Massive Protests Break Out In Iran, Is There Trump Angle?

30th December 2025 at 4:35 PM

2 minutes read

For the last two days, chaos descended on the streets of several Iranian cities and towns. With the Iranian rial plunging to over 42,000 against the US dollar, and inflation rising to over 42%.

Tehran : For the last two days, chaos descended on the streets of several Iranian cities and towns. With the Iranian rial plunging to over 42,000 against the US dollar, and inflation rising to over 42%. Many videos are coming in from Iran, showing people chanting in unison in the streets: Mullahs must leave Iran’ and ‘death to the dictatorship…’ This is the voice of a people who do not want the Islamic Republic,” Iranian-American journalist and author Masih Alinejad posted on X.

The financial distress and law-and-order breakdown in a country of over 92 million people now pose a serious challenge to Iran’s clerical regime, already struggling to recover from Israeli and US strikes on its nuclear facilities and the impact of Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy, which branded a nuclear Iran under radical Shia clerics as an unacceptable risk. An image being shared by credible Iranian expatriates shows a man sitting motionless in the middle of a Tehran highway as the regime forces on motorcycles move in to crush protests.

Several Iran watchers also claimed that pro-Shah slogans were raised on the streets. They invoked the Shah, whose regime was toppled by Khamenei-led protests in 1979. Meanwhile, Iranian state media acknowledged the protests but moved quickly to downplay them. The government-run IRNA framed the unrest as limited to protests over economic grievances rather than political dissent against the theocratic system.

Since Sunday, Iran has been witnessing its biggest street protests in three years, when, in 2022-2023 people took to the streets following the death of Mahsa Amini. It rattled the Islamic regime, which attracted widespread condemnation globally over its brutal response to the nationwide agitation. On Monday (December 29), in Tehran and Mashhad, demonstrators clashed with security forces as authorities used batons and tear gas to quell the protests. Central Tehran emerged as a major flashpoint, where key government and commercial hubs are located.

Iran’s collapsing economy now melds with the political fatigue of theocratic rule. The immediate trigger has been the free fall of the rial, which crashed to a record low against the US dollar. It wiped out purchasing power and pushed prices of food, medicine and daily essentials beyond the reach of ordinary Iranians. The shock forced the resignation of Central Bank chief Mohammad Reza Farzin and brought traders, shopkeepers and small businesses onto the streets of Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad, reported news agency Associated Press. But the anger among Iranians runs deeper than data charts.

Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said it was no surprise Iranians were taking to the streets amid a collapsing economy, which he blamed on the regime’s extremism and corruption. “It’s no surprise that the people of Iran are taking to the streets to protest the collapsing economy… The Iranian regime has ruined what should be a vibrant and prosperous country with its extremism and corruption.