Iran protests hit deadliest day as unrest spreads to clerical stronghold Qom

While demonstrators chant against the entire system, the government of President Masoud Pezeshkian has focused its response on reshuffling economic managers and pressing ahead with long-delayed currency reforms, betting that technical fixes can still defuse a crisis that has increasingly become political.

The renewed unrest was triggered by a sharp bout of currency volatility that briefly pushed the U.S. dollar to around 1.45 million rials on the open market, intensifying already high inflation and accelerating the erosion of purchasing power.

“Protesting the dollar is protesting instability; protesting a life that cannot be planned,” wrote journalist Mustafa Danandeh in the daily Ettelaat. “People who do not know whether six months from now their rent will double, medicine will be available, or their job will survive.”

A new old face

In response, Pezeshkian reshuffled the leadership of the Central Bank of Iran, reappointing Abdolnaser Hemmati and reviving a controversial push toward a single exchange rate—an idea long advocated by economists but repeatedly stalled by politics, sanctions and entrenched interests.

Hemmati, a prominent centrist figure, had been forced out less than seven months into his tenure as economy minister after parliament impeached him over exchange-rate volatility.

His return—this time to a post that does not require parliamentary approval—has infuriated hardline lawmakers and highlighted widening rifts within the political elite.

“This explicitly ignores parliament’s vote and shows disregard for the will of representatives,” said Zeynab Gheisari, an ultra-hardline lawmaker from Tehran. Another hardline legislator, Amir-Hossein Sabeti, said the move demonstrated the government’s “disregard for the people and the country’s economy.”

In his first public remarks after the appointment, Hemmati laid out familiar priorities: controlling inflation, managing the foreign exchange market and tightening oversight of banks.

It’s the economy—or is it?

The reform effort centers on dismantling Iran’s multi-rate currency regime, a system dating back to the Iran–Iraq war of the 1980s, when preferential exchange rates were introduced to subsidize essential imports. Over time, the widening gap between official and market rates turned the system into a major source of rent-seeking, corruption and uncertainty.

As the business news outlet Tejarat News noted, the policy “failed to provide sustainable support for domestic producers and created severe uncertainty for investment and production planning.”

The Entekhab news site cautioned that in an economy burdened by sanctions, fiscal shortfalls and political distrust, inflationary expectations tend to regenerate quickly once short-term interventions fade.

On Thursday, the president announced the immediate elimination of the subsidized exchange rate of 285,000 rials per dollar for basic goods and animal feed imports, saying the subsidy would instead be transferred directly to consumers to eliminate “rent, bribery and corruption.”

In unusually blunt remarks, Pezeshkian acknowledged that public anger was directed at the state itself. Dissatisfaction, he said, was the government’s responsibility, adding that “there is no need to look for America to blame.”

Many protesters appear keenly aware that Pezeshkian’s authority is tightly constrained by entrenched power centers, a reality reflected in slogans that target the theocratic system itself and its supreme leader rather than the exchange rate.

The phrase “It Will Happen Again” appears above images of sites targeted during the June war, including Israel’s Nevatim airbase and the Haifa refinery and power plant, as well as Qatar’s Al‑Udeid airbase, which hosts American troops and was targeted in June.

Iranian officials framed those strikes as only a fraction of the country’s missile capabilities and warned that future retaliation could be more extensive.

The new banners come after recent remarks by US President Donald Trump on his support for possible Israeli attacks on missile or nuclear sites in Iran, prompting senior state and military officials in Tehran to issue a series of defiant and threatening messages.

Trump said on Monday he would support possible Israeli strikes on Iran if the Islamic Republic further develops its ballistic missile or nuclear programs, warning Tehran against rebuilding military capabilities destroyed in Israeli and American airstrikes in June.

​“Israel should remember the blows it received in the recent war and take a lesson from the previous attack before thinking of entering a new one,” IRGC spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Naeini said on Wednesday.

“Iran’s power is increasing by the day, and Israelis only talk about a weak Iran in the media while they themselves know very well how strong our missile capabilities are,” Naeini added.

The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program earlier this year, for which Trump set a 60‑day deadline. When no agreement was reached by the 61st day on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military offensive, followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.

The attacks killed several nuclear scientists along with hundreds of military personnel and civilians, while Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israeli civilians and an off‑duty soldier, according to official tallies from both sides.

On June 23, Iran launched around 14 short‑ and medium‑range ballistic missiles at Al‑Udeid base as part of its retaliation for US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities the previous day.

