Iran Daily Briefing: 85 Executions in October, a Two-Day Hormuz Offer and New Protest Death Sentences

Economic Warfare & Trade Policy › Sanctions

This Iran daily briefing for Monday, November 2, 2026, covers parliament’s counter-infiltration vote, three new protest death sentences and Hengaw’s October execution count, Tehran’s two-day offer on the Strait of Hormuz, winter gas warnings and the rial. The parliament vote and the seizure of a Tehran art school are covered in depth in today’s article. Sunday’s developments are in the Nov. 1 briefing.

Top lines

• Parliament approved Articles 27–29 of its “counter-infiltration” bill, which would jail organizers of unlicensed classes or workshops tied to a “foreign agent,” as authorities seized the property of the Inverse art school’s founder. See today’s article.
• A Mashhad Revolutionary Court sentenced three men detained in the January protests to death for “moharebeh” (waging war against God), HRANA reported. Hengaw counted at least 85 executions in October, 25% more than September’s 68, and said only 10 were officially announced.
• Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if its demands are met. Iranian negotiators left the Doha talks on Sunday while a draft proposal circulates (Reuters, via Arab News and Al-Monitor).
• First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref warned of gas shortages this winter (CBS News).
• The rial weakened to about 273,200 tomans (2,732,000 rials) per dollar on the open market (Bonbast).

Government

Supreme Leader. Mojtaba Khamenei remains Supreme Leader. CBS News, citing AFP, reported his Saturday warning that any new attack would be answered with “no geographical limitations,” covered in Saturday’s briefing. No new decree from him was reported in the past 24 hours.

Majlis. Sunday’s online session, chaired by deputy speaker Ali Nikzad, passed the counter-infiltration articles (details here). Aria News reported other points from the session (Iranian domestic media; single-source):

• Nikzad said Iran has made no decision to negotiate on its nuclear program.
• MPs Shariati and Pejmanfar asked for a bill to leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to be put on the agenda.
• MP Azizi pressed the government over its failure to nominate an intelligence minister. Nikzad said a candidate would be introduced soon.
• The next session is set for Tuesday, November 3.

Nuclear doctrine debate. Iran International reported growing hard-line calls to build a nuclear weapon:

• MP Mohammad-Taghi Naghdali said the chant at pro-government rallies had become “Nuclear warhead is our indisputable right.”
• MP Ahmad Bakhshayesh urged building a bomb first and leaving the NPT afterward.
• Nour News, which is close to the Supreme National Security Council, cautioned that “the voices of crowds should not be turned into a substitute for expert assessment.”
• Reformist Front spokesman Javad Emam asked: “Can one speak on behalf of the nation without evidence and impose the costs of such a decision on the people?”
• Iran International said the IRGC-affiliated Fars and Tasnim agencies are amplifying the calls for a bomb !Unverified claim, Fars and Tasnim (IRGC-affiliated).

Diplomacy.

• Baqaei said: “Our demands have been articulated very clearly and transparently.” He added that no final deal can be reached, and the Strait cannot be reopened, “unless the US naval blockade is brought to an end” (CBS News).
• He said deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi had been in Doha to pass messages to Washington through Qatari mediators.
• An official briefed on the talks told Reuters the delegation’s departure was “not due to difficulties.”
• Military developments are tracked on our Iran war tracker.

Economy

Rial.

• Bonbast (open market), November 2, 13:04 Tehran time (about 4:34 a.m. ET): US dollar 273,200 tomans sell / 273,000 buy (about 2,732,000 rials); euro 306,250 / 306,050; British pound 366,550 / 366,350. That is weaker than Sunday’s 272,000.
• TGJU: 2,725,000 rials per dollar at 15:59 Tehran time (about 7:29 a.m. ET), up from 2,715,000 the previous day.
• By TBR calculation from Bonbast data, the dollar rose about 0.4% day on day. These are indicative open-market rates, not an official rate.

Gas shortages. Aref asked the public to conserve. He blamed “imbalances accumulated over previous years and war-related damages” and said prices would rise for households that do not cut use (CBS News).

Price controls and subsidies. Aria News reported complaints from MPs in Sunday’s session (single-source):

• MP Samsami protested the Industry Ministry’s removal of 4,533 goods from the exchange-market rate.
• MP Moradi protested cuts to rural flour quotas.
• MP Abdollahi demanded that oil-sale revenue be returned to the treasury.

Oil and sanctions. No new verified data in the window.

Domestic politics

Student self-immolation (single-source). Iran International reported that sociology PhD student Shahin Shokouhi tried to set himself on fire around midday Sunday outside the Foolad building on 16 Azar Street in Tehran. The report cites the student channel Tehran-Daneshjoo, which said he had faced repeated disciplinary summonses and security pressure. His condition is unknown, and the university has not commented. Not independently verified.

Arts and education crackdown. The Inverse school seizure is part of a wider run of confiscations, including Jafar Panahi’s new sentence. See the article.

