Protests over economic hardship continue across Iran, with at least 36 protesters killed and more than 1,000 arrested as security forces crack down on demonstrations centred around Tehran and western provinces.
Security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators at the Tehran bazaar on Tuesday as protests over the rising cost of living continued across Iran, with an NGO saying more than two dozen people have been killed in the crackdown on the most significant unrest to hit the Islamic republic in three years. Amid protests, Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi has issued the first call to action to the Iranian people.
The protests were triggered by anger over economic hardship, with the Iranian rial losing value again on Tuesday to reach another record low against foreign currencies.
Large crowds have also gathered in Abdanan as nationwide anti-regime protests continue. Thousands of protesters flooded the streets of the city, with videos showing demonstrators chanting “Javid Shah” (Long Live the Shah).
The protest wave began on December 28 with a shutdown by merchants in the Tehran bazaar, a national economic hub, and later spread to other areas, particularly western Iran, which is home to Kurdish and Lor minority groups. It marks the most serious protest movement in the Islamic republic since the 2022–2023 nationwide rallies sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.
EXILED CROWN PRINCE’S FIRST CALL TO ACTION
Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last monarch, has issued his first public call to action to the Iranian people amid the ongoing nationwide protests. In a message released during the unrest, Reza Pahlavi said, “This Thursday and Friday, January 8th and 9th, starting precisely at 8 pm wherever you are, whether in the streets or even from your own homes, I call on you to begin chanting exactly at this time. Based on your response, I will announce the next calls to action.”
CRUSHING DISSENT
Iran’s Fars news agency reported that “sporadic gatherings” took place around the bazaar during an afternoon shutdown, with police dispersing protesters who then scattered into nearby alleyways. In social media footage verified by the news agency AFP, protesters could be heard shouting slogans including “Pahlavi will return” and “Seyyed Ali will be overthrown,” references to the monarchy ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution and to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Separately, Iran International reported, citing sources, that Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are helping suppress the protests. The report said Iraqi militias began recruiting fighters about four days ago to assist forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with around 800 Iraqi Shiite militiamen reportedly deployed. Most are said to belong to Kataib Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba, Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades, and the Badr Organisation.
According to the report, the fighters are being transferred through the Shalamcheh, Chazabeh, and Khosravi crossings under the cover of pilgrimage trips to the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad. They reportedly gather at a base linked to Ali Khamenei in Ahvaz before being dispatched to different regions to take part in what was described as a violent crackdown on demonstrations.
Footage posted by IHR and the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRNA) showed dozens of people chanting “freedom” and “shameless,” before security forces fired tear gas, forcing demonstrators to disperse as smoke rose from the ground. The official IRNA news agency said “some” people were arrested, without providing numbers.
With protests continuing for a tenth day in other regions, HRNA shared footage of large crowds marching in Abdanan in western Iran, chanting slogans including “this is the last message, the entire regime is the target.” The demonstrations have not reached the scale of the 2022–2023 movement or the mass 2009 protests that followed disputed elections, but they pose a new challenge for the leadership amid an economic crisis and following the 12-day war against Israel in June.
