Credit: X / @abdolah_abdi
Mass protests broke out in Iran, calling for the “death of the dictator” due to the regime’s economic crisis.
Tear gas was used to disperse the protesters as shops closed their shutters in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and main markets.
Students called on their colleagues to join the demonstrations, as chants rang out from rooftops in several cities and the Iranian rial fell to record lows, all against a backdrop of continued threats from Israel and the US.
Residents of a town near Tehran told The Telegraph that a heavy presence of armed security forces on motorbikes was visible around midnight.
On Monday, security forces fired tear gas to disperse protesters in Tehran, while residents of Malard, 45 miles east of the capital, faced off against armed motorcycle-mounted security.
In several cities, people climbed onto their rooftops and chanted slogans against the Islamic Republic and Ali Khamenei, its supreme leader.
The protests were encouraged by Israel, whose foreign ministry, hoping to overthrow Khamenei, welcomed the move with “open arms”.
Credit: X / @mamadporii @Vahid
Donald Trump also threatened military action on Monday if Iran rebuilt its nuclear or missile programs, warning he would “knock the hell out of them.”
At several universities, students urged their colleagues to join the demonstrations after protests broke out at Tehran University’s dormitory complex.
Security forces surrounded the hostel on Monday night and locked its gates with a heavy security presence around the campus.
Students living at the complex chanted slogans including “Woman, life, freedom”, “Students die, but don’t accept humiliation” and “Be afraid, be afraid, we are all in this together”.
A student from the dormitory said: “They have closed the gates and special forces on motorcycles are surrounding us. We are determined – some of us may be arrested, things may get worse – but we will not back down.”
Iranian universities have long been centers of political activism, with students playing key roles in protests for decades.
Ahmadreza, a university student from Malard, told The Telegraph: “They [the protesters] they have roads closed in several neighborhoods and chants are coming from all directions. People are also chanting from their rooftops.
“It’s almost impossible to move from one part of the city to another. There are police cars with cages. People are angry and exhausted because the prices are increasing by the day.”
People chanted slogans against Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – HO/AFP/Getty
The protests began on Sunday afternoon after mobile phone and electronics traders in Tehran closed their shops as the rial fell to a record low of 1.42 million to the dollar.
Police in full gear clashed with hundreds of demonstrators near Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and in the Saadi Street area on Monday afternoon.
Traders closed their shops and urged others to join the shutdown. Security forces maintained a heavy presence in several locations across the capital.
The currency recovered slightly to 1.38 million late on Monday after the governor of the Islamic Republic’s central bank resigned, but remains down about 40 percent since June.
Iran’s currency collapse exacerbates severe inflation. The State Statistics Center reported that inflation reached 42.2% in December, up 1.8 percentage points from November.
Food prices increased by 72% and health and medical products increased by 50% compared to the same period last year.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said he wants to “solve the problems of the people and the disadvantaged” – Wana/Reuters
Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, told parliament on Sunday: “I have no motivation to stay in the government or to stay as president if I cannot solve the problems of the people and the disadvantaged.
“It’s not something I want to be proud of. We can’t govern while people are in trouble… they say wages are low, so they’re low, they say you’re taxing too much, so we’re taxing too much.
“On the other hand, they say to raise the wages. Someone tell me where I should get the money to give?”
Mr Pezeshkian addressed the protests directly on Monday night after the demonstrations spread, saying he would listen to the protesters’ demands.
He said: “We have fundamental measures on the agenda to reform the monetary and banking system and preserve people’s purchasing power.
“I have instructed the Home Secretary to listen to the legitimate demands of the protesters through dialogue with their representatives, so that the government can act with all efforts to resolve the issues and respond responsibly.”
The rial was trading at 32,000 to the dollar in 2015, when Iran signed a nuclear deal with world powers that lifted international sanctions.
The deal collapsed after Trump withdrew the United States from it in 2018.
Business collapse
The deal completely collapsed in October and the reimposition of UN sanctions that were lifted as part of the deal followed.
Iran last saw nationwide protests in 2022 and 2023 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
Hundreds of people were killed, over 20,000 were arrested and several were executed in connection with these demonstrations.
State media acknowledged Monday’s protests but said traders were only concerned about economic conditions.
State media reporters on the main 8.30pm news program sought to portray the protests as economic rather than anti-regime, showing scenes of normalcy on the streets and interviewing residents.
One resident said: “Please stop this – stop this. The dollar price is stupid.”
Another trader said: “If we sell something today, we cannot buy it again at the same price tomorrow. The government should think about the situation.”
The government’s IRNA news agency reported that cellphone sellers are responding to business threats from the currency’s depreciation.
Iran also raised gasoline prices this month, sparking warnings from lawmakers about a potential repeat of violent fuel protests in 2019 that killed hundreds in what was then the deadliest unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Mostafa Tajzadeh, the imprisoned Iranian politician and prominent dissident, said: “Now is the time for all those who want a prosperous, free and independent Iran to speak with one voice and demand the separation of religious institutions from political institutions, for the clergy to return power to the people and return to their traditional base in the seminaries.”
“The surest and surest way out of the crisis is to convene a constituent assembly and amend the constitution in accordance with the will of the nation.”
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