US officials said air defenses in Qatar intercepted 13 of the missiles and that one fell short of the base, but satellite imagery later indicated a missile had struck and damaged a large US radar dome used for secure communications, while Washington reported no American casualties.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, while Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said dealing with Trump is beneath the dignity of the Islamic Republic and officials have rejected US demands to end uranium enrichment and curb missile capabilities.

The United States has long insisted that Iran must completely halt its uranium enrichment program, stop supporting its armed allies in the Middle East and accept restrictions on its ballistic missile program. Tehran has rejected the demands.

The protests, triggered by rising prices, quickly moved beyond economic grievances. Slogans once again targeted the ruling system itself, with demonstrators openly calling for its downfall.

In both 2019 and 2022, when similar chants echoed across Iran, authorities moved swiftly to shut down the internet, cutting off communication with the outside world and crippling domestic news coverage. Protesters were rapidly branded as enemy foot soldiers, and state media framed the unrest almost exclusively as a foreign-backed security threat.

This time, the state broadcaster appears to have adopted a more cautious line, quoting hardline outlets on the causes of the protests while limiting its own commentary, perhaps to avoid provoking demonstrators—or to reclaim an audience long lost to social media and foreign-based Persian-language outlets.

‘Right to protest’

State television presenters have repeatedly asserted in recent days that “protesters have every right to protest rising prices.”

That framing mirrors President Massoud Pezeshkian’s recent assertion that “protesters do not need a permit to take to the streets under the Iranian Constitution.”

The statement was always legally correct, but no senior official or major outlet had previously expressed it so plainly.

At a December 31 press conference, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani reiterated that the administration recognizes the public’s right to protest, adding that Pezeshkian has pledged to listen to citizens and resolve their problems.

The new central bank governor, Abdolnasser Hemmati, issued sweeping promises: to control inflation, end privileges for well-connected individuals and address banking irregularities, including unauthorized withdrawals from government accounts.

Hemmati previously held senior economic posts under Presidents Rouhani and Pezeshkian without achieving those goals, but on December 31 he insisted he now has “full authority” and is determined to deliver.

Cities shut down

At the same time, the government has taken steps to sap momentum from the streets.

Beginning December 31, schools and offices in 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces were closed for four days, a move widely seen as an attempt to replace open unrest with a fragile calm—particularly as the closures were announced amid unusually clear weather in the capital, rather than the pollution that has forced similar shutdowns in recent months.

As heavy smog over Tehran briefly lifted after months, some protesters remarked—almost incredulously—that Mount Damavand was visible again on the northeastern horizon, an unintended symbol of dissent long presumed dormant but never extinguished.

Yet an ominous sign looms as well.

Ali Fadavi, the IRGC’s deputy commander, has been replaced by Ahmad Vahidi, a figure known for harsher methods and strict loyalty to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Reports already suggest that shootings at demonstrators and arrests increased on Thursday, the fifth day of unrest.

It remains to be seen whether Tehran sustains its current posture if unrest deepens—or reverts to its familiar factory settings of internet disruption and brute force.

Demonstrators took to the streets in cities including Esfahan, Hamadan, Babol, Dehloran, Baghmalek and Pian, chanting slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, backing exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, and commemorating slain protesters from previous uprisings such as teenager Artin Rahmani from Izeh.

In Esfahan, nighttime protesters were filmed chanting “Don’t be afraid, we are all together” and “Death to the dictator,” while in Dehloran and Baghmalek demonstrators shouted pro‑monarchy slogans including “This is the national slogan: Reza Pahlavi,” “Javid Shah” (“Long live the Shah”) and calls for Khamenei to be overthrown.

Acts of defiance

Security forces responded with force in several locations, with reports and footage of gunfire and tear gas in cities such as Nahavand, Asadabad and Hamadan, where residents were seen standing their ground, including one protester who faced down a water cannon.

In Babol, crowds intervened to stop security forces from arresting a demonstrator, while in Tehran a student leader at the University of Tehran, Sarira Karimi, was detained after a raid on her home, with her whereabouts unknown.

Voices of support

Prominent cultural and religious figures also weighed in, with top Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid saying crushing living conditions and a political dead-end are driving the revolt, and acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi describing the unrest as an uprising to “push history forward” now that “shared pain has turned into a cry in the streets.”

