Iranian security forces deployed around fuel stations and on streets across the country as a gasoline price increase took effect, with people warning of further pressure on household budgets and rising prices for other goods and services.
Messages, videos and accounts sent to Iran International described deployments of police, special units and Basij forces in Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, Karaj, Isfahan, Tabriz, Birjand, Khorramabad, Khomein, Abadan and Qeshm.
Reports of slower internet connections also emerged from several cities, including Tabriz and Babol.
Petrol prices doubled on Monday for drivers buying fuel outside their monthly subsidised quota, rising from 50,000 to 100,000 rials a litre, about 2.3 to 4.5 US cents. The government announced the increase two days earlier.
Monthly subsidized allocations remain unchanged. Motorists can buy 60 liters at 15,000 rials per liter, about 0.7 cents, and another 50 liters at 30,000 rials, about 1.3 cents.
The dollar figures are negligible. The wages are the point. Average monthly pay in Iran is around 250 million rials, about $113 at Tuesday's rate, and many workers earn closer to 200 million, or roughly $90 a month.
Security forces gather around fuel stations
Several residents of Mashhad told Iran International that security forces appeared around petrol stations on Sunday, hours before the new price took effect.
“On Monday evening, I passed three gas stations. Several police vehicles were stationed outside each one, and at one station there were large numbers of Basij motorcyclists and special unit forces,” one resident said.
Another Mashhad resident described police and special units positioned at fuel stations across the city.
Video sent to Iran International from Khorramabad in western Lorestan province showed security personnel, vehicles and motorcycles deployed around the city, including what appeared to be a mounted machine gun.
Fuel supplies had already faced disruptions over the previous three weeks in areas including Razavi Khorasan, South Khorasan, Tehran and Alborz provinces.
Citizens in early September reported station closures, long lines, restrictions on purchases and waits of about two hours to obtain 10 liters of gasoline.
A Birjand resident said some filling stations had closed and displayed notices blaming “technical problems,” while police were positioned at others.
Similar deployments were described in Shiraz, where a local reported a large security presence around Maali-Abad early Tuesday, and in Karaj, particularly Fardis, Gohardasht and Mehrshahr.
A resident of Khomein in Markazi province also described a long line and numerous police officers at a fuel station on Shohadaye Daneshjoo Street.
Special units deploy in Tehran
Several Tehran residents reported increased security deployments from Monday evening, including in Shahr-e Rey and Salsabil neighborhoods.
“The station was heavily secured. Special units and the Basij were constantly moving around, and the streets were crowded,” a resident who visited a fuel station near Ferdowsi Square in central Tehran around midnight said.
Another who went to a station on Pirouzi Street in the east described long vehicle lines with special units positioned nearby.
People in Isfahan and Abadan also reported armed police at filling stations. In Qeshm, a resident said armed personnel were deployed around major squares on Monday evening and that a confrontation occurred at the entrance to a filling station in Dargahan.
Two messages from Tabriz described a large security presence alongside deteriorating internet service.
“The city of Tabriz is full of special units. The forces are armed, and heavy equipment can also be seen,” one said.
A Babol citizen also reported slower mobile and fixed internet connections, though the reason for the disruption could not be established.
Gasoline prices carry particular political sensitivity in Iran. A sudden increase and rationing in November 2019 triggered demonstrations across dozens of cities that quickly expanded into nationwide anti-government protests.
Security forces killed around 1,500 people during the crackdown, according to a Reuters tally at the time. Thousands were arrested and authorities imposed a nationwide internet shutdown.
Government defends higher gasoline price
First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref defended the new rate, arguing that even 100,000 rials per liter remains far below the government's cost of importing gasoline.
Imported gasoline costs the government more than 700,000 rials per liter, equivalent to about 30 cents, Aref said. Imported fuel would gradually be sold at prices closer to its cost, he added.
The government's figures for what petrol costs to produce have not held up well to examination. In November 2025, after officials put the cost at 340,000 rials a litre, about 15 cents at current rates, Iran International went through the refineries' own financial statements. They showed operating costs, excluding the value of the crude going in, of around 35,000 rials a litre, roughly 1.6 cents, a tenth of the official figure.
Economist Mousa Ghaninejad has estimated actual gasoline consumption inside Iran at about 70 million liters a day and argued that much of the remainder recorded as consumption is smuggled out of the country.
Iranians warn of knock-on price increases
Thousands of people responding to an Iran International question about the fuel increase focused on its potential impact beyond filling stations, warning that transportation costs could push up food prices, fares and other everyday expenses.
“100,000 rials for a liter of gasoline may just be a number for some people, but for people it means another step toward making life harder,” one respondent wrote.
Another said petrol was not the problem on its own, and pointed to food. A five-liter container of cooking oil that used to cost 22 million rials, about $9.90, now sells for 40 million, roughly $18.
On a monthly wage of 200 million rials, that is a fifth of a month's pay for one container of oil.
“We buy everything at expensive dollar-linked prices, but our base salary is only $100. Where in the world can you see something like this?” one person wrote.
