2025–2026 Iranian protests

• 1. Introduction

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  On the night of the 10th of January 2026, Tehran municipality workers were sent into the streets to collect spent cartridge cases and hand them to security forces. The 2025-2026 Iranian protests had by then grown into the largest uprising in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, reaching more than 200 cities. The unrest had started as a complaint about money. Within days, many of the people in the streets were calling for an end to the Islamic government itself.

  This documentary asks how a collapsing currency turned into a national uprising. Who filled the streets, and what did they chant? How could a movement without clear leaders answer a single call at a single hour? And what did the state do when it switched off the telephones and the internet?

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• 2. The Rial Collapses

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  On the 6th of January 2026, the Iranian rial fell to a record low of 1.5 million to the US dollar. Three days earlier, the government had raised the official value of the rial to 1.38 million. That adjustment had no effect, and prices for food and other essentials jumped again.

  Inflation stood at 42 percent in December 2025, according to the state statistics centre. Food prices rose 72 percent over the year, and health and medical goods rose 50 percent. By one account, the rial had lost roughly 40 percent of its value since the Twelve-Day War of June 2025.

  Since 2024, Iran had endured sharp inflation, a weak currency and an energy shortage. These produced widespread electricity and gas disruptions, and President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised for them. Iran had also lost influence abroad after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, a major ally. The Twelve-Day War with Israel brought American strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and that stoked fears of a wider confrontation.

  In September 2025, the United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran through the snapback mechanism. The currency weakened further, and prices rose for meat, rice and other staples. Iranian assets abroad were frozen, arms transactions were suspended, and penalties were imposed over the ballistic-missile programme. Analysts also pointed to economic mismanagement, chronic budget deficits and the government's monetary and fiscal policies.

  In February 2026, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified before the Senate Banking Committee. He said: "What we have done is created a dollar shortage in the country." He described one of the largest banks in Iran going under in December, and the central bank having to print money. In his words, "The Iranian currency went into free fall."

  Reports in Iranian media said the government planned to raise taxes with the Iranian new year on the 21st of March. Iran was also struggling with a mismanaged water crisis. Trade guilds that depended on imports felt the squeeze first.

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• 3. Merchants Close Their Shops

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  On the 28th of December 2025, shopkeepers at the Alaeddin Shopping Centre in Tehran closed their shops in protest. Merchants at other commercial centres, including Charsou Mall, did the same. The first to shut were sellers of electronic goods in central Tehran, and iron traders elsewhere in Iran followed. Crowds formed near the shuttered stores and spilled onto Jomhuri Street.

  Merchants warned that continued instability would bankrupt many small and medium-sized businesses. Their demands were practical. They wanted steadier exchange rates, relief from hardship, a predictable business environment and protection from losses caused by market swings. Some chanted "Law Enforcement, support, support," asking the security forces to take their side. No clashes were reported that day.

  The Grand Bazaar of Tehran joined on the 29th of December. Market traders had a history here, because merchants helped mobilise public support in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and that support ended up toppling the monarchy. Crowds in malls near the bazaar chanted "freedom," in footage that independent sources verified. Law enforcement fired tear gas outside the Alaeddin Shopping Centre.

  Also on the 29th of December, a photo and a video of a lone protester on Jomhuri Eslami Street in Tehran spread online. The protester sat in the road and refused to move for security forces on motorbikes. Later, the protester was beaten and forced to leave. Online, the figure became known as Tehran's Tank Man, a reference to the Tank Man of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

  By the night of the 29th, protests had been reported in Qeshm in the south and in Zanjan and Hamadan in the north. On Qeshm Island, demonstrators chanted "Death to the Dictator." In Zanjan, the chant was "Seyyed Ali Khamenei will be toppled this year."

  On the 30th of December, students from Amirkabir, Beheshti, Sharif and several other universities joined the rallies. The government ordered temporary closures in 11 provinces, citing cold weather and energy constraints. Pezeshkian urged the government to listen to citizens, and a spokesman promised a Communication Group. Protesters were not appeased, because their demands now reached well beyond economic stability.

  On the 31st of December, the closures grew to cover 21 of Iran's 31 provinces, again blamed on cold weather. Some analysts said the real aim was to stifle the protests. That day the government also named Abdolnasser Hemmati, a former economics minister, as governor of the Central Bank, after Mohammad Reza Farzin resigned.

  In Fasa, a report said a man named Mahdi Samavati had been killed outside the governor's office. The governor denied it to Mehr News Agency. The Jerusalem Post cited several sources saying Samavati was alive, and called the rumour disinformation meant to frighten protesters.

