Russia Mobilization: Latest Updates & Map

Four days. This is how long it took for the mobilization against the high cost of living, which started in a market in Tehran where traders denounced record inflation, to spread throughout Iran. On December 31, a member of the Iranian security forces was killed during a new day of protests in the town of Kouhdasht, the semi-official Fars news agency reported, adding that 13 members of the security forces were also injured by stone throwing. Several demonstrators were also killed and injured on Thursday morning, Reuters reveals.

On images authenticated by BBC Persianwe see police shooting at city protesters on the day the incident took place. On January 1, clashes were also reported in the southern province of Fars and the western provinces of Hamedan and Lorestan, where demonstrators attempted to enter a local administrative building. The day before, the authorities in the capital had however declared a public holiday where schools, universities and banks were closed, officially to save energy due to the cold, unofficially to calm unrest and calm disorderly cash withdrawals, while exchange rates are soaring.

A surge in prices

The surge in prices denounced by the demonstrators, with an increase of 72% for foodstuffs and 50% for health items compared to the previous year, can be explained by the collapse of the national currency. The rial is falling under the effect of Western sanctions against the Iranian economy and has lost almost half of its value in one year, reaching a record low of 1,400,000 rials per dollar on Tuesday, according to figures aggregated by online platforms.

The Iranian regime, which has forcibly suppressed similar protests in the past, has pledged to engage in dialogue with demonstrators, but tensions are high. In Fasa, a town in Fars province, “an organized group attempted (Wednesday) to enter the governorate building”, according to the Tasnim news agency, although “their attack failed after the intervention of security forces”.

Extensive mobilization

Initially limited to a handful of sellers in Tehran’s largest cell phone market, the movement then spread to Iranian youth, who chanted slogans against the policies of the Islamic Republic. “Peaceful demonstrations in defense of livelihoods […] are understandable”, recognized the Attorney General of the Islamic Republic, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, quoted by state television. Before however warning: “Any attempt to transform economic demonstrations into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property or implementation of scenarios designed abroad will inevitably be followed by a legal, proportionate and firm response.”

The mullahs’ regime fears the involvement of the Hebrew State, after the Mossad, the Israeli foreign intelligence service, invited the Iranian protesters in Persian to intensify their mobilization, claiming on X to be present with them “on the ground”. Iran had already experienced demonstrations in 2022 against rising prices, including that of bread. In 2023, a protest movement following the death of a young Kurd at the hands of the moral police, Mahsa Amnini, was also violently repressed.