Another said wages would have to rise alongside prices, since households could not absorb repeated increases on incomes that had barely moved.
For younger respondents the loss was smaller and more particular. "The feeling of going on a trip is gone. Going out for a 10-minute drive is gone. We young people said goodbye to small pleasures a long time ago," one wrote.
The Coalition politicians said they supported peaceful political change in Iran and planned to meet Pahlavi virtually. No date has been announced for the meeting or a possible visit.
“We want to see peaceful political change in Iran. We don't support the current regime,” Senator Dave Sharma, Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, told Iran International.
“We think it's done immense harm not only to its own people, but to the neighbourhood, the region, and even to the world here in Australia.”
Iran International also spoke to Senator Andrew Bragg, Shadow Minister for Environment; Senator Jessica Collins, Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee; and Julian Leeser, Shadow Minister for Education.
Coalition seeks engagement with Pahlavi
Engagement with Pahlavi is one of the Coalition's most important foreign policy objectives because of the role it believes he could play during a transition, Bragg said.
“For the coalition, having a meeting with the Crown Prince is one of the most important foreign policy objectives that we have, because we believe that meeting with this key transitional figure is the best way to move the conversation on to a new government for Iran,” Bragg told Iran International.
Bragg described the Islamic Republic as “probably the worst government and the worst regime on the planet” and accused it of crimes against Iranians and sponsoring terrorism abroad, including in Australia.
The senator argued that political change would be difficult without serious international engagement with an alternative.
“This government will never be moved on unless we engage seriously with an alternative, and the alternative that we have as a transitional figure is the Crown Prince,” Bragg said.
Collins also described Pahlavi as “an important symbol of anti-regime and pro-democracy” and said the Coalition would continue engaging with him and hearing about the challenges facing Iranians.
The four lawmakers plan to hold a virtual meeting with Pahlavi ahead of a possible visit to Australia. The Coalition has extended an invitation for the visit, but no date has been announced for either the talks or the trip.
Peaceful political change
Pahlavi is an influential voice in Iranian politics, with many Iranians around the world looking to him for leadership, Sharma said.
The Coalition’s outreach aims to build a clearer picture of events inside Iran and support political forces seeking change, said Sharma, a former Australian ambassador to Israel.
“I think having the Crown Prince visit Australia will help show the Australian people that there are prospects for a brighter political future in Iran,” Sharma said.
“There are many Iranian people who want this to happen, and that he will play an important part in any transition.”
A visit could also renew Australian public attention on Iran following the authorities' deadly suppression of nationwide protests in January, Sharma said.
Leeser said the invitation was intended to give Australian politicians an opportunity to hear Pahlavi's assessment of conditions inside Iran and his vision for the country's future.
“The coalition has decided to invite Reza Pahlavi to Australia at this time because Reza Pahlavi has been advocating for freedom and democracy for the people of Iran, and we want to hear his perspective of what's happening on the ground and his hopes for the future of Iran,” Leeser told Iran International.
Leeser drew parallels between the invitation and Australia’s past engagement with figures in overseas political struggles, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Winnie Mandela during South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle, and Xanana Gusmão and José Ramos-Horta during East Timor’s campaign for independence.
“Reza Pahlavi would come to Australia in that tradition to provide us with his perspective and to provide us with important information that will help us develop our foreign policy in this area,” Leeser said.
Support for Iranians
All four politicians used the interviews to express support for Iranians seeking political change.
Collins said the Coalition shared what she described as the fundamental values sought by protesters, including “freedom, liberty and security.”
“We stand with you all the way, and I want you to know, I want all the Iranian people in Australia to know, and around the world, that we stand with you,” Collins said.
Sharma echoed that view, saying the Coalition’s engagement with Pahlavi reflected its support for Iranians seeking democratic change.
“The message this will send to the people of Iran is that you are not alone, that your fight for freedom and democracy is a fight that we share and that we are equally committed to, and that your success is our success,” Sharma said.
“The bullet severely destroyed the bone in his right lower leg, and the lower part of his leg was almost attached to his body only by tissue and skin,” the protester’s brother told Iran International.
The protester was shot on Khayyam Street in Qazvin on the evening of January 8, according to information obtained by Iran International. The shot was fired from a Kalashnikov rifle at a distance of about 100 meters.
The shooting took place during nationwide protests that began in December 2025 amid worsening economic conditions and a sharp fall in Iran’s currency, then grew into broader opposition to the Islamic Republic.
Security forces killed tens of thousands of Iranians during the January 8-9 crackdown, making it the deadliest two-day protest massacre in history, according to documents reviewed by Iran International’s Editorial Board.
After initial attempts to stop the bleeding failed, the family sought help from an acquaintance to move him secretly to a hospital in Qazvin, his brother said.
The family has had to keep much of his treatment secret for fear he could be identified and detained, his brother said.
Iran International has documented similar cases since the January protests, in which wounded demonstrators avoided medical facilities or sought treatment in secret for fear of identification and arrest.
Sources in Mamasani, in Fars province, previously confirmed that some wounded protesters there avoided medical centers because they feared their identities could be exposed and they could face prosecution.
