Protesters challenge economic conditions, Tehran, Iran, December 29, 2025

EA on Monocle Radio: Assessing Iran’s Strikes and Protests

UPDATE, JAN. 1:

Vendors at Tehran’s central fruit and vegetable market march on Thursday morning, chanting, “No Gaza, no Lebanon, my life for Iran”:

Security forces seize students at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran:

UPDATE 2047 GMT:

Protesters in Khorramabad in Lorestan Province in western Iran, chant, “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, my life for Iran”:

UPDATE 2032 GMT:

Clashes between protesters and security personnel in Hamedan in western Iran:

In temperatures close to freezing, two students stand in front of a water cannon:

Protests at Beheshti University in Tehran, Isfahan Industrial University, and Ferdowsi University in Mashhad….

A student refer to high prices, inflation, inefficiency, oppression, and corruption: “Know that the ruling criminal system, which has taken away our future for 47 years, will neither change with reforms nor with false promises.” Chants include, “The student does not accept humiliation” and “Woman, Life, Freedom, Man, Homeland, Prosperity”.

UPDATE 1703 GMT:

Protesters in Nahavand in Hamedan Province in western Iran, chanting, “We do not want the Islamic Republic”:

UPDATE 1509 GMT:

Security forces have reportedly fired toward protesters during a demonstration in the city of Kouhdasht in Lorestan Province in western Iran:

Clashes are also reported in Isfahan in central Iran:

Video of water cannon deployed on Valiasr Street, one of Tehran’s main thoroughfares:

UPDATE 1506 GMT:

President Masoud Pezeshkian is taking a harder line as tension builds across Iran.

Having said on Tuesday that peaceful protest is legitimate and the Government must people’s concerns over economic conditions, Pezeshkian claimed today that Iran faces “external pressure from the enemies of the country”: “Unfortunately, inside the country, instead of synergy and support, some positions and actions cause weakening and harm.”

UPDATE 1501 GMT:

A senior judicial official in southern Iran has denied reports of the first fatality in the nationwide protests.

Claims circulated that Mahdi Samavati, 18 was killed by security forces’ gunfire on a demonstration in front of the governor’s office in Fasa in Fars Province.

Hamed Ostovar, the head of Fasa’s justice department, said images confirmed damage to part of the governor’s office, including broken glass and the guard post door: “During the incident and after police entered the area, four of the attackers were arrested.”

He claimed three police officers were injured.

UPDATE 1333 GMT:

Protests are reported in cities such as Tehran, Fasa in southern Iran, Kermanshah in the west, and Isfahan in the center.

Heavy security presence is reported in Mashhad, Iran’s second city, and near Tehran’s Charsou Mall.

The scene in Isfahan:

Another union, the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, has backed the protests.

The Syndicate said, “The deprived people have the right to protest against repressive policies, the state’s attack on public livelihoods, structural corruption and widening class gaps.”

UPDATE 0843 GMT:

A divide may be opening between the Supreme Leader’s office and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian over the response to protests and strikes.

Hossein Shariatmadari, appointed by the Supreme Leader as editor-in-chief of the Kayhan newspaper, has derided remarks by Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani.

Echoing Pezeshkian’s message, Mohajerani said:

The Government recognizes the protests. We emphasize the right to peaceful assembly that is recognized in our Constitution.

When the people’s voices are heard, it means that the pressures are heavy and the government’s job is to hear the voices. Obviously, inflation above 50 percent means people’s voices are raised.

Shariatmadari snapped in response:

When all the documents and evidence indicate the dependence of the small group of rioters on the Zionist regime and economic problems are not even seen in their slogans, what “protests” are you talking about?…

Where in your words are these protests worthy of being heard?

Iran’s Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi-Azad said peaceful protests over livelihood are understandable. However, he warned that any attempt to turn the protests into insecurity or to damage public property would be met with a “legal, proportionate and decisive” response.

“What we cannot be indifferent to is structured misuse of these legitimate demands,” he said, referring to “directed media networks, distorted narratives, and the use of deceived individuals or those who disrupt public order”.

UPDATE, DEC 31:

Allameh Tabataba’i University and Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran have suspended in-person classes until the end of term.

Iran’s Deputy of Student Affairs in the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology wrote universities on Tuesday that “in view of the cold weather, energy imbalance, and to create greater readiness for students to participate in exams”, classes in the last week of semester can be virtual. The letter did not cite growing protests on campuses.

Six University of Tehran students who were arrested on Tuesday have been released from detention.

UPDATE 1806 GMT:

Videos of protests across Iran this evening….

Protesters chant “Death to the Dictator” in Arak in central Iran:

Clashes in Hamedan in western Iran:

Protesters in Fars Province in southwest Iran, “This year is the year Seyed Ali [the Supreme Leader] will be overthrown”:

UPDATE 1758 GMT:

A student was severely injured when Basij paramilitary forces reportedly attacked a gathering near Tehran’s Amirkabir University.

At least five university students were arrested, four outside the Tehran University campus and one at Sharif University of Technology.

Footage of Amirkabir students chanting, “Basiji, IRGC [Revolutionary Guards], you are our ISIS”:

UPDATE 0923 GMT:

Shopkeepers in south Tehran’s Shoush and Molavi districts have again closed their stores. There are reports of protests in parts of the capital’s main bazaar.

Security forces have deployed at Valiasr Square, one of Tehran’s busiest intersections and a frequent gathering point.

Shopkeepers in Isfahan in central Iran reportedly joined strikes, with merchants in the historic Naghsh-e Jahan Square closing their stores.

There are also claims of closures in the cities of Shiraz and Ahvaz.

Judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir warned that “citizens” would not permit existing problems to become “a pretext for the enemy’s attack on the ideals and values of the nation”.

ORIGINAL ENTRY, DEC 30: Strikes and protests are spreading in Iran’s capital Tehran over the country’s mounting economic problems.

Crowds gathered on the streets despite attempts by security forces to disperse them with volleys of tear gas. One of the rallies was at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, where many merchants closed their shops.

As inflation rises to an official level well above 40%, Iran’s currency is plummeting to record lows. The rial now stands at 1,386,000:1 v. the US dollar. That is a 97% decrease in value from early 2018, when the currency stood at 45,000:1, and a 43% decline from the last year’s level of 800,000:1.

On Tuesday morning, President Masoud Pezeshkian said, “I have asked the Interior Minister to listen to the legitimate demands of the protesters by engaging in dialogue with their representatives so that the government can do everything in its power to resolve the problems and act responsibly.”

State media acknowledged the demonstrations. The Iranian Labor News Agency said protesters “are demanding immediate government intervention to rein in exchange-rate fluctuations and set out a clear economic strategy”. It quoted complaints: “Continuing to do business under these conditions has become impossible.”

Other outlets betrayed concerns. The Revolutionary Guards’ Fars warned of “insecurity” and “destabilization”: “These gatherings could become a new platform for the activities of the cells of unrest.”

Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said people’s grievances over livelihoods required “full responsibility” from officials and dialogue with representatives of professional guilds.

He praised Pezeshkian’s intervention, saying measures should focus on boosting purchasing power, reforming economic decision-making, and ensuring coordinated action across the government. Urgent steps were needed to protect household incomes and strengthen the central bank’s authority in economic policy.

However, he warned, “Ill-wishers want to drag people’s demands into disorder and unrest. The people of Iran know the enemy and its malicious goals.”

The official statements showed no sign of checking the growing discontent. The national truckers’ union has declared full support for shopkeepers and protesters: “The unity of the bazaar and the drivers is the only way out of this situation.”