Unnamed Iranian Woman

The 2025–2026 Iranian protests are a series of nationwide demonstrations against the Iranian government that began on 28 December 2025 amid a deepening economic crisis. The unrest followed a sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial, soaring inflation, and widespread shortages linked to international sanctions. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that Washington engineered a dollar shortage in Iran to send the Iranian rial into freefall and cause protests in Iran. This event has been the largest uprising since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The ensuing crackdown, which was carried out under Ali Khamenei's and senior officials' order for live fire on protesters according to Iran International, resulted in massacres that left thousands of protesters dead, making them the largest massacres in modern Iranian history. Human Rights Activists in Iran confirmed at least 7,000 deaths; the Iranian government confirmed 3,117 deaths, while others put the death toll at 32,000.