Members of Afghan ninja team “Kabura Vahdet” practices Asian martial arts in Tehran, Iran on June 17, 2022. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
A kite is flown at a park during the ancient annual public picnic day, called Sizdeh Bedar, on the 13th and last day of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year holiday, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP Photo)
People help a wounded man following an Israel airstrike in central Tehran, Iran, 15 June 2025. Israel and Iran have been exchanging fire since Israel attacked Iran on 13 June 2025 as part of operation “Rising Lion”. (Photo by Majid Khahi/EPA/EFE)
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)
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)
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)
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)
A couple lights a lantern during a celebration, known as “Chaharshanbe Souri”, or Wednesday Feast, marking the eve of the last Wednesday of the solar Persian year, Tuesday, March 19, 2019, in Tehran, Iran. Iran's many woes briefly went up in smoke on Tuesday as Iranians observed a nearly 4,000-year-old Persian tradition known as the Festival of Fire. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)