Iran is in the middle of its largest wave of anti-government protests since the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising, with a harsh security crackdown and widespread internet restrictions reported across the country. The unrest is being driven mainly by economic anger, political frustration with the clerical system, and demands for deep systemic change.

Street protests and unrest

  • Since late December 2025, demonstrations have spread from economic protests into openly anti-regime rallies in multiple cities, including Tehran, Karaj, Mashhad, Tabriz, and parts of Sistan and Baluchestan.
  • Reports describe clashes between protesters and security forces, with videos showing crowds confronting riot police and burning or attacking government buildings in some areas.
  • Iranian state media label many demonstrators as “rioters,” while opposition and human-rights groups frame the movement as a nationwide uprising against the clerical establishment.

Crackdown and internet blackout

  • Authorities have imposed a near-total or rolling internet and telecom blackout in many regions, apparently to block protest coordination and limit information leaving the country.
  • Human rights organizations say this blackout both hides abuses and is itself a serious rights violation, because it cuts people off from communication, documentation, and outside support.
  • Security forces, including riot police and Revolutionary Guard-linked units, have been deployed heavily in major cities, with checkpoints, arrests, and reports of live fire in some places.

Casualties and human rights concerns

  • Rights monitors such as Iran Human Rights report that at least around 50 protesters, including several children, have been killed so far, with hundreds more injured, though exact numbers are hard to verify under the blackout.
  • State media have highlighted funerals for security personnel killed in Shiraz, Qom, Hamedan, and other cities, emphasizing that the forces are “defending order” against “armed rioters.”
  • Amnesty International and other groups accuse the authorities of using unlawful lethal force and warn of likely larger-scale abuses that cannot yet be fully documented.

Government and army stance

  • The government has vowed to punish protesters “without leniency,” framing the unrest as a foreign-backed plot and linking it to exiled opposition groups.
  • Iran’s army has publicly pledged to defend “national interests” and the Islamic Republic, signaling support for a firm stance, even as it also talks about restoring calm and order.
  • Authorities are also trying to soften economic anger with new subsidy or support measures, while simultaneously tightening security and censorship.

Opposition, diaspora, and international reaction

  • Exiled opposition figures, including Reza Pahlavi, are calling for more organized actions aimed at seizing and holding city centers, and say they plan to return to Iran if momentum continues.
  • The Iranian diaspora is highly active online and in protests abroad, but voices and opinions are diverse: some want gradual reform, others total regime change, and some fear foreign intervention.
  • Foreign governments and NGOs have condemned the killings and internet shutdown, with countries like Australia, Canada, and members of the EU urging Iran to stop using lethal force, while the United States under President Donald Trump has signaled support for protesters and threatened to “hit” the regime economically or militarily if mass violence escalates.

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