Women. Hengaw reported that Fatemeh Nazari, 29, and Rouhollah Sepahvandkia were shot dead by Nazari’s husband in a so-called honor killing in Khorramabad.

Hijab and censorship. No new hijab-enforcement reports were verified in the window.

IRGC watch

• Counter-infiltration bill. According to Euronews Persian‘s reading of the bill, the implementing rules on permits and inspections are to be drafted by the Intelligence Ministry and the IRGC Intelligence Organization.
• Kurdish arrests in Oshnavieh (single-source). Hengaw said IRGC Intelligence arrested three Kurdish men without warrants: Zahed Seyedkarimi in a 3 a.m. raid on Sunday; Sadraddin Esmailzadeh, 34, on Sunday; and Komar Royan, 22, the son of a former political prisoner, at a barbershop on Saturday. Their whereabouts and charges are unknown.
• Baha’i cousins sentenced (single-source). Hengaw said Branch 5 of the Kerman Revolutionary Court sentenced Payvand Naeimi to 12 years, six months and one day and Borna Naeimi, 29, to eight years. Hengaw said both were subjected to mock executions and that Payvand’s forced confession aired on state TV on February 1.
• Brother of executed Baloch prisoner (single-source). Hengaw said Intelligence Ministry agents arrested Abdulrahman Dorostaran, 30, on October 12 as he went to collect the body of his executed brother, Omar. He is held in Zahedan without charge, a lawyer or visits.

Death sentences and executions: what the data shows

• HRANA said Branch 5 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, under Judge Hossein Yazdankhah, sentenced Matin Farnian, 23, and two unidentified men to death. All three were arrested January 19–20 and are held in Vakilabad Prison.
• Iran International, citing HRANA, said the Supreme Court upheld an espionage death sentence for Mohammad Naderi. The allegations included using Starlink and sending images to foreign media.
• Hengaw’s October count is at least 85 executions, up 17 (25%) from 68 in September, bringing the 2026 total to at least 689. Six of those executed were political prisoners.
• Only 10 executions (12%) were officially announced. Nine were carried out in secret and two in public. By TBR calculation from Hengaw’s figures, October accounts for about 12% of all executions documented this year.

What to watch

• Tuesday’s Majlis session on the remaining articles of the counter-infiltration bill, and any Guardian Council review.
• The US midterms on November 3, Washington’s reply to the Doha draft, and whether strikes resume.
• Appeals in the Mashhad death-sentence case, and any update on Shahin Shokouhi.
• Gas rationing or price increases as winter begins.
• Follow daily coverage on our Iran news hub.

Sources

Sourcing note: Single-source items are labeled. Hengaw’s arrest and torture accounts and the Shokouhi report have not been independently verified. Aria and ISNA are Iranian domestic and semi-official outlets, cited only for the official record. Reuters stories are cited through full-text republications.

• Aria News Agency (Iranian domestic media), Report on the Nov. 1 Majlis session (Persian), Nov. 1, 2026
• Etemad Online, citing ISNA (semi-official; state media), Articles 28–29 (Persian), Nov. 1, 2026
• CBS News, Live updates: Khamenei warning (citing AFP), Baqaei, Aref on gas, Nov. 2, 2026
• Reuters via Al-Monitor, Iranians have left Doha talks, draft proposal for US deal being circulated, official says, Nov. 2, 2026
• Reuters via Arab News, Iran says Strait of Hormuz could reopen within two days if US meets its demands, Nov. 2, 2026
• Iran International, Hard-line calls for a nuclear weapon (Maryam Sinaiee), Nov. 2, 2026
• Bonbast, Open-market rates, Nov. 2, 2026
• TGJU, US dollar open-market rate, Nov. 2, 2026
• Iran International (single-source via Tehran-Daneshjoo), Shokouhi self-immolation, Nov. 2, 2026
• Hengaw, Khorramabad honor killing, Nov. 1, 2026
• Hengaw, IRGC Intelligence arrests in Oshnavieh, Nov. 1, 2026
• Hengaw, Naeimi cousins sentenced, Nov. 2, 2026
• Hengaw, Abdulrahman Dorostaran detention, Nov. 1, 2026
• HRANA (Persian), Three Mashhad protest detainees sentenced to death, Nov. 1, 2026
• Hengaw, Iran executes at least 85 prisoners in October, including six political prisoners, Nov. 1, 2026
• Euronews Persian, Explainer on the counter-infiltration bill (Persian), Aug. 25, 2026

Additional sources

• Iran International, Mashhad death sentences and the Naderi ruling (citing HRANA), Nov. 1, 2026
• Hengaw, Khaleq Khaledi missing more than two weeks after arrest in Oshnavieh, Nov. 2, 2026
• Iran International, Inverse school seizure (Fars’s allegations and Ordoubadi’s response), Nov. 1, 2026
• IranWire, Inverse school statement, Oct. 30, 2026
• RFE/RL, Background on the counter-infiltration bill, Aug. 17, 2026
• The Guardian, Panahi sentence and asset seizure, Oct. 28, 2026