Despite a start of a fresh new year, Iran chooses to continue protests over currency crises and economic instability across the country.
One of Iran’s largest protests in recent years had entered a fifth day on Thursday January 1,2026 as deadly clashes between protesters and security forces reported after economic tensions escalates.
State media confirmed about several people that killed in protests but did not identify the deceased yet.
Witnesses and videos circulating on social media appear to show protesters lying motionless on the ground after security forces opened fire.
The two deaths were reported to have occurred in the southwestern city of Lordegan and a member of Iran security forces also died in protest.
Hengaw, the Norwegian Organization for Human Rights said one of those killed had been struck by live ammunition and died before being taken to a medical facility.
Activists and human rights groups have warned of an escalation in the response to the protests and say a brutal crackdown is under way as security forces continue to fire directly at protesters.
An eyewitness said, “It’s a battlefield here and security forces are firing mercilessly.”
Ebrahim Eshaghi, an Iranian wrestler, “Today, the people of my city came out into the streets to demand their rights. So far, two young people have been killed and many more have been injured. We ask all the people of the world to be our voice. The Islamic Republic is the enemy of us all.”
Video footage shared on social media appears to show the use of gunfire by security forces against protesters as crowds run through smoke-filled streets and apparently injured people are carried away.'
The protests, initially sparked by the collapse of the national currency, began on Sunday December 29,2025 in the capital, Tehran, but have since spread to cities across the country, with demonstrators chanting for economic justice and demanding an end to the regime.
Roya Boroumand, managing director of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, said the protests were being driven by the drop in the value of currency and its impact on the cost of living.
“Iranians are living below poverty lines in increasing numbers and have no hope of any notable improvement of their living conditions. They are angry at the state’s mismanagement and corruption, and policies that are causing misery inside the country,” states Iran’s Human Rights officials.
“The state deems any protest that is anti-government illegal and the law does not really open space to legal protest. That is why we see a pattern of popular outbursts and deadly crackdown,” they added.
As reported by the Guardian, the protests came after an year of record number of executions in Tehran, with more than 1500 people (the highest number since 1989) put to death in 2025.
Human Rights groups said the Iranian authorities have used the death penalty to instill fear among the population and crush dissent.
“Executions are being carried out following grossly unfair trials held behind closed doors, amid widespread patterns of torture and forced confessions,” said Amnesty director Hussein Baoumi.
The demonstrations erupted last Sunday after Tehran’s powerful merchant class shuttered its shops in protest at Iran’s deepening financial crisis.
The collapse of the rial, which briefly saw the open-market value of $1 reach 1.4 million rials, compared to the official rate of 42,000, transformed long-simmering economic despair into open unrest.
From Tehran to Isfahan, Mashhad, Ahvaz, and Hamadan, protests spread rapidly, and the slogans soon moved beyond bread-and-butter grievances.
Crowds were heard chanting, “This is the final battle! Pahlavi will return,” and “The shah will return to the homeland, and Zahhak will be overthrown,” invoking the mythological tyrant of Persian lore.
To prevent any further escalation, tight security is now reported in the areas of Tehran where the demonstrations began.
Additionally, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his government will listen to the "legitimate demands" of the protesters.
But the prosecutor general, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, has also warned that any attempt to create instability would be met with what he called a "decisive response."