Tens of thousands of Iranians marched across the country on Tuesday, protesting the deepening economic crisis and chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic, as confrontations between demonstrators and security forces escalated to levels not seen in years.
In Tehran, regime forces, backed by pro-government students, imposed a full lockdown on the main campus of Tehran University. Student organizations responded by calling on the public to gather at the university's main gate and break the siege. Large-scale clashes were reported near the campus entrance, and according to some accounts, security forces were eventually forced to retreat.
Protests are erupting across Iran against Khamenei's terrorist regime. Despite attempts to suppress the demonstrations, the movement keeps growing.
After 46 years of oppression and executions, Iranians deserve freedom and peace.
I stand with the great people of Iran. Do you? pic.twitter.com/1KZ4hnUyvv
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) December 30, 2025
Major confrontations also erupted near Tehran's central bazaar, where shopkeepers from surrounding commercial areas clashed with police. Protesters hurled stones and erected roadblocks, disrupting traffic in the area. In the western city of Kermanshah, demonstrators were seen pushing back members of the Basij, the paramilitary militia tasked with suppressing unrest under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, pelting the forces with stones as they appeared overwhelmed.
Over the past 24 hours, the tone of the protests shifted markedly from economic grievances to explicit opposition to the regime itself. At Shahid Beheshti University, students chanted at Basij members, "Basij, ISIS, same thing." In Tehran's markets, merchants voiced support for Iran's former rulers, the Pahlavi dynasty, and called for the return of the exiled crown prince.
Regime-affiliated media reported on Tuesday that government offices, educational institutions and workplaces in Tehran would remain closed on Wednesday. Officials claimed the move was intended to conserve electricity amid cold winter weather and an ongoing energy crisis. The closures have added to the sense of chaos within Iran's governing system, as the protests continue to undermine the regime's grip on the capital.
'A threat to the regime'
Experts at the Institute for Eurasian Studies, a geopolitical analysis and risk assessment center, said Iran's internal security situation had reached a critical threshold, as widespread economic discontent converges with broader political defiance.
In an assessment published in US media outlets, analysts warned that if strikes spread to additional cities and key economic hubs, the country could face a nationwide work stoppage. Such a scenario, they said, would severely disrupt the government's ability to collect taxes and provide basic services. According to the report, the current pattern of urban unrest reflects a growing alignment between the market-based middle class and broader segments of Iranian society.
The assessment concluded that the government of the Islamic Republic is confronting a series of simultaneous crises that pose a greater threat to its stability than at any point in the past decade.
