{"id":230787,"date":"2026-01-06T17:42:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T17:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/230787\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T17:42:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T17:42:08","slug":"at-least-25-dead-and-more-than-1000-arrested-after-iran-protests-say-rights-groups-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/230787\/","title":{"rendered":"At least 25 dead and more than 1,000 arrested after Iran protests, say rights groups \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

At least 25 people have been killed in Iran<\/a> during the first nine days of protests that started in the bazaar \u200dof Tehran over the plunging value of the currency and soaring inflation, according to rights groups.<\/p>\n

The authorities have acknowledged the economic hardships but accused networks linked to foreign powers of stoking the protests. On Tuesday, Iran\u2019s \u200dpolice chief vowed to \u201cdeal with the last of these rioters\u201d.<\/p>\n

The shopkeepers\u2019 protest continued on Tuesday in the bazaar, with about 150 people focusing on economic demands, Iran\u2019s Fars news agency reported. <\/p>\n

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 morality police for allegedly \u200cviolating the Islamic Republic\u2019s strict dress code.<\/p>\n

However, even though smaller, these protests have quickly expanded from an economic focus to broader frustrations, with some protesters chanting against the country\u2019s clerical rulers.<\/p>\n

Iran \u2060also remains under international pressure, with US president Donald Trump<\/a> threatening on Friday to come to the aid of protesters if security forces fired on them. Iran\u2019s \u200csupreme leader \u200bAyatollah \u200dAli Khamenei<\/a> vowed not to \u201cyield to the enemy\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0After US captures Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, could Iran\u2019s supreme leader be next?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Hengaw, a Kurdish Iranian rights group, put the death toll at 25, including four under 18. It said more than 1,000 had been arrested. HRANA, a network of rights activists, said at least 29 had been killed, including two law enforcement agents, in addition to 1,203 arrests, as of January 5th.<\/p>\n

Reuters has not been able to independently verify the numbers. Iranian authorities have \u2060not 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.<\/p>\n

Authorities have attempted \u2060to maintain a dual approach to the unrest, saying protests over \u2060the economy are legitimate and will be met by dialogue, while meeting some demonstrations with tear gas amid violent street confrontations.<\/p>\n

The police chief, Ahmadreza Radan, was quoted on Tuesday by state media as saying they had drawn a distinction between protesters and what he called rioters, the \u200dlatter facing arrests on site or following identification by intelligence units.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019s greatness,\u201d Mr Radan said.<\/p>\n

\"PeoplePeople walk along a street in Tehran, Iran, on Tuesday. Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh\/EPA <\/p>\n

Fars said Tuesday\u2019s gathering of shopkeepers on Saadi street in Tehran ended without \u201cexpanding the police\u2019s presence\u201d.<\/p>\n

Muhammad (63) a jewellery shop owner in the bazaar, told Reuters there was a heavy presence of riot police and plainclothes security forces inside and around the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were forcing shopkeepers who were on strike to open their shops. I did not see it myself, but I heard there were clashes outside the bazaar and police fired tear gas,\u201d he told Reuters by phone. He declined to give his \u200cfamily name.<\/p>\n

Footage shared on Telegram on Tuesday \u200cby Vahid Online, which posts videos of the protests to more than 650,000 followers, appeared to show dozens of security forces on motorbikes patrolling the street and the unidentified person who took the clip can be heard saying the security forces had fired tear gas.<\/p>\n

Reuters confirmed that the video was \u200cfilmed on Saadi street but could not verify the exact date when it was taken.<\/p>\n

President Masoud Pezeshkian has promised reforms to help stabilise the monetary and banking systems and \u2060protect purchasing power. \u2013 Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At least 25 people have been killed in Iran during the first nine days of protests that started…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":230788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[118174,72,969,113,61,11829,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-230787","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-ali-khamenei","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-iran","14":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/230787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=230787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}