Protesters in Iran call for end of ruling regime, citing economic hardship and mounting inflation

Protests that started in Tehran last week over the plummeting value of Iran’s rial currency have expanded into a nationwide uprising, with some Iranians calling for the end of the ruling regime. 

Security forces have reportedly fired into crowds of protesters, killing dozens of people while taking more than 1,200 into custody. This is Iran’s largest massed demonstrations since the Women, Life, Freedom movement in 2022.

On Tuesday, security forces launched tear gas while dispersing demonstrators at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, long considered the heart of Iran’s economy and political movements. The country’s leading judicial figure said the government won’t tolerate “rioters” who have taken to the streets.

“I instruct the attorney general and prosecutors across the country to act in accordance with the law and with resolve against the rioters and those who support them … and to show no leniency or indulgence,” said Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, according to the state-owned Mizan news agency.

Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said even Tehran’s government has acknowledged how widespread the demonstrations have been. 

“As of yesterday, these protests have taken place in 77 cities. That’s nationwide,” Mr. Takeyh said Tuesday in a discussion hosted by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America think tank. “Those are Islamic Republic figures, so it’s probably larger than that.”

Chief Justice Mohseni-Ejei accused “enemies” of the Islamic Republic of capitalizing on protests that began over economic hardship, high inflation, and rising costs for essentials to sow division and discord in Iran. Officials in Tehran have accused the U.S. and Israel of orchestrating the demonstrations that began in late December.

“The enemy wants to undermine our unity and cohesion and preoccupy us with secondary, marginal, and third-tier issues. We must not inadvertently play into the enemy’s hands,” he said. “What the enemy failed to achieve during the 12-day imposed war, it now seeks to accomplish through fabricated narratives and sedition.”

Iran’s chief justice was referring to the country’s 12-day war with Israel in June, during which the U.S. and Israel decimated the country’s uranium-enrichment program. He said the public was correct to demand an end to corruption, especially against those who have sought to exploit the conditions that have brought about high prices and inflation. 

The Iranian jurist said corruption should be “confronted decisively and diligently through legal means.”

“But we must not play into the enemy’s hands. Sometimes the enemy raises an issue simply to entangle our minds,” said Chief Justice Mohseni-Ejei. “We must focus solely on solving the people’s problems, not on engaging with distractions behind which the enemy stands.”

Mr. Takeyh said the Islamic Republic has benefited in the past because of the episodic nature of protest movements in Iran.

“What happens is several months of protest, then everybody goes home to recuperate, and then they come back. The challenge for the opposition is to maintain some kind of resiliency,” he said. “They don’t need structure. They don’t need an ideology, and they don’t need leadership. But what they need is persistence.”

Mariam Memarsadeghi, founder of the Cyrus Forum, which works for a transition to democracy in Iran, said the country’s economically disadvantaged population has long been considered a leading base of support for the regime in Tehran. But they have emerged as the backbone of recent protests in Iran.

“It shouldn’t be surprising because they’re the ones that suffer the most in a command economy [and] a totalitarian regime that’s ideological and can’t allow people to meet their own basic needs,” Ms. Memarsadeghi said during the Jewish Institute-hosted discussion. “Underneath all this Islamism is a lot of Marxist approaches to governance and the economy. I don’t think we can overstate how difficult life is for people in Iran, economically.”