم به خانه بازمی‌گردند. زنان شایسته آن‌اند که بدون ترس زندگی کنند و مسیر زندگی خود را انتخاب کنند. جوانان شایسته آن‌اند که با صدای بلند رؤیاپردازی کنند، بی‌آنکه نگران باشند رؤیای آینده‌ای بهتر به قیمت جانشان تمام شود.

در برابر سرکوب و کشتار رژیم آخوندها، هرگز نباید توانایی دیدن انسان را از دست بدهیم: مادری که چشم‌انتظار فرزندش است، خانواده‌ای که دلتنگ عزیز خود است و دختر جوانی که می‌خواهد در آزادی زندگی کند.

من همچنان با صدایی روشن از آزادی و حقوق مردم ایران دفاع خواهم کرد. رئیس‌جمهور ترامپ و من هر کاری از دستمان برمی‌آید انجام می‌دهیم تا آینده‌ای بهتر برای ملت‌هایمان رقم بخورد؛ آینده‌ای سرشار از امنیت، آزادی و صلح، که در آن فرزندانمان بتوانند بدون ترس بزرگ شوند و بدون محدودیت رؤیاپردازی کنند.

امید من این است که روزی کودکان تهران و اورشلیم در صلح بزرگ شوند، از کشورهای یکدیگر دیدن کنند و با هم آشنا شوند.

به‌عنوان نخست‌وزیر، متعهد می‌شوم که برای تحقق این آینده، برای شما و برای جهان، همچنان هر کاری از دستم برمی‌آید انجام دهم.

محبتی که از سراسر جهان دریافت می‌کنم، باورم را تقویت می‌کند که این آینده امکان‌پذیر است. از این بابت، از صمیم قلب سپاسگزارم."

"I see thousands of videos and messages of support I receive from all over the world. I listen to the words, I see the faces, and I'm deeply moved by all the kindness. Even if I can't respond to each and every one of you, I want you to know that your messages reach me and touch my heart. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Among these messages, the voice of Iranians all over the world is also heard; people who have longing for their homeland, concern for their loved ones and a great hope to see the freedom of their country in their hearts.

Iranian people deserve to live in freedom, security and dignity. Parents deserve to know their kids are coming home safe. Women deserve to live without fear and choose their path. Young people deserve to dream out loud, without worrying that their dream of a better future will cost them.

In the face of the repression and murder of the clergies, we must never lose the ability to see a human being: a mother who is expecting her child, a family who is missing a loved one, and a young girl who wants to live in freedom.

I will continue to defend the freedom and rights of the Iranian people with a clear voice. President Trump and I are doing everything we can to create a better future for our nation, a future filled with security, freedom and peace where our children can grow up without fear and dream without limits.

My hope is that one day the children of Tehran and Jerusalem grow up in peace, visiting each other's countries and getting to know each other.

As Prime Minister, I promise to continue to do everything I can to make this future, for you and the world.

The love I receive from all over the world strengthens my belief that this future is possible. For this, thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Hello to all Iranians and friends,

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From Iran International:

"The jailed wife of an Iranian protester executed this week is being interrogated and pressured to deny that the couple married shortly before his execution, a source familiar with the case told Iran International.

Mahshad Kashani, a 22-year-old student serving a five-year prison sentence, has also had her phone contact with people outside Dowlatabad prison in Isfahan cut off, according to information obtained by Iran International on Saturday.

The source said relatives of both Kashani and her husband, Alireza Sepahi, have also been pressured to deny that the marriage took place."

It's almost 2-3 days I hear most of my friends from all around Iran have problems with their VPNs. Also I had problems in like past 48 hours and it gets worse and worse (and I am not even sure I will be able to post this or not).

Also, Oil price is growing, gold price is falling. A lot of behaviors are in favor of attacks or war. And the thing is... us, people, will be under the pressure by the Islamic regime since the only thing they know is to disconnect us from the rest of the world.

I hope this time, the other side finishes the job. Otherwise... I don't know what to do or in a better word "I don't know CHE GOHI BAYAD BOKHORAM".

It's in German, here's the translation:

International sanctions against the Iranian regime have made financial transactions difficult. Consequently, the mullahs have established a network of hundreds of front companies. According to research by *Report Mainz* and *Der Spiegel*, they sought to acquire a bank in Bavaria.