  Another death was confirmed. Amirhesam Khodayarifard was shot in the head with a handgun in Kuhdasht, in Lorestan province, on the 31st of December. The state news agencies IRNA and Mehr confirmed his death and described him as a member of the Basij, a militia linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. His funeral two days later would turn into a confrontation of its own.

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• 4. Spreading Across Iran

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  On the 1st of January 2026, workers at Tehran's central fruit and vegetable market stopped the distribution cycle and joined the strike. Police used tear gas to disperse them. In Lordegan, protesters and police clashed around government buildings, and at least three people, including a boy, were killed.

  At the funeral of Amirhesam Khodayarifard in Kuhdasht on the 2nd of January, mourners chased away Basij and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces with stones and chants. His father confirmed that his son had not been a Basij member. Funerals in Fuladshahr and Marvdasht also became rallies, with chants of "Death to Khamenei."

  By the 3rd of January, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, known as HRANA, had counted 16 deaths since the protests began. One of them was a member of the government security forces. That day, Cloudflare reported a 35 percent drop in internet traffic in Iran.

  Also on the 3rd, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei answered a warning from US President Donald Trump, who had said America would come to Iran's rescue if protesters were shot. Khamenei said, "We will not yield to the enemy," and that the "rioters must be put in their place." On the 4th, Trump said Iranian authorities would be "hit very hard" if more protesters were killed.

  Violence did not run in only one direction. On the 4th of January in Shiraz, videos showed police beating a man on the ground. When protesters threw projectiles, officers moved toward them on motorcycles, and a protester set one officer alight with gasoline. On the 7th of January, militants of the People's Fighters Front, a coalition of Sunni Baloch groups, assassinated Mahmoud Haqiqat, the police chief of Iranshahr.

  On the 6th of January, HRANA estimated that the protests had touched 285 locations in 88 cities across 27 provinces, including 22 universities. By the 7th, its tally stood at 348 sites in 111 cities across all 31 provinces, with 45 universities. HRANA took the persistence of the protests as a sign that many Iranians now judged the cost of protest to be lower than the cost of silence and inaction.

  On the 6th of January, major Kurdish groups, among them the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran, Komala and PJAK, issued a joint statement backing the protests. They urged Kurds in Iran to strike and demonstrate. Security forces abandoned the towns of Abdanan and Malekshahi, leaving them under protesters' control. The next day Komala called for a general strike, and six other Kurdish opposition parties supported it.

  Security raids on Sina Hospital in Tehran and Imam Khomeini Hospital in Ilam, aimed at arresting injured protesters, drew national attention. In Ilam, families and medical staff resisted, and tear gas was fired inside the buildings. The interior minister was ordered to investigate. By the 6th of January, state media had broadcast 15 forced video confessions from arrested protesters, and by the 7th the total had reached 40.

  On the 7th of January, artists and teachers published statements backing the protests and condemning the repression. HRANA read this as professional and cultural sectors aligning themselves with the protesters.

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• 5. Chants and Symbols

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  Persian-language outlets such as Manoto and Iran International documented the slogans, and "Death to the Dictator" was the most general of them. It was reported in Tehran, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Malard, Nahavand, Noorabad and Karaj. "Death to Khamenei" aimed at the supreme leader directly, and it had also been heard in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 protests.

  "Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, My Life for Iran" carried an argument about priorities. Protesters accused the government of authoritarianism and of favouring proxies such as Hezbollah and Hamas over domestic needs.

  "Javid Shah," meaning long live the shah, echoed in Hamadan, Arak, Nahavand, Dehloran and many other cities during nighttime protests. Another chant, "Reza Shah, bless your soul," honoured the founder of the Pahlavi dynasty. A third, "The Shah is coming home, Zahhak is overthrown," cast the government as Zahhak, a tyrant from Persian mythology.

  Not everyone shared that vision. Supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran chanted "Death to the oppressor, whether Shah or Rahbar." In Isfahan, crowds at night chanted "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, we are all together."

  The Lion and Sun flag, waved at several rallies, signalled monarchist aspirations and opposition to the government. On the 9th of January, the emoji for Iran's flag was switched to the modern Lion and Sun design on X, and the Twemoji emoji library made the same change.

  A trend on social media showed women lighting cigarettes from burning pictures of Khamenei. Burning his image is illegal in Iran. Observers read the videos as defiance, and as a rejection of the strict religious and governmental standards imposed on women.

  The methods went well beyond marching. Businesses, cafes, workers, online shops and social media influencers joined nationwide strikes. Protesters honked car horns, lit fires and removed surveillance cameras. Many wore masks and dark clothes, reminiscent of V for Vendetta, to avoid being identified and arrested. In Tehran's Punak neighbourhood, when authorities turned off the street lights, protesters set off fireworks and lit the street with their smartphones.

