Iran: Anti-Regime Protests Intensify Amid Violent Crackdown

Iran: Anti-Regime Protests Intensify Amid Violent Crackdown

The Iranian regime is cracking down on protests with increasingly deadly force as the nationwide uprising entered its twelfth day. The Islamic Guard (IRGC) and pro-regime Basij militia, unleashed by the Mullah regime, were firing teargas and live bullets at demonstrators, media reports indicate.

“There were violent clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces in several locations in Iran on Wednesday,” the BBC reported Thursday. “Videos posted on social media showed a tense stand-off between protesters and security forces, with the sound of gunfire in the background.”

“In footage from several other areas, security forces appear to fire guns and tear gas towards crowds of protesters,” the broadcaster added.

Death toll continues to rise amid reports of security forces firing at protesters. “At least 45 protesters, including eight minors, have been killed in Iran during nearly two weeks of nationwide unrest sparked by economic grievances, human rights activists said Thursday,” Israel’s Ynetnews reported.

Fox News noted on Wednesday that the regime was “facing one of the most widespread anti-government movements in decades.”

I’m not afraid. I’ve been dead for 47 years this is the voice of a woman in Iran who is fed up with the Islamic republic.
47 years ago, the Islamic Republic took our rights and turned a nation into hostages.
Today people have nothing left to lose, they rise.
Iran is rising. pic.twitter.com/GAawmynE0C

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) January 8, 2026

Large demonstrations were reported in Iran’s main port city of Bandar Abbas, where protesters clashed with the regime forces.

“While Tehran weighs its moves, mass protests inside Iran are spreading. In the port city of Bandar Abbas, reports spoke of violent clashes between residents and police,” the Israel Hayom newspaper reported Thursday. “Over the past 24 hours, demonstrations and strikes have taken place in dozens of additional cities, with shops closing in protest. Tehran’s Grand Bazaar remains a central focal point, and chants of “death to the dictator” are heard in countless videos circulating online.”

In one instance, loudspeakers blared a speech by Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi. The exiled prince told the security forces that it was their “last chance” to abandon the Islamic regime and side with the people.

🚨 Reza Pahlavi’s address to all armed forces broadcast tonight from loudspeakers in Bandar Abbas. Asking them to scan a QR code from Iran international live on TV to register their defections. “It is your last chance.”

What a time to be alive.

“The revolution will be… pic.twitter.com/HuqPSS86w0

— Omid Djalili (@omid9) January 7, 2026

The Associated Press reported the ongoing protests:

Nationwide protests in Iran sparked by the Islamic Republic’s ailing economy are putting new pressure on its theocracy.

Tehran is still reeling from a 12-day war launched by Israel in June that saw the United States bomb nuclear sites in Iran. Economic pressure, which has intensified since September when the United Nations reimposed sanctions on the country over its atomic program, has sent Iran’s rial currency into a free fall, now trading at over 1.4 million to $1. (…)

More than 340 protests have taken place across all of Iran’s 31 provinces, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported Thursday. The death toll had reached at least 38, it added, with more than 2,200 arrests. The group relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting and has been accurate in past unrest. (…)

Protesters in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas set fires in the streets overnight on Wednesday and chanted, “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, my life for Iran,” according to videos received by Iran International. pic.twitter.com/CTeNwzhwIL

— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) January 8, 2026

Protesters were seen burning the hated flag of the Islamic regime in the northern city of Mashhad. In other places, posters of the Iranian dictator Ayatullah Khamenei and other pro-regime billboards were defaced or set on fire.

“Alongside state-aligned coverage, Iran International, a Persian-language opposition channel broadcasting from London, continued to publish videos it said were sent from inside Iran,” Ynetnews reported. “One video appeared to show protesters in Mashhad, the country’s second-largest city and a Shiite holy site, pulling down a large Islamic Republic flag.”

“Other footage showed what the outlet described as security forces firing toward protesters in the southern city of Kangan, though it was unclear whether live ammunition was used,” the news website added.

In Iran, protesters tore up the flag of the despised Islamic Republic 🇮🇷 in the city of Mashhad.

This is the second largest city in the country! Khameini is having a very bad day. I almost feel sorry for the old man. And for Tucker Carlson. The Islamic Republic hangs gays. Poor… pic.twitter.com/H5r5HaRq5I

— Mike (@Doranimated) January 8, 2026

By resorting to deadly violence, the regime has decided to ignore President Donald Trump’s repeated warnings that the U.S. will hit the ruling Mullahs “very hard” if they continue to kill peaceful demonstrators.

The bravery of these people is astounding. They're light in what lately has felt like a very dark world. https://t.co/el4aTsMo8d

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 8, 2026

Anti-regime protests first erupted in late December, following the collapse of the Iranian currency against the US dollar. Traders and shopkeepers took to the streets to protest hyperinflation, and were soon joined by students and ordinary Iranians. This is the largest nationwide unrest since the uprising of 2022 and 2023, triggered by the killing of 23-year-old Mahsa Amini by the Islamic Sharia police for disregarding the hijab law.

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