Iran's economy is nearing collapse thanks to annual inflation that has risen above 40% and even higher on things like food. Last week that led lots of people feeling the pinch to head into the streets.
Protesters took to the streets of the capital, Tehran, and other cities in Iran on Monday to decry surging inflation and the collapse of the national currency, which have thrown markets into chaos and punched holes in family budgets.
The currency plunged to a record low this past weekend against the U.S. dollar and the annual inflation rate rose to 42.2 percent in December.
Amid the turmoil, the head of Iran’s central bank, Mohammad Reza Farzin, resigned on Monday, pending the president’s acceptance, local news media reported. A former economy minister, Abdolnaser Hemmati, was set to replace him.
And despite clashes with Iranian police that have resulted in some two-dozen deaths, those protests continue. As of today, the protests appear to be spreading including a sit-in held at the Grand Bazaar.
The protest at the Grand Bazaar, the beating heart for centuries of both Iran’s economic and political life, represented the latest signal that the demonstrations likely are to continue as the country’s rial currency fell to a record low Tuesday. Already, violence surrounding the protests has killed at least 36 people with authorities detaining more than 1,200 others, activists abroad say...
In the Grand Bazaar, a labyrinth-like warren of covered passages and alleyways, demonstrators sat down in one passage in front of security forces as other shops nearby shut down on Tuesday, online videos showed and witnesses said. Other demonstrations similarly have seen people sit down in front of police after a photo circulated earlier of a man seen sitting alone in front of security forces.
Authorities later fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Iranian state-run media did not immediately acknowledge the incident, which has been common in the days since the demonstrations began on Dec. 28.
🚨 IRAN | BREAKING:
— Shayan X (@ShayanX0) January 6, 2026
Massive protests erupted in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar area, where clashes broke out between anti-Islamist-regime, pro-@PahlaviReza protesters and agents of the Islamist regime. Make sure you share this widely and support the heroic uprising of the Iranian people. pic.twitter.com/hKiKKuW9mu
In Iran, the shopkeepers' protest continued as eyewitness videos showed people throwing gas canisters amid clashes with security forces in Tehran's Grand Bazaar https://t.co/fmjaHPVs7i pic.twitter.com/xjla98Axaj
— Reuters (@Reuters) January 6, 2026
The BBC reports the protests have spread among Iran's provinces.
Protests have broken out in at least 17 of Iran's 31 provinces, presenting the largest challenge to the country's clerical establishment since 2022, a BBC Verify and BBC Persian analysis has found...
Verified footage from the last 10 days shows evidence of anti-government demonstrations and gatherings in more than 40 towns and cities across the country, including in several regions previously perceived as being highly loyal to the state.
More than 100 videos which which we geolocated and checked for publication date paint a picture of the scale of the unrest, with people taking to the streets in many major cities in Iran and presenting the largest challenge to the state since the Women, Life and Freedom protests in 2022.
The Iranian regime is hoping to soften the opposition by offering a new monthly payment of $7 per month which is a small fraction of the cost of basic needs for most Iranians.
The plan, according to the government spokeswoman, Fatameh Mohajerani, is aimed at “preserving households’ purchasing power, controlling inflation, and ensuring food security.” But it will likely do little to ease the economic struggles of most Iranians, whose minimum needs cost upward of $200 a month...
In a statement on Sunday, Ms. Mohajerani, the spokeswoman, said that the $10 billion once spent annually to subsidize some imports would instead be used to pay Iranian citizens directly. The payments will amount to one million Iranian tomans — around seven dollars — and will be provided in the form of credit to eligible Iranians for the purchase of certain goods...
The monthly payment would cover the equivalent of around 100 eggs, a kilogram of red meat, or a few kilograms of rice or chicken at current prices in Iran. The payments will be handed out to 80 million Iranians, the vast majority of the population, according to the labor minister.
President Trump has expressed sympathy for the protesters and even a willingness to intercede on their behalf if the regime gets too trigger-happy.
President Trump said on Friday that the United States would come to the aid of protesters in Iran if the government there used lethal force against them, in a sharp escalation of remarks after days of widespread demonstrations against the Iranian government...
If Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue,” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social early Friday morning. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”
Iran might have brushed off comments like that last week, but will they do it now, after Maduro and his wife were collected from a military base in Caracas and deposited in a New York jail?
THREAD: Verified videos of Iran protests on 6 January
— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) January 6, 2026
A huge protest breaks out in the centre of the small city of Abdanan tonight. Police officers on the roof of the local police station wave at protesters as they march past.
Location: https://t.co/ww9YMOb8ts @GeoConfirmed https://t.co/DGhSndaSOH pic.twitter.com/zEnSLLo9eF
It really would be something to see the collapse of the Iranian regime after all these years.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Hot Air's conservative reporting that takes on the radical left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join Hot Air VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member