Iran is experiencing a countrywide shutdown triggered by intensifying protests and a deepening political and economic crisis. This government-ordered shutdown has impacted businesses, educational institutions,

Iran has insisted for decades that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, its officials have increasingly threatened to pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran had been enriching uranium to near weapons-grade levels prior to the U.S. attack in June, making it the only country in the world without a nuclear weapons program to do so.

Iran's government announced a spike in subsidized gasoline prices, sparking intense protests that saw gas stations, banks and stores burned to the ground. Over 300 people reportedly were killed and authorities shut off the country's access to the internet.

That posture was on display this week when Iran announced that three of its domestically designed satellites were launched into orbit aboard a Russian rocket. The launch was broadcast by Iran’s Arabic-language state television channel Al-Alam News Network, which aired footage showing the satellites lifting off from Russian territory.

Demonstrations sparked by Iran's struggling economy have spread into rural provinces, with at least seven people killed.

Rights groups accuse security forces of killing protesters and storming a hospital in the province of Ilam. State media claimed that some protesters were armed.

Anti-government protests erupted in Tehran on Thursday, as Iranians angered by a flailing economy and crackdowns by security forces marched through the streets of the capital and shouted slogans against the ruling theocratic regime.