Iran is confronting its most significant wave of domestic unrest since the mass protests of 2022. In December 2025 and early January 2026, demonstrators took to the streets across Iran’s major cities and provinces, propelled by deepening economic distress and pervasive frustration with governmental mismanagement. What began as demonstrations against collapsed living standards has rapidly escalated into a broader confrontation between the state and a discontented public, set against a fraught geopolitical backdrop involving the United States and Israel.

The epicentre of the current protests lies in Iran’s profound economic crisis. Years of structural weakness, compounded by the reimposition of US sanctions and internal mismanagement, have pushed inflation to historic highs and eroded household incomes. According to economic assessments, inflation in Iran soared above 48 per cent in late 2025, with the rial experiencing precipitous depreciation, sharply reducing purchasing power for ordinary Iranians. Between a quarter and a half of the population is estimated to live below the poverty line, while shortages in energy and other essentials have become chronic.

On 29 December 2025, anger erupted when the national currency plunged to record lows against the US dollar, igniting spontaneous protests by merchants, students and ordinary citizens. These gatherings quickly spread beyond Tehran to include other urban centres and smaller provinces, signifying a widening crisis of confidence in the state’s ability to provide economic stability.

Unlike previous waves of dissent triggered by specific social grievances, such as the 2022 protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in custody, the current unrest has an unmistakably economic core. Yet the scale and rapid diffusion of demonstrations indicate a broader malaise; once aggrieved sectors of society have found common cause in public expressions of disillusionment with the political establishment.

Tehran’s response: Calming words, hard lines

Iran’s leadership has responded to the protest movement with a mixture of acknowledgement and........

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