Iran's Largest Protests in Three Years Enter Fifth Day Amid Economic Crisis and Deadly Clashes
As of January 1, 2026, Iran is witnessing its largest protests in three years, which have entered their fifth day since starting around December 29 to 31, 2025. The demonstrations began in Tehran and have since spread nationwide, fueled by deteriorating living conditions and a collapsing currency. Protesters are demanding economic justice and have chanted for both economic reform and regime change.
State media have confirmed at least two deaths linked to the unrest, specifically reporting two deaths in Lordegan, a city in southwestern Iran. The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights stated that one of those killed was shot with live ammunition. Video footage and eyewitness reports reveal that security forces have been firing directly at protesters. Multiple sources have described the clashes as resembling a battlefield.
Human rights groups have warned of an escalating situation and the potential for a brutal government crackdown, urging the international community to pay attention. Roya Boroumand of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran noted that the protests are primarily driven by the currency's drastic decline and rising cost of living, while the space for legal protest continues to shrink.
Reports from 2025 show a record number of executions in Iran, exceeding 1,500—the highest since 1989. Amnesty International has raised concerns about unfair trials, torture, and forced confessions in many of these cases. Ebrahim Eshaghi, an Iranian wrestler from Lordegan who now lives in Germany, has confirmed the deaths of two youths in his hometown and is appealing for global support for the protesters.
The protests remain ongoing as demonstrators call for economic reforms and express discontent with the regime under increasingly violent circumstances.
