DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Demonstrations broke out in Iran on Dec. 28 and have spread across the country, as protesters expressed growing dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic’s economic recession and currency collapse. Dozens of people have been killed and thousands arrested as daily protests have escalated as the government has tried to contain them. While the initial focus was on issues such as soaring staple food prices and the country’s staggering annual inflation rate, protesters are now also chanting anti-government statements.
Here’s how the protest unfolded:
On December 28, the Iranian rial exchange rate fell to a new low of 1.42 million against the US dollar. Protests broke out in two major markets in downtown Tehran, exacerbating inflationary pressure and pushing up the prices of food and other daily necessities. In early December, the government raised the price of state-subsidized gasoline, sparking discontent.
December 29: Central bank governor Mohammad Reza Farzin resigns as protests in Tehran spread to other cities. Police in the capital fired tear gas to disperse protesters.
December 30: As protests spread to more cities and several university campuses, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meets with a group of business leaders to hear their demands and pledges that his government will “spare no effort” to solve economic problems.
December 31: Iran appoints Abdolnasser Hemmati as the country’s new central bank governor. Protests in the city of Fasa turned violent after a crowd broke into the governor’s office and injured police officers, officials in southern Iran said.
January 1: Officials report the first deaths at the protests, with authorities saying at least seven people have died. The most intense violence appeared to occur in the city of Azna in Iran’s Lorestan province, where videos posted online showed objects on fire in the streets, gunfire echoing and people shouting: “Shameless! Shameless!” The semi-official Fars news agency reported three people were dead. Other protesters were reportedly killed in Bakhtiari and Isfahan provinces, while a 21-year-old volunteer with the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Basij unit was killed in Lorestan.
January 2: U.S. President Donald Trump ups the ante, writing on his “Truth Society” platform that the United States “will come to the rescue” if Iran “violently kills peaceful protesters.” The warning, which comes just months after U.S. forces bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities, included the assertion without elaboration: “We are locked, loaded and ready to go.” Meanwhile, protests have expanded to more than 100 locations in 22 of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to the Activists News Service.
January 3: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says “rioters must be put in their place,” seen as a green light for security forces to begin cracking down on demonstrations more aggressively. According to HRANA, the protests expanded to more than 170 locations in 25 provinces, resulting in at least 15 deaths and 580 arrests.
January 6: Protesters stage a sit-in at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar until security forces use tear gas to disperse them. According to HRANA, the death toll rose to 36, including two members of the Iranian security forces. Demonstrations took place in more than 280 locations in 27 of Iran’s 31 provinces.
January 8-9: After receiving a phone call from Iran’s exiled crown prince, large crowds of people shout from their windows and take to the streets in overnight protests. The government responded by blocking the Internet and international phone calls to cut off the country of 85 million from outside influence. Violence surrounding the demonstrations has left at least 42 people dead and more than 2,270 people detained, HRANA said.
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