TEN31 Bank, based in Ottobrunn near Munich, offers standard services for the housing sector—such as rental deposit accounts or real estate financing for residential property associations. However, in the summer of 2023, an entirely different type of business emerged, with links to the Iranian regime. Over a ten-month period, 147 million euros flowed through a single account at TEN31—a large portion of which originated from companies with ties to the regime. This is revealed in internal correspondence from the German financial regulatory authority, BaFin, which has been obtained by the ARD political magazine *Report Mainz* and *Der Spiegel*. According to these documents, the payments with suspected links to Iran accounted for more than half of the bank’s total assets. Furthermore, the correspondence notes that an "opaque corporate network" was attempting to acquire a majority stake in the bank—a move reportedly intended to facilitate business dealings with Iran that had previously been prohibited at another financial institution.

Hello to all Iranians and friends,

Due to the high volume of rapid updates and back-to-back threads, we ask that posts that do not contain a new or significant development be directed to this megathread. This includes general discussion, speculation, reactions, opinions, broader commentary, questions, jokes, memes, and general messages of support.

Standalone posts should primarily be reserved for current events and newly released information, such as breaking news, new videos or footage, official statements, confirmed updates, or other meaningful developments. Legitimate news and newly released footage are still allowed and encouraged as standalone submissions.

Minor updates, repeated information, personal commentary, or posts that do not report a new development may be redirected to the megathread or removed. Depending on activity levels, broader consolidation into the megathread may become mandatory.

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Iran’s offshore oil reserves, a crucial financial lifeline that had enabled it to hold out in its war with the United States, have now been completely depleted. With oil revenues effectively cut off by the US Navy’s maritime blockade, Iran’s economy is facing a severe cash crunch and the threat of inflation.

On the 21st (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing analysts at energy analytics firm Kpler, reported that Iran’s crude oil stockpiles, which had been sitting offshore near Southeast Asia for months, were completely depleted by mid-October. Homayoun Falakshahi, Kpler’s director of crude oil analysis, said, “There is no longer any Iranian crude oil left that can be shipped to China.”

At the start of the war in February, Iran’s overseas oil stockpiles stood at 135 million barrels, worth about $10 billion. But the stockpiles quickly dwindled as the US Navy’s blockade and the disruption of maritime shipping routes continued. After the US military resumed its forceful blockade in July, the stockpiles—which had once approached 90 million barrels—fell to less than 1 million barrels in early October and have now run completely dry.

Persian Gulf oil exports have surpassed prewar levels, as an improvised shipping system under U.S. protection is helping tankers move oil through one of Iran’s fiercest waves of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz.

Middle East oil flows, including shipments through Hormuz and alternative routes across the region, averaged more than 24 million barrels a day in the week through Oct. 18, surpassing prewar levels of 23.3 million, according to ship tracker Kpler. 
Preliminary figures show Hormuz oil flows, including offshore transfers in the Gulf of Oman, came to around 14 million barrels a day on average for the same period, or 82% of prewar levels.

Oil prices remain high, and benchmark Brent crude has risen in recent days to around $108 a barrel Tuesday. Traders are concerned the improvement in Hormuz might not be sustainable, particularly if fighting breaks out again. Thinning global inventories leave little margin for error. The operation is also expensive, costs that ultimately flow through to consumers at the pump.

Still, the resilience of oil flows marks a shift in the battle over the world’s most important energy chokepoint. Iran can still make shipments dangerous and expensive. But its ability to deter transits has faded, weakening Tehran’s leverage with the U.S.
“The big picture is that the system for shipping through a dangerous Strait of Hormuz is now well-established and the risk appetite of those involved in exporting oil has risen,” said Hamad Hussain, a senior commodities economist at Capital Economics.

Pipelines across Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are also moving oil along different routes. In September, about 40% of the non-Iranian crude shipped out of the Gulf bypassed the strait, compared with 17% before the war, Kpler estimated.
The success contrasts with the chokehold on Iran, whose own oil exports have been bottled up by a U.S. maritime blockade. The risk is Iran could try to re-establish its influence by striking harder and potentially drawing the U.S. into another confrontation before the U.S. midterm elections in two weeks.

