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At least 25 people have been killed in Iran during the first nine days of protests that started in the bazaar of Tehran over the plunging value of the currency and soaring inflation, according to rights groups.
The protests have spread to some cities in western and southern Iran but do not match the scale of unrest that swept the nation in 2022-23 over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
Hengaw, a Kurdish Iranian rights group, put the death toll at 25, including four people under 18. It said more than 1,000 people had been arrested. HRANA, a network of rights activists, said at least 35 had been killed, including two law enforcement agents, in addition to 1,203 arrests, as of Tuesday.
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the numbers.
However, even though smaller, these protests have quickly expanded from an economic focus to broader frustrations, with some protesters chanting against the country’s clerical rulers.
WATCH | Hours ahead of Venezuelan action, Trump warned Iran:
Trump threatens to intervene if Iran kills peaceful protesters
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, warning Iran that if it ‘violently kills peaceful protesters’ the United States ‘will come to their rescue.’ An Iranian official then accused the U.S. of stoking the demonstrations, which have been driven in part by the collapse of Iran’s currency.
Iran also remains under international pressure, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening on Friday to come to the aid of protesters in Iran if security forces fired on them. In response, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to “yield to the enemy.”
The country’s clerical establishment is still coming to terms with the 2025 Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets. The attacks, which killed top Revolutionary Guard commanders and nuclear scientists, were launched just a day before a planned sixth round of talks with Washington over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
Trump’s warning came a day before U.S. special forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife on January 3 and whisked them off to New York to face a criminal indictment.
Iran, which has for years allied itself with fellow oil producer Venezuela, which has also suffered under years of U.S. sanctions, has condemned Washington’s action in Caracas.
Iran condemns ‘rioters’
Iranian authorities have not given a death toll for protesters, but have said at least two members of the security services have died and more than a dozen have been injured in the unrest.
“While drawing a distinction between protesters and rioters, law enforcement has dealt with strength against rioters by arresting them on the scene or later following identification by intelligence units,” Iran’s police chief Ahmadreza Radan was quoted by state media on Tuesday as saying.
“I pledge that we will deal with the last of these rioters. It is still time for those who were deceived by foreign services to identify themselves and draw on the Islamic Republic’s greatness.”
HRANA said that during the protests, slogans have gone beyond economic demands and included criticism of governance and calls for justice. Protests have so far occurred in 27 provinces out of 31 and expanded to smaller cities, it said.
Authorities have acknowledged economic hardships but accused networks linked to foreign powers of “pushing economic protests toward chaos and disorder,” with the judiciary chief pledging to have no mercy toward “rioters.”
Protesters are shown marching on a bridge in Tehran on Dec. 29. (Fars News Agency/The Associated Press)
President Masoud Pezeshkian has pushed for a dialogue and promised reforms to stabilize the monetary and banking systems and protect purchasing power.
The government has announced a subsidy reform, removing preferential currency exchange rates for importers in favor of direct transfers to Iranians to boost their purchasing power for essential goods. The measure will come into force on January 10.
The central bank chief was also replaced on December 29.
The rial fell further on Tuesday, representing a four per cent fall in value since the protests started.