Iran has been gripped by five weeks of demonstrations against dress codes for women — and some hard-liners want an even stronger clampdown. ZDF journalist Jörg Brase reports on protests and acts of civil disobedience in Iran's capital, Tehran.

On September 16, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died in a Tehran hospital, three days after being arrested by the morality police for wearing her headscarf incorrectly. Iran has since been rocked by protests, which are closely followed and supported by the diaspora abroad.

Mass protests have broken out across the Islamic nation amid public rage over the death of a young woman who had been arrested by the "morality police."

Vladimir Putin works his Middle East connections. For his first international outing since the war in Ukraine, he went to Iran to meet with supreme leader Ali Khamenei and Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Iran and Russia are seeking closer ties in the face of Western sanctions. Also on the agenda: negotiations over blockaded imports of Ukrainian grain and the situation in Syria.

Officials deny that the Russian President's visit to Tehran is also about the delivery of combat drones. That is unlikely, says Kersten Knipp — and argues that the countries are united in their fight against democracy.

Baghdad is hoping to revive talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia following the deadly confrontation in Yemen. Diplomatic ties between Tehran and Riyadh have been non-existent for years.

European diplomats have called a pause in talks on Iran's nuclear program "disappointing." EU envoy Enrique Mora has said only weeks remain to save the deal, as Iran ramps up uranium enrichment.

Islamic hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi is viewed as the favorite to win the presidential election. But given the nation's dire economic straits, he is expected to continue Tehran's current approach to foreign policy.

Reports of an "explosion" on an Iranian cargo ship in busy waters off the Yemeni coast have been confirmed. The ship is suspected of functioning as a military base for the Revolutionary Guard.

There have been tentative signs of progress toward salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal, as the UN's atomic energy watchdog reports that Iran has agreed to discuss "outstanding issues."

Tehran seems to think that the departure of its archenemy, Donald Trump, could give it more diplomatic scope for its regional ambitions. But this could prove to be very much mistaken.

Iran said it would not go on "a buying spree" of weapons while announcing that the UN arms embargo from 2007 has now expired. Tehran also said that "weapons of mass destruction" had no place in their defense.