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Protests over the plummeting value of the currency led to large swaths of shops in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar closing, as people walk past the shuttered storefronts on December 30, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. — Reuters
A 21-year-old member of Iran’s security forces was reportedly killed last week amid ongoing protests, according to local authorities. The death was confirmed Thursday by state TV, citing a regional official. Said Pourali, deputy governor of Lorestan Province, stated, “A 21-year-old Basij member from Kouhdasht was killed Wednesday night by rioters while trying to maintain order.” This marks the first officially confirmed fatality since protests began last Sunday, initially peaceful in Tehran.
The Basij are a volunteer militia closely associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which is the ideological branch of the Islamic Republic. Pourali also reported that during demonstrations in Kouhdasht, 13 police officers and Basij members sustained injuries from stone-throwing.
The unrest started in Tehran, where shopkeepers staged a walkout over soaring costs of living and economic stagnation. The demonstrations soon spread to other cities, especially after students from at least 10 universities joined in on Tuesday. Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, urged the government on Thursday to take concrete steps to improve the economy, warning, “From an Islamic perspective… if we don’t address people’s livelihoods, we risk ending up in hell.”
Authorities declared Wednesday a bank holiday at the last minute, citing energy conservation needs during cold weather, though there has been no official link made to the protests. Iran’s weekend kicks off on Thursday, with Saturday being a long-standing national holiday.
Iran’s prosecutor general emphasized that peaceful economic protests are lawful, but any efforts to incite violence or spread insecurity would be met with firm action. “Any endeavor to turn economic protests into tools of chaos, property destruction, or externally orchestrated scenarios will be met with a legal, proportional, and decisive response,” he declared.
On Wednesday evening, the Tasnim news agency reported the arrest of seven individuals suspected of being affiliated with groups hostile to the Islamic Republic, based in the United States and Europe. The agency said these individuals were assigned to incite violence during the demonstrations, though it did not specify when they were detained.
Meanwhile, Iran’s national currency, the rial, has lost more than a third of its value against the U.S. dollar over the past year, with double-digit hyperinflation eroding the purchasing power of ordinary Iranians for years. The official inflation rate for December stood at 52% year-over-year, according to Iran’s Statistical Center.
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