An Iranian woman without wearing her mandatory Islamic headscarf flashes a victory sign as two head-to-toe veiled women walk at the old main bazaar of Tehran, Iran, Thursday, June 13, 2024. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

A supporter of the Houthis has a poster attached to his waist of Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, who was killed in an air strike at Baghdad airport, during a rally to denounce the U.S. killing, in Saada, Yemen January 6, 2020. The writing on the poster reads: “God is the Greatest, Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse on the Jews, Victory to Islam”. (Photo by Naif Rahma/Reuters)

A woman walks depicting a scene from the Iranian national epic poem “Shahnameh” in Tehran on August 5, 2025. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP Photo)

An Iranian athlete warms up prior to the start of the women's karate competition, made-up of clubs and teams from around the Tehran province, in Tehran on November 6, 2025. Some 230 participants, including 5-year-old girls, took part in the competition, with team's deriving only from the Tehran province taking part. (Photo by Atta Kenare/AFP Photo)

In this Friday, December 5, 2014 photo, Iranian volunteer Asal Moghaddam plays with dogs at the Vafa Animal Shelter in the city of Hashtgerd 43 miles (73 kilometers) west of the capital Tehran, Iran. More than 500 dogs find care and affection at the Vafa Animal Shelter, which was established through an endowment in 2004 and is the country’s only licensed animal refuge. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)

In this Thursday, May 8, 2014 photo, Iranian coal miners push metal carts to be loaded with coal at a mine near the city of Zirab 212 kilometers (132 miles) northeast of the capital Tehran, on a mountain in Mazandaran province, Iran. International sanctions linked to the decade-long dispute over Iran's nuclear program have hindered the import of heavy machinery and modern technology in all sectors, and coal mining is no exception. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

An Iranian man sells colorful ropes at the Tehrans old Bazaar, the place where the main economy trades take place, in Tehran, Iran, 25 January 2016. Reports state that Iranian officials expected the Iranian economy to grow on an average of eight percent over the coming five years following the lifting of sanctions against Iran. (Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA)

With a presence in nearly every city and town across Iran, the paramilitary Basij volunteer corps has an ever-increasing influence on life in the Islamic Republic. Authorities created the Basij, which means mobilization in Persian, just after the country's 1979 Islamic Republic. It is part of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. Photo: In this Thursday, August 22, 2013 photo, a female member of the Basij paramilitary militia aims a rifle as a trainer looks over her shoulder in Tehran, Iran. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)