The biggest harbinger that things were about to fall apart in Iran didn’t come from the thwarted anger of the country’s opposition or the frustrated hopes of young people hungry for more personal freedom. It came from the collapse of a bank, the Wall Street Journal reported. Late last year, Ayandeh Bank, run by regime cronies and saddled with nearly $5 billion in losses on a pile of bad loans, went bust. The government folded the carcass into a state bank and printed a massive amount of money to try to paper over all the red ink. That buried the problem but didn’t solve it.

The U.S. will put a 25% tariff on any country that does business with Iran, President Trump said on Monday, raising pressure on the Middle Eastern nation after days of protests against the government, the Wall Street Journal reported. “Effective immediately, any Country doing business with the Islamic Republic of Iran will pay a Tariff of 25% on any and all business being done with the United States of America,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

January 9 Luxembourg Housing Projects to Continue Despite Insolvency Proceedings, Capelli CEO Says Housing projects planned by a developer in Luxembourg will continue despite the firm’s subsidiary in the Grand Duchy entering insolvency proceedings, the company’s CEO has insisted, the Luxembourg Times reported. Capelli Lux, the Luxembourg arm of French property group Capelli, began insolvency proceedings on Monday, casting doubt over the future of a major construction project in Howald, the South Village project.

The Lod District Court in Israel has approved an application from cultivated meat startup Future Meat Technologies Ltd (doing business as Believer Meats) to open insolvency proceedings and appointed a trustee to represent the interests of its creditors, AgFunderNews.com reported. Yoel Freilich, an attorney at law firm Gissin & Co, has been authorized as trustee to manage the company’s assets, while the court also issued a 40-day stay on all proceedings against the company, which temporarily freezes enforcement actions by creditors.

In the Sultanate of Oman, bankruptcy is considered pivotal for consolidating market competitiveness and ensuring a fair investment climate in line with the objectives of Oman Vision 2040, according to a commentary in the Times of Oman reported. In 2019, Oman issued the Bankruptcy Law under Royal Decree No. 53/2019, which came into effect in July 2020. The law aims to enhance the business environment by providing legal protection for debtors and creditors, regulating bankruptcy procedures transparently, and allowing distressed companies to restructure instead of liquidating.

A Dubai civil court has officially declared a Gulf national insolvent after determining that he is unable to settle accumulated debts totaling Dh2.56 million owed to seven creditors, including banks, private individuals, and housing finance institutions, the Filipino Times reported. The court approved the insolvency petition and appointed a licensed insolvency trustee to examine the debtor’s financial standing and manage the proceedings.

Mindex, the export center of Iran's Ministry of Defense, is accepting cryptocurrency payments for advanced weapons systems as a means of bypassing international sanctions that the country faces, CoinDesk.com reported. Prospective customers can buy weapons such as missiles, tanks and drones using crypto, amongst other accepted payment methods including Iranian rials or bartering, according to the center's website. Mindex is responsible for Iran's overseas defense sales and claims to have clients in 35 countries. No prices are displayed for the available items.