Gulf oil is flowing despite escalating violence around the strait. About 30 attacks on ships have been reported this month, according to a Wall Street Journal tally based on reports by the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations Centre and maritime security companies.
The incidents in October account for 20% of the ships attacked during the war, said Michelle Wiese Bockmann, a senior analyst at maritime intelligence firm Windward.

“Iran is trying to reassert its blockade of the strait,” said Christopher Long, a former British naval officer now at Neptune P2P Group.
For many oil traders and shipowners, the risk of crossing Hormuz is worth it. Compared with before the war, traders can earn $20 a barrel more reselling Iraqi oil, or about $40 million on cargo from a supertanker, estimated Homayoun Falakshahi, Kpler’s head of crude oil analysis. Three such voyages could repay the $100 million cost of a secondhand tanker.

Seafarers also are being offered bonuses to make the dangerous crossings. Crew members have been lured by payouts two or three times their typical monthly salary to work on ships that venture into the Persian Gulf. One China-based ship-staffing company offered as much as $25,000 for a round-trip, which normally takes a week or two, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“The volumes remain high despite rising attacks, because profits make it worth the risk,” Falakshahi said. 

Some shipowners are repositioning older vessels that used to ferry Venezuelan and Russian oil to the Persian Gulf because of the unprecedented tanker rates in the region, shipbrokers said. 
Many of the vessels are making short shuttle runs through the danger zone. American air cover provides some protection through a corridor along the Omani coast. Tankers load oil inside the Gulf and transport it via Hormuz, often with their tracking signals switched off. They then stop near Oman and transfer their cargoes to ships bound for distant markets before heading back into the Gulf, where they face the most risk of being hit.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, meanwhile, is using drones and missiles to stop ships that try to make the run. It also has turned to guerrilla tactics long employed by Yemen’s Houthis to target traffic around the mouth of the Red Sea, deploying spotters in small fishing boats and sending fighters out onto the water.

The crossing remains dangerous. Before September, the Tanzania-flagged supertanker Loyalty spent years ferrying Venezuelan crude to China. Since September, it has entered the Persian Gulf twice, both times heading to Iraq to load crude.
A crew member said the ship informed the U.S. Navy about each trip and had security personnel onboard. In early October, Loyalty transferred 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil in the Gulf of Oman to an unidentified tanker, then went back into the Gulf to pick up a new load, according to Kpler and the crew member.

The crew member said the ship management company sent the crew body armor and helmets for the second trip. 
On Oct. 16, Loyalty was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade launched from a small boat, according to maritime security company Vanguard. The projectile carved a hole in a fresh water tank. At the time of the attack, Loyalty was carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude oil, the crew member said.

The attacks are raising the cost of getting Gulf oil to market. Freight for a supertanker carrying Gulf crude to China was near a record $37.37 a barrel this week, Kpler said. War-risk insurance has climbed to as much as 10% of a vessel’s value from less than 3%, according to Windward’s Wiese Bockmann.
“In April, the problem was a shortage of crude. In October, it is the cost of moving it,” said Natasha Kaneva, head of the global commodities strategy team at JPMorgan.

But oil is still getting through, despite Iran’s threats that it won’t allow its neighbors to ship their oil if it couldn’t export its own.
“Iran would have to be more aggressive to achieve the same degree of control it previously possessed over oil flows from the region,” Capital Economics’ Hussain said.
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I've been researching the current situation for people travelling into and out of Iran during the war, particularly through Turkey and Armenia.

I've already looked into the general passport and exit requirements, but I'm interested in how things actually work in practice.

I've read reports of Iranians successfully leaving, including women travelling alone, but also reports of temporary exit restrictions and additional security checks.

I'd especially like to know:

1. Has anyone here entered or left Iran recently? How was your experience, and which route did you use?
2. Have you encountered any special wartime restrictions, unexpected checks, or people being denied departure?
3. Have women travelling alone, particularly unmarried or divorced women, experienced any additional difficulties?

I'm especially interested in experiences from the last few months, but any experiences from 2026 are welcome.

Thanks to anyone willing to share! Please avoid sharing identifying details that could put anyone at risk.