The most massive anti-government protests in Iran in the last three years have reached a stage unprecedented in the entire 47-year history of the Islamic Republic. Whether they will be able to shake the position of the Iranian authorities is still unclear, but it is already obvious that the current demonstrations differ from previous ones, writes the BBC.
A car with a screen showing the son of the last Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, and US President Donald Trump, drives past a demonstration in support of protests in Iran near the British Parliament building in London. Photo: AP Photo/Kin Cheung
For the first time, the protesters have a leader, albeit a symbolic one – Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last overthrown Shah of Iran. The US, in the person of President Donald Trump, is closely monitoring the protests and has repeatedly threatened to intervene. In addition, Iran's position as a regional power has weakened after the war with Israel and US bombings last June.
The protests began on December 28 in Tehran and almost immediately spread to other cities. The reason for the mass discontent was the sharp rise in prices and the fall in the exchange rate of the Iranian rial against the US dollar: over the year, the American currency rose in price by approximately 80%.
Economic slogans quickly turned into political ones – even to the point of demanding the complete elimination of the Islamic Republic and the restoration of the monarchy. How many people exactly participated in the protests is difficult to verify – the BBC and other international media are deprived of the opportunity to work in Iran. In addition, the Iranian authorities, trying to suppress the protest, cut off the internet in the country, which further complicates the collection and verification of information.
However, according to various data from eyewitnesses and experts, the current demonstrations surpass previous ones in scale. Sociologist-researcher Eli Kharsandfar notes in an interview with the BBC that the rallies have spread to small settlements, "whose names many people may never have heard."
Previous mass demonstrations in Iran, although numerous, were not as widespread. In 2009, Iranians protested against alleged election fraud. The protests were led by losing candidates, forming the so-called "green movement." The driving force of the protest was the middle class. Despite its large scale, it was concentrated in large cities. Other major protests in 2017 and 2019 were limited mainly to poor areas.
The most similar to the current ones were the 2022 protests, which erupted after the death of Mahsa Amini. She was detained by the morality police for "improper" wearing of the hijab. At that time, Iran was gripped by the largest wave of protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but the authorities eventually suppressed them.
Non-systemic protest and a symbolic leader
The 2022 protests had no leader, and therefore they quickly faded. Figures abroad are claiming leadership in the current protests and trying to direct them, primarily Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah overthrown in 1979.
He declared himself Shah while in exile in the United States. His activity partly explains why the protests are still ongoing.
“The key difference of this protest is that for the first time it is the same non-systemic protest that has a leader. Moreover, this leader is perhaps even more symbolic, because he is based in the United States and, of course, cannot properly coordinate actions on the ground. And he managed to mobilize the population for political action. This has never happened before,” Iranian studies expert, orientalist and author of the Telegram channel "Islamism from a Foreign Agent" Nikita Smagin tells the BBC.
Pahlavi actively urged Iranians to take to the streets, and people eagerly shared the calls. Young Iranians on social media indirectly push each other to participate in demonstrations. Demonstrators shout his name, and calls for the return of the Pahlavi dynasty are heard.
The scale of recent protests in cities like Tehran can be considered proof of the effectiveness of Pahlavi's calls. Analysts note that the presence of a well-known opposition figure has clearly strengthened the feeling that there is a potential alternative if the current government falls.
However, other experts believe that these expressions of support for Pahlavi do not necessarily mean that Iranians want a restoration of the monarchy. Rather, it is a manifestation of a desperate need for any alternative to religious rule, especially in the absence of prominent secular opposition leaders within the country.
“Death to the dictator”
As in 2022, the protests had a specific trigger – but the outrage escalated into a demand for deep systemic changes.
“The 2022 movement began with the "women's issue." But it also reflected other dissatisfactions... The protests of December 2025 started with problems that, at first glance, seemed economic, but in a very, very short time, greater demands were voiced at the protests,” says sociologist Kharsandfar.
In late December, market traders in central Tehran went on strike in response to sharp fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Iranian rial against the US dollar. The protests spread to the poorest regions of the country in the west. As in 2022, the provinces of Ilam and Lorestan became some of the epicenters.
By the end of the year, thousands of people were already on the streets, and millions of Iranians – including members of the middle class – faced a severe economic crisis and rapidly rising prices.
Orientalist Nikita Smagin names economics as one of the main problems for the Iranian authorities and says that people have stopped believing the current leaders.
“Over the past eight years, there has been a systematic, consistent impoverishment of the population. The government has not been able to create a model that would ensure economic prosperity and stability.”
Participants in street marches chant “Death to the dictator!”, demanding the removal of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the regime he heads.
Trump's Threats
Another factor that distinguishes these protests even from the 2022 protests is the US. Unlike previous protests, the current demonstrations clearly have the support of the White House. Donald Trump threatened to attack government positions in support of the protesters – something that had never happened before.
In 2009, when protests against alleged fraud in the presidential elections took place, their participants chanted: “Obama, Obama, are you with them or with us!” Barack Obama, who was then US President, later regretted not having supported the protesters more openly.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that the demonstrations are being manipulated by "enemies of Iran." However, the problem for the Iranian authorities also lies in the fact that the country now has fewer allies than in recent years, and Iran's position as a regional power has weakened.
Iranian authorities have lost key partners: Bashar al-Assad was overthrown as president of Syria, and Hezbollah in Lebanon has been significantly weakened as a result of Israeli military actions.
Lost chance for national unity and the threat of new protests
Shortly before the current protests, there was a 12-day war with Israel and American-Israeli strikes on Iran. According to journalist Abbas Abdi, the Iranian government failed to seize the opportunity to foster a sense of solidarity and unity among the population after these events.
Some experts even believe that such a serious blow to the armed forces destroyed the aura and prestige of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as the country's main military institution in the eyes of Iranians.
Sociologist Kharsandfar sees a sustained shift in people's behavior in the current protests, the foundations of which were laid in 2022: three years ago, many women told her in interviews that their main achievement was that the fear of a repressive state had disappeared.
According to Iranian studies expert Nikita Smagin, the current protests still lack structure, and the ruling regime's forces have significantly more means to suppress them than the protesters have to resist. But, according to the expert, even if the current protests are suppressed, new ones will not be long in coming.
“Protests can flare up again with new force. The authorities will have to continue living in a country where approximately 80% of the population not just dislikes you, but hates you, and fiercely hates you,” says the expert about the systemic crisis of the Islamic Republic.
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