Western politicians continued to line up behind the protesters. US Senator Rick Scott said he was encouraged to see Iranians “calling for an end to the abusive Iranian dictatorship” and urged them to keep standing up to the “evil regime," while fellow Republican Senator Pete Ricketts called for more pressure on Tehran as people risk their lives in the streets.

Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers urged the EU to “stand on the right side of history” by cutting diplomatic ties with Tehran’s rulers, backing internet access for Iranians and engaging with opposition leaders about a “post‑Islamist Iran."

Unlike previous waves of unrest, the government has so far refrained from cutting nationwide internet access. Officials also appear keen to avoid an immediate crackdown that could further inflame public anger and broaden demonstrations.

Authorities have instead announced a series of closures under the pretext of “cold weather and energy saving.” Government offices were shut down in 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces on Wednesday, and several major universities in Tehran moved classes online until further notice under the same pretext.

Recognition of the right to protest, in words

On the third day of protests, President Masoud Pezeshkian said his government recognizes the public’s right to protest and has tasked the interior minister with holding talks with representatives of Tehran’s bazaar merchants.

Ali Ahmadnia, head of the government’s information office, also said on Wednesday that the administration had formally accepted the protests and would listen to criticism. The government, he said, “will sit down and listen to all critics and will not engage in any violent behavior—indeed, it strongly opposes it.”

The comments were met with skepticism on social media. One X user wrote: “If the government respected the people and had heard their protests, it would have resigned on the first day and stood with the public. Instead, despite all its inefficiency, it keeps making empty promises—showing it still doesn’t understand what is happening.”

Warnings from other power centers

Conciliatory language from the government was accompanied by firm warnings from other power centers.

Iran’s prosecutor general, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, described “peaceful livelihood protests” as part of social realities but warned that “any attempt to turn economic protests into tools of insecurity, destruction of public property, or the execution of externally designed scenarios” would be met with a response from authorities.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also issued a statement on Monday marking the anniversary of the 2009 protest crackdown. It warned it would confront “any sedition, unrest, cognitive warfare, or security threat,” accusing what it called the enemies of the Islamic Revolution of attempting to recreate unrest through “psychological operations and narrative warfare.”

Hossein Shariatmadari, editor of the hardline Kayhan newspaper, claimed protesters were few in number and accused them of exploiting economic grievances to create unrest. He also alleged that shopkeepers had distanced themselves from protesters because of slogans he described as “dictated by the Zionist regime.”

Partial retreat toward bazaar merchants, cash aid promises

Meeting with representatives of trade guilds, President Pezeshkian said the government and parliament had agreed to suspend certain tax requirements, including penalties, for up to one year.

The move may not be sufficient to calm unrest among merchants, whose survival depends less on tax relief than on consumers’ rapidly shrinking purchasing power amid high inflation. At the same time, such concessions risk angering salaried workers who cannot avoid paying taxes.

One user wrote on X: “That’s not even the issue. When sales are close to zero, making taxes zero changes nothing. When income doesn’t cover high rent, even cash handouts don’t help.”

The government has also sought to ease public pressure by reiterating its promise to pay a monthly cash subsidy of 7,000,000,000 rials (about $5.17) per person.

Officials present the measure as targeted support for households struggling with rising prices, but critics say the amount has been eroded by inflation and is unlikely to offset the sharp decline in purchasing power or calm growing public anger.

Limited use of force—so far

Social media reports indicate that an unspecified number of protesters have been detained in recent days, though arrests appear more limited than in comparable protests in past years.

In Tehran—where demonstrations quickly spread across markets, streets, and universities on Monday and Tuesday—there have so far been no confirmed reports of security forces firing on protesters, unlike previous unrest. However, on Wednesday, security forces opened fire in the towns of Fasa, in southern Fars province, and Kouhdasht, in Lorestan province, as protesters attempted to enter governorate buildings.

Online reports initially claimed that an 18-year-old had been killed in Fasa, but a video later surfaced showing the young man alive and saying he was unharmed.

Campus controls and university shake-ups

Protests reached several universities on Tuesday, where students chanted anti-government slogans.

Following confrontations, the heads of campus security at Alzahra, Sharif, and Iran University of Science and Technology were dismissed for “a record of misconduct and failure to properly handle recent student protests.”

Also, six of at least seven detained students in Tehran were later released.

Reformist figures welcomed the unprecedented dismissals. Azar Mansouri, head of Iran’s Reformist Front, called the move “a rational response,” saying it signaled recognition that security and stability cannot be achieved by ignoring protesters’ concerns.