Overview
- Protests over inflation and a collapsing currency have entered a sixth day, spreading from Tehran to cities including Lordegan, Azna and Kuhdasht.
- State-affiliated outlets reported multiple deaths in Lordegan and Azna and named a 21-year-old Basij member killed in Kuhdasht, while rights groups alleged security forces fired on protesters; independent verification remains limited.
- Iran’s government offered talks with merchants and trade unions even as the prosecutor general pledged a firm legal response, security deployments intensified and arrests were reported.
- President Donald Trump said the United States is “locked and loaded” if Iran kills peaceful protesters, drawing warnings from Ali Larijani and other Iranian officials against U.S. interference.
- Iran’s economic crisis forms the backdrop, with December inflation reported around 52 percent and the rial trading near 1.4 million per U.S. dollar on unofficial markets.