Iran is witnessing one of its most serious waves of anti-government unrest in years, as protests driven by economic collapse, youth frustration and deepening rejection of clerical rule spread across all 31 provinces of the country. As pressure builds both at home and abroad, the ruling establishment appears increasingly unable to contain what analysts describe as a fundamental crisis of legitimacy at the core of the Islamic Republic.
The demonstrations began in Tehran last month and have since expanded nationwide, although they have not yet matched the scale of the 2022–23 uprising triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini while in custody for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress codes. Still, the current unrest reflects a broader and more entrenched anger that cuts across regions and social groups.
Initially sparked by shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar protesting the steep fall of the rial, the movement has since drawn in wider segments of society. Unlike the Amini protests, which were led prominently by women and girls, the current demonstrations are dominated largely by young men, many of whom see little economic or social future under the existing system.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported that at least 34 protesters and four members of the security forces have been killed so far, with around 2,200 people arrested. Analysts say the figures point not just to unrest over economic hardship, but to a much deeper erosion of confidence in the Shi’ite clerical order that has governed Iran for nearly five decades.
“The collapse is not just of the rial, but of trust,” said Middle East Institute Iran Program director Alex Vatanka, underscoring how financial breakdown has become intertwined with political disillusionment.
Iranian authorities have adopted a dual strategy in response. While officials have publicly acknowledged that economic grievances are legitimate and have promised dialogue, security forces have simultaneously cracked down on protests in several cities, deploying tear gas and engaging in violent confrontations when demonstrations escalated.
Nearly 50 years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s leadership is struggling to reconcile its ideological priorities with the expectations of a society that is overwhelmingly young. Almost half the population is under the age of 30, and many see little relevance in the revolutionary ideals that still shape state policy.
“I just want to live a peaceful, normal life,” said Mina, a 25-year-old unemployed university graduate from Kuhdasht in Lorestan province. “Instead, they insist on pursuing a nuclear programme, supporting armed groups in the region and maintaining hostility toward the United States. Those ideas may have made sense in 1979, but not today. The world has changed.”
A former senior official from the reformist wing of the establishment echoed this sentiment, saying the Islamic Republic’s ideological pillars—ranging from enforced dress codes to its confrontational foreign policy—no longer resonate with younger Iranians. “The younger generation no longer believes in revolutionary slogans. It wants freedom and normalcy,” he said.
The hijab, once a defining symbol of the Islamic Republic, has become a point of open defiance. While enforcement has become selective, many Iranian women now appear in public without headscarves, breaking with a practice that long served as a marker of state authority.
Anger over foreign policy choices has also surfaced prominently in the protests. Demonstrators have chanted slogans such as “Not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran,” signalling resentment toward Tehran’s support for militant groups abroad while domestic living standards continue to deteriorate.
Iran’s regional influence has also been weakened in recent months. Israeli military actions against Iranian-backed groups—such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq—along with the fall of long-time ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, have undercut Tehran’s projection of strength.
Videos verified by Reuters show protesters in Mashhad tearing down and ripping apart a large Iranian flag, while clashes between demonstrators and security forces have been documented in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and in Abdanan, in Ilam province. Other footage, though unverified, appears to show young men storming out of a seminary mosque in Gonabad to join crowds chanting against clerical authority.
According to Vatanka, the clerical system has historically survived waves of protest through repression combined with limited concessions, but that approach is increasingly strained. “Change now looks inevitable. Regime collapse is possible, though not guaranteed,” he said.
In other parts of the Middle East, including Syria, Libya and Iraq, entrenched leaders fell only after prolonged unrest combined with external military intervention. That possibility has again entered the debate, especially after Donald Trump suggested he might support Iranian protesters if security forces opened fire on them.
“We are locked and loaded and ready to go,” Trump wrote on January 2, months after US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities during a brief but intense conflict.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, now facing one of the most precarious moments of his long rule, responded by declaring that Iran “will not yield to the enemy.” Critics argue that decades-old strategies centred on proxy warfare, sanctions evasion and nuclear and missile development are now increasingly unsustainable.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly welcomed the protests, calling them a decisive moment in which Iranians are reclaiming their future.
Within Iran, however, views on foreign intervention remain divided. Even many opponents of the government reject the idea of military action. “Enough is enough,” said a 31-year-old man from Isfahan. “For 50 years this regime has ruled us, and look where it has led. We are poor, isolated and frustrated.” Asked whether he supported foreign intervention, he replied, “No. I don’t want more military strikes. Our people have suffered enough. We want peace with the world, but without the Islamic Republic.”
Exiled opposition groups believe the current unrest could mark a turning point and have called for sustained protests. However, analysts caution that these groups remain fragmented and their level of support inside Iran is uncertain, leaving the country’s future direction deeply unclear as unrest continues to spread.
