Protests in Iran over rising prices 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. 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. The US-based opposition NGO Hrana, however, puts the death toll at seven. The demonstrations erupted in Tehran last Sunday, triggered by a sharp devaluation of the Iranian currency, which reached a record low that day. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian 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. These are the largest protests since 2022, when the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody for not wearing her headscarf properly sparked weeks of massive demonstrations across the country. However, they have not yet reached the same scale. 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 were killed. 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

US President Donald Trump referenced the protests in a social media post and threatened that Washington would intervene if Iranian authorities violently suppressed them. "We are prepared and ready to begin," he wrote.

On Monday, Trump had already threatened to attack the Islamic Republic again if it is confirmed that Tehran is rebuilding nuclear program infrastructure in locations other than those 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.

Chronic hyperinflation

Iran has been suffering from chronic hyperinflation for years. Prices rose by an average of 52% in a single year, according to official data from December. The Iranian economy, already weakened by decades of Western sanctions, is also being affected by the UN's reinstatement in September of international sanctions lifted ten years ago and linked to its nuclear program. Initially, shopkeepers forced to close their stores due to inflation spearheaded the protests. However, as the days have passed, the demonstrations have taken on a more political tone, with chants against the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ali Khamenei, and the ayatollahs' regime.