Iran is once again simmering and boiling over with angry protests.
This is for the first time after 1979 when country wide protests ended the monarchy and the rule of the clergy started in the country. Today over 20 people have been killed in violent clashes with the security agencies. This time the protest movement is based on economic issues and the centralization of powers in the Islamic coterie since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The presidential system of governance in Iran is camouflaged under the military centric IRGC directly under the Islamic Supreme Leader. The problems have exploded because the system has failed miserably to deliver socio political equilibrium for a just democratic society.
The start of the movement began from Azna in the Lorestan province near Tehran and the movement is gaining momentum with each passing day. The President of the country has admitted publicly that the demands of the protestors are just and genuine. Starting on the 28th of December 2025, mass demonstrations have erupted all over Iran in many big and small cities and towns. This protests are expressing dissatisfaction with the Islamic regime during a deepening economic crisis. It all started with frustration over inflation and rising prices of essential commodities and soon the protest movement evolved into a broader movement demanding an end of the Islamic Republic Govt. beginning with the shopkeepers and Bazar merchants of Tehran. These demonstrations have now spread into universities drawing large number of students from all over the country. Demonstrations have resorted to shouting full throated slogans like “Death to Khamenei” and even “Pahlavi will return”.
This movement has now become the largest outbreak of unrest and turmoil since 2022-2023 protests following the death of Mahsa Amini. The new wave of protests spiraled up due to the rapidly declining economic situation when inflation rose to 46.8 % in October 2025 and 42.2% in December and in October the Iranian Rial touched its lowest point at 1.4 million to the American Dollar and in January this year the Govt. increased the value of the Rial to 1.38 million in order to placate the people this had Zero effect and on January 6th the Rial broke another record when it reached 1.5 million against the US dollar that caused a sharp increase in prices including food stuff and other essential goods. The economic crisis, which had been developing over several years, is accompanied by fears of renewed conflict following the 2025 Twelve-Day War with Israel and renewed UN nuclear-related sanctions imposed through the snapback mechanism.
Initially concentrated in Tehran’s commercial districts, the protests spread to major cities such as Isfahan, Shiraz, and Mashhad. In Tehran, protests centered around the Grand Bazaar, where merchants staged strikes demanding government intervention, while footage shared on social media showed security forces using tear gas to disperse demonstrators. As the demonstrations grew in size, protesters in multiple cities chanted for political change, including calls for “freedom” and explicit opposition to the government. Since the beginning 0f 2024 the Iranian Economy witnessed sharp rise in inflation, devalued currency and an energy deficit that resulted in frequent electricity and gas disruptions with apologies from the Iranian President Masoud Pazeshkian and Iran suffered from huge decline in global influence such as the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in the final months of 2025 the currency experienced an unprecedented surge in exchange rates and a rapid decline in the value of the Iranian Rial. Food prices rose by 72% while health and medical goods increased by 50% and the mismanaged water crisis sprinkled salt on the public’s wounds.
To add insult to injury it was rumored that the Govt. will raise taxes with the start of the New Year.Some protest messaging linked economic hardship to criticism of the government’s foreign policy priorities; during the December 2025 demonstrations, some participants chanted “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, My Life for Iran”. Discontent in Iran has also been alleged to have been due to political corruption, with protesters accusing the Iranian government of authoritarianism and prioritizing proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas over domestic need. Economic analysts cited government monetary and fiscal policies, economic mismanagement, chronic budget deficits, and the continuation of international sanctions as key contributing factors. These conditions directly affected trade guilds, particularly businesses dependent on imports. Severe exchange-rate volatility left many merchants unable to price goods, secure supplies, or continue economic activity. Economic woes have spiraled in Iran throughout 2025.
In June 2025 Iran was involved in an armed conflict with Israel, during which the nuclear program was targeted by the USA and some nuclear facilities were destroyed by Arial bombings.In September 2025, the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran through the “snapback” mechanism, freezing Iranian assets abroad, halting arms transactions, and imposing penalties related to the country’s ballistic missile program. Many Iranians fear a broader confrontation involving the United States, which contributed to market instability. According to The Guardian, the economic crisis was the catalyst for the protests, however they had expanded as an expression of grievances with government corruption. It further reported of voices calling for the overthrow of the government, and distrust in the government’s calls for dialogue, seeing them as self-serving and deceptive. NPR reported that months before the protests, public anger and frustration had been mounting due to severe energy shortages, civil rights abuses and widespread corruption, and that the protests sparked concerns that they would deteriorate into something much more serious.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad
