The exact nature of the protests on the ground is largely shrouded in mystery due to an internet and communications blackout that the government rolled out on January 8.
It was suspected at the time that the blackout was intended to conceal the atrocities that would follow in the following days of unrest.
People gather during protests on January 8 in Tehran
Getty Images
How did the protests start?
The protests began on December 28, 2025 in response to Iran’s rapidly deteriorating economy and rising inflation, which was categorically marked by the sharp decline in the value of the Iranian Rial.
The protests quickly became emblematic of something much more challenging: the Iranian people broadly expressing their dissent from the regime.
Protesters took to the streets to express their discontent, and were quickly warned by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, that “rioters must be put in their place.”
Iranian authorities have swiftly cracked down on protesters, leading to reports of security forces carrying out widespread killings across the country, according to Human Rights Watch.
This number is now estimated at 2,000, according to an Iranian official who spoke to Reuters and the US-based Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
AP
The demonstrations quickly spread across the country, with 22 cities taking part. These are the largest protests the country has seen since 2022, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody, which sparked the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ protests.
These protests follow generations of Iranians expressing dissatisfaction with an oppressive, autocratic regime that saw 62,000 Iranian refugees seek asylum in Britain between 2015 and 2024 alone, according to the Migration Observatory.
The country has long been on the Western geopolitical radar as a security threat, branded as part of the ‘Axis of Resistance’ – a military and political coalition that aligns various actors in the Middle East against Western and Israeli forces.
Human Rights Watch explained that Iran is able to enforce a sustained regime of violence against its people because of a “prevailing climate of systemic impunity that has enabled Iranian authorities to repeatedly commit crimes under international law, including murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearances to eliminate and punish dissent.”
A woman stands atop a vehicle as thousands make their way to the Aichi Cemetery in Saqez, the birthplace of Mahsa Amini in Iran’s western Kurdistan province, amid protests in 2022
UGC/AFP via Getty Images
How has the international community responded to the protests?
U.S. President Trump has threatened to use force against Iran over his deadly crackdown on protesters, a leverage he exerted with Israel last year in response to Iran’s growing nuclear arsenal.
He wrote on the social media platform Truth Social on January 13: “Iranian patriots, KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the murderers and abusers. They will pay a high price.
“I have canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the senseless killing of demonstrators STOP. HELP IS REACHABLE.”
For international intervention to succeed, it must lead to defections at the top of the Iranian pyramid. Currently, Khamenei’s regime persists and Iranian officials continue to blame “terrorists” for the deaths of civilians and security personnel.
Western soft power is redundant due to the fact that Iran is already alienated on the world stage. Iran faced renewed sanctions from the UN in 2025, with Britain saying it was “concerned” by the country’s possible non-compliance with sanctions.
Human rights groups have also raised concerns that the country could use the death penalty against protesters, the use of which has risen to 1,500 murders by 2025, according to Westminster.
US President Donald Trump has told protesters that ‘help is on the way’
PA wire
So what are the prospects for the Iranian protests?
The prospects for Iran’s economy remain bleak, and protesters show no signs of relinquishing power.
Vali Nasr, an expert on Middle East foreign policy, said: “For this kind of thing to work, there needs to be crowds on the streets for a much longer period of time. And there needs to be a breakup of the state.
Whether further waves of Iran’s deadly crackdown on protesters will stem the tide of unrest remains to be seen.
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