Protests erupt in Iran amid economic collapse and Russian support
A wave of mass protests has erupted in Iran, sparked by the rapid fall of the national currency and the worsening economic crisis. Amid the collapse of the Iranian rial, the ayatollah regime is increasingly losing control of the situation, which is causing open resistance in various regions of the country.
According to The Wall Street Journal, protests have swept Tehran and other cities. The demonstrations come against the backdrop of a sharp depreciation of the rial, rising inflation, and general social discontent, which is being exacerbated by harsh repression by the authorities.
Videos from central and shopping districts of the Iranian capital, particularly near the Grand Bazaar, have emerged on social media. People take to the streets chanting “freedom” as security forces try to disperse the crowd using tear gas. The authenticity of the footage has been confirmed by Storyful.
The protests eventually spread beyond Tehran. In the Yaftabad district, merchants stopped work en masse and took to the streets; on the island of Qeshm in the Persian Gulf, anti-government chants rang out at night, and drivers honked their horns in support of the demonstrators; and in the city of Hamedan, calls were made for the restoration of the Pahlavi monarchy, which had been overthrown more than four decades ago.
The cause of the explosion of discontent was the collapse of the Iranian rial, which has lost about 60% of its value since June. On one day, the exchange rate reached a record high of more than 1.4 million rials to the dollar. This was a serious blow to the population, which has long been living under sanctions, resource shortages and hyperinflation.
Economic problems are compounded by electricity and water shortages, business shutdowns, and a lack of reforms. Instead, the authorities are relying on coercive pressure: according to the WSJ, this year the number of executions in Iran has reached a record high in decades.
An additional factor in the regime’s weakening was the recent war with Israel, which analysts say exposed serious failures in defense and intelligence. Amid the crisis, the head of the Central Bank, Mohammad Reza Farzin, resigned, a move atypical for the Iranian political system.
Iran is simultaneously supporting Russia in its war against Ukraine, supplying Moscow with military technology, drones, and ammunition components that help Russia continue its fighting. This support underscores the paradox: while the regime wastes resources on war abroad, its own population suffers from economic collapse and a lack of basic resources.
As in similar cases before, official Tehran blamed the crisis on “external forces.” Representatives of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the currency collapse was allegedly the result of “psychological pressure from the enemy,” urging citizens not to panic.
As a reminder, US President Donald Trump said that Republicans in Congress are preparing a bill on very tough sanctions against countries that continue to do business with Russia. According to him, the document may also include provisions on Iran.
As reported, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Tehran would rebuild all destroyed nuclear facilities with greater force. At the same time, he assured that the country’s nuclear program is exclusively civilian in nature.
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