Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday called for "swift and just" legal action from new courts after the head of the judiciary said the country faced an "economic war", state television reported.
The rial currency has lost about half of its value since April under the threat of revived U.S. sanctions, with heavy demand for dollars among ordinary Iranians trying to protect their savings.
The cost of living has also soared, sparking sporadic demonstrations against profiteering and corruption, with many protesters chanting anti-government slogans.
The central bank and the judiciary have blamed "enemies" for the fall of the currency and a rapid rise in the price of gold coins, and the judiciary has said more than 40 people including a former central bank deputy have been arrested on charges carrying the death penalty.
The judiciary has suggested that arch-foes the United States and Israel as well as regional rival Saudi Arabia and government opponents living in exile are fomenting the unrest.
"The current special economic conditions are considered an economic war," judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani said in a letter to Khamenei, calling for the setting up of special courts to deal quickly with financial crimes, the television report said.
Khamenei agreed, saying: "The purpose (of the courts) should be to punish those guilty of corrupt economic practices swiftly and justly," the TV added. "The courts should be advised to (ensure) the accuracy of their rulings."
New Islamic revolutionary courts will be set up for two years and directed to impose maximum sentences on those "disrupting and corrupting the economy", and appeal rights will be curbed, Amoli Larijani proposed in his letter, read on state television.
In May, the United States pulled out of a 2015 deal between world powers and Tehran under which international sanctions on Iran were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.
Washington this week reimposed sanctions on Iran’s purchase of U.S. dollars, its trade in gold and precious metals and its dealings with metals, coal and industrial-related software.
The United States has told other countries they must halt imports of Iranian oil from early November or face U.S. financial measures.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday they had killed ten militants overnight in a security operation conducted in the northwest of the country near the border with Iraq, the official news agency IRNA reported."A well-equipped terrorist group ... intending to infiltrate the country from the border area of Oshnavieh to foment insecurity and carry out acts of sabotage was ambushed and at least 10 terrorists were killed in a heavy clash," the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement carried by IRNA.There has been sporadic fighting with Iranian terrorist groups based in Iraq as well as Daesh terrorists near Iran’s porous border with Iraq.In July, there were at least two clashes in the mountainous border area, in which at least 10 Guards and three militants were killed.In 2017, Daesh terrorists carried out coordinated attacks at the parliament building in Tehran and the mausoleum of Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini south of the capital, killing 18 people.
Iran Guards say they killed 10 terrorists near Iraq border
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said there was no meeting planned with U.S. officials including his counterpart Mike Pompeo at the United Nations General Assembly, the semi-official news agency Tasnim reported on Saturday.Asked about the likelihood of a meeting with U.S. officials, including Pompeo, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Zarif said: "No, no such meeting is planned. We have repeatedly announced our position," Tasnim reported.Earlier this week, the United States re-imposed sanctions on Iran in line with President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of a 2015 agreement over Iran's nuclear programme. 
Iran foreign minister says no meeting planned with US counterpart
Iraq’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday condemned the re-imposition earlier this week of U.S. sanctions on Iran.In a statement, ministry spokesman Ahmed Mahjoob said his country rejected the use of economic sanctions, of which, he said, the general public tended to be the primary victims.Mahjoob also praised Iran for its continued support for Iraq and for the latter’s ongoing fight against terrorism.Moscow would regard more US sanctions as economic war“We call on the international community to exert pressure to discourage the U.S. administration from continuing these sanctions,” he said.The spokesman went on to warn of the sanctions’ potentially negative effects “on Iran and the entire region, both in economic and social terms”.On Tuesday, the U.S. re-imposed a first round of economic sanctions on Iran, which mainly target the country’s banking sector.The sanctions are intended to hinder Tehran's acquisition of U.S. currency; its precious metals trade; bank transactions denominated in the Iranian rial; activities related to Iran's sovereign debt; and the country’s automotive sector.
Iraq condemns re-imposition of US sanctions on Tehran