Overview
- Demonstrations that began with merchant strikes over a currency plunge have spread to students and multiple provinces, including Tehran, Lorestan, Fars and Isfahan.
- Reports on fatalities diverge: state media cite a 21-year-old Basij member killed in Kuhdasht, Fars notes two dead in Lordegan and three in Azna, and rights group Hengaw alleges civilians were shot, including in Isfahan.
- Security forces deployed heavily and used tear gas and water cannons, and Hengaw reported live fire in parts of Fars, with arrests and street confrontations documented across several cities.
- Local government sites and institutions were targeted in some towns, with Fars reporting attacks on a governor’s office, a police station, a mosque and banks, and activists describing armored units in the streets.
- President Massud Peseschkian urged an end to the protests, blamed state policies and banks for high inflation, pledged reforms including scrapping a preferential exchange rate for importers, and prosecutors warned of a decisive legal response.