In late December 2025, widespread protests erupted across Iran, beginning in Tehran, where shopkeepers and merchants took to the streets over deteriorating economic conditions. Within days, the protests gained support in over 170 cities across the nation.
Human rights groups and local officials report at least 582 arrests and 15 protesters killed since the beginning of the demonstrations. The number of detainees and injuries is expected to rise. Footage shared on social media shows protesters hailing stones at police, reportedly injuring 13.
What began as frustration over growing economic challenges has since widened into broader discontent across generations and social classes.
Here’s what you need to know:
What triggered Iran’s protests?
Iran’s demonstrations follow months of economic strain as a result of inflation and unstable prices.
This economic crisis was exacerbated by a series of external shocks in the preceding months, with the United Nations Security Council reinstating a number of sanctions on Iran for noncompliance with its nuclear commitments. These sanctions worsened Iran’s economic isolation in global markets and slashed oil revenues. At the same time, Iran faced one of the worst droughts in its modern history in late 2025.
Indeed, Iran’s current unrest follows a longer history of popular protest. The 2009 Green Movement, sparked by allegations of a rigged election, drew support from students, professionals, and sections of the urban middle class, subsequently raising questions about the government’s legitimacy.
A decade later, in 2019, nationwide demonstrations over fuel prices again exposed economic grievances. Then, in 2022, protests following the arrest and death of Mahsa Amini mobilized a broader cross-section of society, particularly young people and women.
Each of these movements was met with a heavy police response, including widespread arrests and the deaths of protesters. Current demonstrations build on this legacy, drawing on familiar slogans and frustrations which have accumulated over more than a decade of unrest.
Who is protesting, and what are their demands?
The spontaneous protests, erupting from Tehran’s bazaar strikes over a collapsing rial and rampant inflation, have no single leader and no on-the-ground figureheads have emerged yet. However, the protests have attracted a broad coalition of participants, including groups that previously formed part of the state’s traditional support base.
Although unrest has yet to reach the scale and scope of the 2022 protests, many of the slogans and messages echo familiar calls for political reform and, according to several reports, regime change.
Iran’s demonstrations cut across class, age, and regional divisions, which some claim signals growing unity around shared discontent toward the nation’s government. As tensions mount between government officials and protesters, there are few signs that unrest is easing.
How are authorities responding?
The Iranian government has attempted to take a multifaceted approach to quelling protests, intensifying security presence across the country while appealing for national unity against foreign adversaries.
In many provinces, schools, universities, and government offices have been temporarily closed, while local authorities have restricted public gatherings. The demonstrations have disrupted commercial activity in parts of the country.
In a statement published by state media, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged that some economic complaints were understandable, but framed the unrest as part of a broader “soft war” waged by Iran’s external enemies. “Protest is justified,” he stated, “but protest is different from riot ... Talking to rioters is useless.” He urged citizens to maintain order and national cohesion.
However, amid a security crackdown, Tehran has also announced limited measures to ameliorate economic challenges. Among them, President Masoud Pezeshkian announced the appointment of a new head of the central bank. He also promised various reforms to stabilize the Iranian currency and to consider protesters’ economic demands.
What’s at stake if these protests continue?
These protests come at a time of heightened tension in Iran’s relations with the United States and its regional adversaries.
On Jan. 2, US President Donald Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to threaten American intervention: “If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.”
Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a former parliament speaker, responded to Trump’s remarks, accusing the US of stoking internal unrest and blaming the protests on foreign interference.
For many in Iran’s leadership, recent US actions abroad—including the CIA-backed abduction and detention of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro—are seen as evidence of Trump’s willingness to sidestep international law to pursue strategic and economic interests. Amid these developments, Iranian officials fear that the country’s economic fragility and signs of political fracture could provide an opening for external pressure or, potentially, military intervention.
What do these protests mean for Iran’s future?
With merchants and shopkeepers constituting a significant portion of Iran’s protesters, current demonstrations signal growing discontent within one of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s strongest support bases.
Analysts have noted that Iranian political leaders have been considerably more receptive to protesters’ demands than they were in similar events, in 2019 and 2022. In previous protests, the government has implemented a nation-wide internet blackout and stuck to party views. Now, leaders are recognizing the circumstances causing Iranians to take to the street.
Demonstrations show no sign of easing in the coming days and, if sustained, may weaken the regime’s traditional support structures and deepen the disconnect between citizens and political leaders. With Trump’s threats of military involvement and shifting domestic political dynamics, the protests could reshape Tehran’s posture at home and abroad.
