Protests in Iran are spreading, and there are already at least six dead.

BarcelonaThe Protests in Iran over the rising cost of living The protests continue and have spread to rural areas as well. Clashes between demonstrators and police have already resulted in at least six deaths, according to the human rights organization Hengaw and the semi-official Fars news agency. Meanwhile, the US-based opposition NGO Hrana reports that the death toll has risen to seven. The demonstrations erupted in Tehran last Sunday, fueled by a sharp devaluation of the Iranian currency, which reached a record low that day. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, a liberal, adopted a conciliatory tone and called for listening to the protesters' "legitimate demands." However, several human rights organizations have denounced the repression by security forces, including mass arrests and the use of violence against protesters. According to Hrana, Iranian authorities have arrested at least 119 people, and some 30 demonstrators have been injured.

Although they have not yet reached the same magnitude, these are the most significant protests since 2022, when the death of the young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, while in police custodyThe fact that a woman didn't wear her veil properly sparked massive demonstrations across the country for weeks.

The precarious state of the Iranian economy has been the spark that ignited the mobilizations. Weakened by decades of Western sanctions, the situation has worsened even further in recent months due to the reinstatement, in September, of UN international sanctions lifted ten years ago and linked to its nuclear program. The country suffers from chronic hyperinflation, and prices have risen by an average of 52% in the last year, according to official data from December.

The first to express their discontent were shopkeepers, who closed their businesses to protest the inflation. However, as the days passed, the demonstrations took on a more political tone, with chants against the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, and the ayatollahs' regime. Among the slogans being chanted by protesters is "Pahlavi will return," referring to the dynasty overthrown in 1979 during the Islamic Revolution. The son of the last Shah, Reza Pahlavi, has positioned himself in recent years as the leader of the opposition from his exile in the United States, advocating for the return of liberal democracy to the country.

A video verified by Reuters shows dozens of people gathered outside a burning police station on Thursday night, while sporadic gunfire erupted and people called the authorities "shameless." Further demonstrations took place on Friday in places like Zahedan, a city with a predominantly Baloch minority population, where protesters chanted slogans such as "Death to the dictator," according to the NGO Hengaw. According to the Associated Press, one of the most violent clashes occurred this Thursday in Azna, a city in the western province of Lorestan, where at least three people died. Videos circulating on social media show protesters in a street in the city of Lordegan, also in the west of the country, with the sound of gunfire in the background.

State media reported that a member of the Basij militia, linked to the Revolutionary Guard, died in clashes with protesters on Wednesday night. Thirteen members of the security forces were also reportedly injured. The Basij militia is a civilian volunteer force that often employs brutal repression tactics to try to quell protests, as was the case during the 2022 uprisings.

Trump threatens to intervene

Donald Trump has seized upon the new wave of protests in Iran to threaten a new US intervention. after the one last June"If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, as it often does, the United States will come to their rescue. We stand ready and prepared to act," the US president warned.

On Monday, Trump already threatened to attack the Islamic Republic again if it is confirmed that Tehran is rebuilding nuclear program infrastructure in locations other than those it bombed last summer. The precarious state of the Iranian economy is largely due to the sanctions Washington imposed in 2018, during Trump's first term.

Tehran responded to the US president's words with a counter-threat: "The disrespectful US president should know that, with this official admission, all American centers and forces throughout the region will be legitimate targets for us in response to any potential recklessness," the Speaker of Parliament wrote to X. For his part, the secretary of Iran's National Security Council, Ali Larijani, warned that "US interference in this internal matter would destabilize the entire region and destroy its interests."