  The 2022 protests began after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, where she was held for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. Those protests were mainly driven by girls and women, while young men played larger roles this time. IranWire called Generation Z Iranians one of the most visible and active groups. On the 30th of December, the British-Iranian activist Ellie Borhan said this wave looked stronger than the earlier ones.

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• 6. Pahlavi's Call

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  At 8 pm on the 8th of January 2026, chanting broke out across Tehran. Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah, had asked Iranians online to chant from their homes and in the streets at that hour on the 8th and 9th. He said the aim was to "keep the demonstrations disciplined, and as large as possible."

  The Associated Press had described the early protests as broadly leaderless, and HRANA saw them as networked. Pahlavi's influence was unclear until that evening, when the crowds in Tehran appeared to be mainly pro-Pahlavi. An unnamed European diplomat, citing intelligence, put turnout at 1.5 million in Tehran on the 8th. By the 9th, the same source said, 5 million people were protesting nationwide.

  Pahlavi's profile had been rising for months. During the Twelve-Day War, he intensified his political efforts and appealed to the international community to help Iranians oust Khamenei's theocratic rule. He offered himself as interim leader. He now called for a peaceful transition and a referendum to decide Iran's future political system.

  On the 9th of January, The Economist reported that the protests had grown to be the biggest since 2009. Some veteran Iran-watchers thought they were the biggest since the overthrow of the shah in 1979. Pahlavi asked Trump to support the protesters. US intelligence officers told Axios that their assessment that the protests could not destabilise the regime was being reassessed.

  Khamenei addressed the protests in a televised appearance on the 9th of January. He called Trump "arrogant," said Trump's hands were stained with the blood of Iranians, and predicted Trump would be overthrown like other arrogant leaders. He described the protesters as harmful individuals and rioters. The government accused the United States and Israel of fuelling the unrest.

  On the 10th of January, Pahlavi urged protesters to seize city centres and hoist the former Lion and Sun flag. He said he was "preparing to return to my homeland." Trump wrote, "Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!" Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted, "The United States supports the brave people of Iran."

  On the 11th of January, Pezeshkian said, "We are determined, and have decided, to resolve economic problems by any means possible." He blamed foreign terrorists for inciting the protests. A day later, a pro-government rally of tens of thousands was held in Tehran, though Iran International said the images and videos had been altered.

  On the 13th of January, Trump posted on Truth Social: "Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING - TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!!... HELP IS ON ITS WAY." Asked by a reporter what he meant, he replied, "You're going to have to figure that one out. I'm sorry."

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• 7. Blackout and Bloodshed

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  Within hours of those first chants on the 8th of January, telephone lines and internet connections were cut in cities across Iran. The government had used the same step before intense crackdowns. Starlink satellite service at first stayed available, letting some users bypass the blackout. By the 11th, Forbes reported that Iran had shut Starlink down, and other sources said coordinated jamming had interrupted up to 80 percent of its traffic.

  The shutdown disrupted digital payments, hospitals, pharmacies and banks. It also prevented proper documentation of how large the demonstrations were and how brutal the response had been.

  On the 10th of January, The Guardian documented reports of security forces opening fire on demonstrators. One eyewitness said, "We saw hundreds of bodies." Another message from Tehran warned, "Snipers have been stationed behind the Tajrish Arg area," an affluent part of the city. An activist asked the paper to state clearly that "they are killing people with live ammunition."

  Doctors in Tehran and Shiraz said their hospitals were overwhelmed, and some suspended non-urgent admissions and surgeries. Many patients had gunshot wounds to the head and eyes. A doctor in Nishapur said security forces killed "at least 30 people...among them were children," and that "a 5-year-old child was shot while in their mother's arms." Patients were too frightened to be identified at hospitals, the doctor said, so people were being treated privately in clinics.

  Human rights groups verified a video showing distressed relatives at Ghadir hospital in Tehran, searching through a pile of bodies. BBC Verify and BBC Persian analysed another video that showed nearly 200 bodies scattered in a morgue, many with obvious wounds. One victim was only 16 years old. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed that security forces had fired on protesters.

  Counts of the dead diverge by tens of thousands. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organisation said at least 3,428 protesters were killed by security forces between the 8th and the 12th of January, with at least 10,000 arrested. Iran International reported at least 2,000 killed in 48 hours. On the 13th of January it reported at least 12,000, calling it the largest killing in contemporary Iranian history. CBS News reported 12,000, possibly 20,000, as phone service began to return.

  By late January, Time, The Guardian and Iran International, citing local health officials, reported between 30,000 and 36,500 protesters killed on the 8th and the 9th of January. As of the 5th of February, HRANA had confirmed 7,015 deaths, at least 6,508 of them protesters, with 11,744 more cases under review. The Iranian government reported 3,117 deaths.

