Iran’s Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi-Azad delivered a stark warning on Wednesday regarding ongoing economic demonstrations, drawing a clear distinction between legitimate grievances and what authorities perceive as destabilizing activities. While acknowledging the validity of peaceful livelihood protests as “social and understandable realities,” the senior judicial official emphasized that any attempts to transform economic discontent into security threats would trigger a “legal, proportionate and decisive response.
The demonstrations, initially sparked by shopkeepers at Tehran’s largest mobile phone market on Sunday, have since gained momentum with students from at least ten universities across the country joining the movement. The protests emerge against a backdrop of severe economic challenges, with Iran’s currency losing over a third of its value against the US dollar since last year amid persistent hyperinflation and crippling international sanctions.
Notably, the protests remain geographically concentrated in central Tehran, with most of the metropolis’s 10 million residents continuing daily life unaffected. The timing of the demonstrations coincides with curious administrative decisions, including a last-minute bank holiday announced with just one day’s notice. Officials attributed closures of schools, banks and public institutions to cold weather and energy conservation needs, though temperatures remain typical for the season.
The geopolitical dimension intensified when Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency posted messages in Persian on social media, expressing solidarity with protesters and encouraging street demonstrations. This external involvement likely contributed to the Iranian government’s heightened security concerns, particularly given the country’s history of major protests in 2019 (triggered by fuel price hikes) and 2022 (following Mahsa Amini’s death in custody).
Despite the current demonstrations showing significantly smaller scale than previous nationwide movements, authorities appear prepared to implement stringent measures to prevent escalation, reflecting the delicate balance between addressing economic distress and maintaining state security.