Six days after the rial hit a record low against the US dollar in late December, protests have erupted about Iran’s skyrocketing living costs.
The government of President Masoud Pezeshkian called for unity and blamed economic pressure on what he called Tehran’s “enemies” after a number of deaths as a result of clashes between protesters and security forces. The protests continue despite government promises to implement economic reforms and increase efforts to combat corruption.
Since shopkeepers in Tehran first shut down their stores on Sunday in protest of Iran’s economic crisis, at least seven people have been killed and 44 have been detained.
As unrest spreads across the nation, economic demonstrations have continued to rise as the tide of protest has shifted to political protests.
How significant are the protests right now, how real are their complaints, and where might this end? Five things you need to be aware of are:
Concerns about living expenses are very real.
One of the most closely monitored nations in the world is Iran. Tehran is having trouble accessing foreign assets and financial markets due to a number of international restrictions. The situation is getting worse and inflation is getting worse as a result of the country’s growing import dependence.
The Iranian rial’s value decreased by 56% in just six months to reach 1.42 million on Sunday. Inflation is being driven by the declining currency, which has increased food prices by an average of 72% over the previous year.
Majid Ebrahimi, a taxi driver, told Al Jazeera, “If the government could reduce the price of other goods, rather than just focusing on fuel.” “Dairy products’ prices have increased by more than ten times this year, and other goods’ prices have increased by more than ten times.”
These protests are significant.
By the New Year’s Eve, students and demonstrators from across Iran’s society joined the wave of demonstrations that started as one protest against the shopkeepers’ failure of the Iranian economy in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on Sunday.
Security forces have been deploying forcefully in some areas of the country, where thousands of people have mobilized.
Three people were killed in a confrontation between security forces and protesters in Lordegan, southwest of Iran, according to an Iranian semiofficial Fars news agency on Thursday. In Azna and Kouhdasht, both in central Iran, were the third and final deaths to be reported.
According to Fars, some protesters “started throwing stones at the city’s administrative buildings, including the provincial governor’s office, the mosque, the Martyrs Foundation, the town hall, and banks,” adding that police in Lordegan used tear gas to protest.
How the government will react is uncertain.
Protesters’ deaths have highlighted Tehran’s hardliner past responses to public unrest. Pezeshkian’s government has remained silent about an outright crackdown and appears ready to take into account the “legitimate demands” of protesters, despite a number of sporadic clashes between protesters and security forces.
The government appointed a new central bank governor on Wednesday in an effort to address protesters’ concerns. After the dramatic demise of the rial, Abdolnaser Hemmati has pledged to bring about economic stability.
The University of Tehran and two other significant universities were ordered by the Ministry of Higher Education on Tuesday. According to local media reports, their removal was a result of “a record of misconduct and a failure to properly handle recent student protests.”
Pezeshkian also emphasized his government’s commitment to economic reforms and combating corruption at a ceremony held in Tehran on Thursday to commemorate Qassem Soleimani’s assassination five years ago.
He told attendees, “We are determined to eradicate all forms of bribery, smuggling, and rent-seeking.” “We will continue on this path, but those who benefit from these rents will resist and attempt to create obstacles.”
He continued, “We must all work together to solve the problems of the people and protect the rights of the oppressed and underprivileged.”
He remarked that protecting people’s livelihoods is his government’s “red line.”
There have previously been large-scale protests.
After Mahsa Amini, 22, was killed in custody in September of that year because she didn’t properly wear her hijab, a mass protests erupted in Iran in 2022.
Women in Saqqez, in western Saqqez, first started to demonstrate after Amini’s funeral before spreading to other parts of the country in solidarity with the deceased woman.
The arbitrary arrest of tens of thousands of people, the widespread use of tear gas, live ammunition, and, in the opinion of human rights organizations, the unlawful deaths of hundreds of people were among Iran’s brutal responses to the unrest.
UN experts’ investigation into the government’s actions in 2024 discovered that its actions constituted “crimes against humanity,” a claim that Tehrani authorities had deemed to be “false” and “biased.”
Following the protests, the so-called morality police were briefly suspended in December 2022 before being reinstated the following year. Although many women still fear a resurgence, their dress code enforcement has since become noticeably more relaxed.
These protests have the potential to grow.
US President Donald Trump made a comment on the unrest on Thursday, after he unilaterally withdrew the country from a nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 that slowed down its nuclear development in exchange for sanctions relief. The United States of America will come to their aid if Iran shoots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, as they customarily do. We’re loaded, loaded, and prepared to go.
A lion and a sun with the lion’s paw resting on an hourglass with the country’s current flag were posted on the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Farsi social media account on Thursday. The post continued, “Light triumphs over darkness” and continued, “The rise of Iranian lions and lionesses to fight against darkness.
During a 12-day conflict between Israel and Israel, Israel and the US launched attacks on Iran in June.
While the US claimed that Israel had launched a decisive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, there has been continued rumors that Israel has been prepared for further attacks.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed potential strikes on Iran and the Lebanese ally Hezbollah, according to the US news website Axios this week.
Pezeshkian wrote on social media that any harsh and despotic response to any cruel aggression would be from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Source: Aljazeera
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