  The crackdown was reportedly carried out under orders from Ali Khamenei and senior officials to use live fire. On the 11th of February, President Pezeshkian apologised to the nation for the massacres.

  On the 10th of January, Iran's attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, said protesters could be charged as the "enemy of God," or moharebeh, a crime punishable by death. Four days later, the head of Iran's judiciary said those arrested would be swiftly tried and executed.

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• 8. Curfew and Window Chants

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  On the 15th of January 2026, Iran imposed a nationwide curfew and sent security forces and tanks to patrol towns and cities. ISW recorded no protests on the 14th or the 15th, and none in the streets on the 17th. By the 16th, HRANA reported that 22,104 protesters had been arrested. In Tehran, the Friday prayer imam, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, called for the execution of detained protesters.

  On the 17th of January, Iran International reported that security forces were visiting homes and businesses to identify protesters and pressing owners for CCTV footage. They were also setting up checkpoints to detain citizens found with protest images on their phones.

  On the evening of the 18th, a cyberattack hijacked the state broadcaster IRIB and aired footage of Reza Pahlavi. Men in security force uniforms then urged their colleagues not to "point your weapons at the people" and to "join the nation for the freedom of Iran." The same day, Ali Reza Jeyrani Hokmabad, a senior official at Iran's permanent mission to the UN, asked Switzerland for asylum in Geneva. He was reportedly one of several Iranian diplomats to seek asylum in Europe.

  On the 21st of January, Prosecutor-General Mohammad Movahedi Azad declared that the unrest had ended. Yet since the 19th, some Iranians in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan had been chanting anti-government slogans from the windows of their homes during the curfew.

  On the 3rd of February, medical science students in Tabriz held an on-campus gathering to commemorate victims of the massacres, and similar gatherings followed in Mashhad and Shiraz. A multi-day sit-in by students at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences continued on the 5th. Waves of artists withdrew from the Fajr International Film Festival, among them Amir Jadidi, who did not attend. On the night of the 10th to the 11th of February, before the anniversary of the 1979 revolution, people in several cities chanted explicitly anti-government slogans from their homes. HRANA called this an enduring form of civil disobedience.

  On the 21st of February, a new semester began, and so did a second wave of student protests. It coincided with the 40-day memorial for those killed earlier. Students held a sit-in at Shahid Beheshti University and protests at Amirkabir University of Technology, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences and Sharif University of Technology, where Basij members attacked them. A student at the Iran University of Science and Technology died, and state media said the cause was a "sudden health incident" in class. Over the next days, students raised the Lion and Sun flag, and authorities declared the protests illegal, searched dormitories and arrested suspects.

  On the 28th of February, the first day of the Israeli-United States strikes on Iran, people chanted "Death to Khamenei" from their windows. Many Iranians celebrated, the internet blackout was renewed, and special forces deployed in the streets. Footage showed security forces firing on celebrants. Pahlavi urged Iranians to prepare to resume protests.

  On the 2nd of March, Iran's women's football team stayed silent during the national anthem before a Women's Asian Cup match against South Korea in Australia. On the 5th, the team was reportedly forced to sing before the next game, with threats against the players' families. After the team's exit on the 8th, players appeared to give SOS hand signals from their bus. Iranian state media accused them of being wartime traitors.

  On the 8th of March, the government named Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, and chants of "Death to Mojtaba" rose from the windows of homes. On the 10th, Pahlavi urged Iranians to stay home while awaiting his "final call," and to keep up the nightly rooftop chants. The chief of police replied that security forces had their "fingers on the trigger." On the 13th, the IRGC threatened a crackdown bigger than the one in January.

  On the 17th of March, during the Chaharshanbe Suri festivities before the Nowruz holiday, Iranians defied orders from the authorities and celebrated. Footage showed security forces dispersing crowds with gunfire. On the 19th, the Islamic Republic executed three protesters.

  After the ceasefire of the 8th of April, some Iranians said they felt abandoned and in despair. Some saw the truce as a missed chance for political change that would let the authorities intensify repression. The internet blackout passed the 1,000-hour mark by the 11th.

  In late April, IRGC-aligned authorities introduced a tiered system of internet access, called Internet Tabaghati, and officials around Pezeshkian objected. On the 22nd, his spokesperson Mehdi Tabatabaei said it conflicted with the president's policies. Vice president Mohammad Reza Aref said access must be "equal and non-discriminatory." On the 26th and 27th, an organisation of Iranian nurses and the Graphic Designers Society refused exemptions, arguing it would be unfair until all citizens had access. On the 30th, the Tehran Province Journalists' Association said, "Access to free, high-quality and universal internet is not a luxury but a public right," and asked that the tiered system be removed from the government's agenda.

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