Iran's economic upheaval reached its third day Tuesday as shop owners shuttered businesses and raised defiant voices against the regime, while the Iranian capital marshaled resources for intensifying demonstrations. Student organizations and the truck drivers' union have coalesced to protest rampant inflation and the country's deteriorating financial conditions.
Thousands are flooding Tehran, chanting for Reza Pahlavi as the crowd swells beyond control. pic.twitter.com/6MHKLgKrWD
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Internet users circulated videos capturing extensive convoys of law enforcement and Basij forces – the Revolutionary Guards' paramilitary wing tasked with crushing domestic dissent – advancing toward the capital's core. Throughout the night, confrontations flared between demonstrators and security personnel in multiple Iranian cities, including Tehran, Karaj, Ahvaz, and Qom.
Student councils representing Tehran's principal universities issued calls for campus-wide mobilization, while the truck drivers' union amplified demands for public demonstrations. Underground opposition networks have echoed these appeals, spanning radical leftist factions and supporters of Iran's deposed monarchist order.
Concurrently, Tehran authorities announced sweeping closures of municipal services, encompassing educational institutions and government offices, ostensibly to conserve electricity amid the punishing cold that requires heating infrastructure. Whether this institutional shutdown correlates with the demonstrations remains ambiguous, though the measure underscores the Islamic Republic's operational fragility.
President Masoud Pezeshkian broke his silence on the unrest through an X platform statement, declaring, "Citizens' economic welfare occupies my constant attention. Our agenda encompasses transformative initiatives for monetary and banking sector restructuring alongside safeguarding popular purchasing capacity. I have directed the interior minister to engage protesters' legitimate grievances through representative consultation, enabling governmental mobilization of comprehensive resources for problem resolution and accountable action."
During Monday's demonstrations, protesters unleashed condemnations of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, chanting "Death to the dictator" and "Sayyid Ali falls this year" (Sayyid Ali representing Khamenei's formal designation). Zanjan and Hamadan witnessed expressions of support for the expatriate Pahlavi monarchy, with crowds proclaiming "Long live the Shah" and "This constitutes the final conflict, Pahlavi shall return," according to Iran International.
The Iranian establishment sought to minimize the magnitude of the protests. Tasnim News Agency, aligned with the Revolutionary Guards' interests, published assertions that "capital thoroughfares maintain complete normalcy without demonstration indicators," attributing protest coverage to "unidentified sources." Simultaneously, Tasnim announced precipitous declines in dollar and gold valuations following central bank leadership replacement – a maneuver calculated to pacify financial markets and demonstrators.