Secret hospital exit after seven-hour surgery
The hospital in Qazvin was among those willing to admit wounded protesters despite the risks, his brother said.
Staff placed the 34-year-old in a darkened room with several other wounded people and cut power to parts of the hospital to stop surveillance cameras from recording patients’ movements, his brother said.
He lost consciousness after severe blood loss and underwent surgery at about 3 p.m. on January 9. The operation lasted roughly seven hours.
After surgery, hospital staff warned the family that he needed to leave quickly through a rear exit, fearing security forces could arrive and detain him, according to the family.
About an hour later, relatives and hospital staff moved him out of the building, before he had fully regained consciousness, and took him to a home to recover.
Iran International has previously documented the scale and severity of injuries inflicted during the January crackdown.
A specialist in a northern Iranian city said he and his son operated on dozens of wounded people on January 9 and 10. His son removed more than 270 pellets from the eyes of about 130 protesters, the doctor said.
Severe infection complicates recovery
Deep wounds and extensive damage to the protester’s lower leg complicated his recovery after the first operation, with large amounts of fluid draining from the wound each day, his brother said.
The family changed his dressings at home with help from a doctor they knew. As the infection worsened, they contacted the surgeon who had performed the first operation. He continued treating the protester at his private practice.
The family was told that the bullet had shattered a large section of his shinbone, leaving a gap that prevented the remaining ends from joining on their own.
The surgeon referred him to a colleague in Tehran for specialist treatment.
For months, the family has taken him from Qazvin to Tehran roughly every two weeks. He has undergone more than five major operations on his leg, his brother said.
Iran International has received other accounts of doctors secretly helping protesters wounded in January. In one case, a Tehran doctor treated dozens of wounded protesters free of charge and arranged for their radiology fees to be waived, sources said.
Surgeons remove 12 centimeters of bone
Surgeons eventually had to remove about 12 centimeters of damaged bone from his lower leg and make a surgical cut in the bone near his ankle.
They then fitted an Ilizarov apparatus, an external frame of metal rings, rods and wires used to gradually move sections of bone. The technique can help repair extensive bone damage and replace missing bone.
Doctors hope to use the device to gradually close the gap between the healthy sections before performing a bone graft, according to the family.
He faces a prolonged recovery, with no immediate prospect of regaining normal mobility or returning to work.
Treatment costs strain family
Months of surgery, medication, wound care and travel between Qazvin and Tehran have put the family under growing financial pressure, his brother said.
The protester, who lives with his wife in rented accommodation, has been unable to work since the shooting.
His brother, who also rents his home, has taken on much of the responsibility for transporting him and coordinating his care.
The family is struggling to meet the continuing costs of treatment and travel, his brother said.
Afkar-e Naft, a Telegram channel which reports on issues affecting permanent oil industry employees, said the demonstrations were part of protests held every Monday.
Images published by the channel showed workers at several offshore installations holding placards calling for the removal of salary caps, full payment of wages and benefits, fairer compensation and changes to the tax system for offshore employees.
“Full payment of wages and benefits,” read one placard, while another said, “Fair pay is our right, not an extra privilege.”
Other signs called for an overhaul of the wage system for operational oil workers and the removal of what protesters described as “unfair restrictions” on salary payments.
Several workers also highlighted the conditions under which oil production has continued during the war. One placard read, “Uninterrupted production in a war zone,” while another referred to “uninterrupted production in border areas.”
The protesters are also seeking payment of outstanding compensation under Article 10 of the law governing the duties and powers of Iran’s Oil Ministry.
The so-called Article 10 back pay refers to accumulated payments employees say they are owed following implementation of provisions governing compensation and employment conditions for Oil Ministry personnel.
The protests come as Iran’s economy faces mounting pressure from the regional war and a US maritime blockade that was reimposed in mid-July. Satellite imagery reviewed by Iran International shows a sharp decline in visible vessel activity at Shahid Rajaee and Imam Khomeini, two of the country’s most important commercial ports, since the blockade resumed.
The impact has been particularly severe on Iran’s oil trade, a crucial source of government revenue and foreign currency. Kpler tanker-tracking data reviewed by Iran International showed Iranian crude loadings averaging about 287,000 barrels per day in August through Aug. 21, compared with roughly 2 million barrels per day before the war — a fall of about 85%.
Washington has simultaneously intensified its financial campaign against Tehran. On Aug. 24, the US Treasury launched Operation Economic Outcast, dubbed an “Economic D-Day,” saying it aimed to sever Iran’s remaining financial and commercial connections and increase the risks for foreign banks and companies doing business with Tehran. The campaign has since targeted financial channels in countries including the United Arab Emirates and Türkiye.
The pressure has coincided with a steep deterioration in household purchasing power. Iran’s rial has fallen to a record low of about 2.2 million to the US dollar this month, compared with roughly 958,000 a year earlier.
Official figures for July showed average annual inflation at around 62%, year-on-year inflation at 82% and food inflation at 134%, adding to the pressure on wages and living standards.
