Iran Enters Third Day of Unrest as Protestors Demand End to Islamic Republic

Videos Show Significant Participation by Middle-Aged and Working-Class Iranians, Many of Whom Confront Security Forces Directly

By Mardo Soghom

Protests and strikes continued across several Iranian cities on December 30, 2025, entering a third day as a flood of user-generated videos showed demonstrators openly demanding an end to the Islamic Republic.

While the immediate trigger has been the country’s economic crisis, protesters are not seeking short-term relief. Their message is explicit: the overthrow of the Islamic regime.

The unrest began on December 28 in Tehran’s retail markets, collectively known as the Bazaar, after the national currency fell to a historic low of 1.44 million rials to the U.S. dollar.

As transactions ground to a halt, shopkeepers began closing their businesses. Merchants poured into the bazaar’s corridors and surrounding streets, calling for a general strike, and were soon joined by ordinary citizens.

By December 29, crowds—large and small—were marching in Tehran and several other cities, chanting slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the clerical establishment, and the system as a whole.

Initially, the authorities relied mainly on regular police units to contain the protests. The police appeared to exercise a degree of restraint, avoiding firearms and mass arrests.

By midday on December 29, however, more hardline security forces were deployed, and gunfire and violence began to be reported. So far, the response has not escalated to the widespread use of military weapons seen during the protests of 2019 and 2022.

Demonstrations resumed by midday December 30. Students at nearly every major university called for joining “the people,” prompting security forces to surround several campuses. Compared with the 2022 “Women, Life, Freedom” protests—largely driven by Generation Z—the current unrest appears to draw from a broader cross-section of society.

Videos show significant participation by middle-aged and working-class Iranians, many of whom confront security forces directly. In several recordings, protesters can be heard shouting at officers at close range, calling them dishonorable and urging them to defect.

A feature of the current protests is the open call for the restoration of the monarchy and support for exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. While similar slogans have surfaced in the past, the scale and clarity of these chants mark a shift.

For many demonstrators, the message is unmistakable: a complete rejection of the 1979 revolution and the Islamic regime it produced. The pro-monarchy sentiment appears largely organic, rather than the result of organized activity by diaspora opposition groups.

There is little evidence of coordinated leadership on the ground, suggesting that if the system collapses, local figures—unambiguously opposed to the regime—could play a decisive role.

Reformist voices associated with the establishment, still hinting at gradual change, appear to have little resonance. For many Iranians, the Islamic Republic is widely seen as a failed, corrupt system beyond repair.

One activist with more than 22,000 followers on X captured the prevailing mood: “Let this sink in: the people’s protests are neither about livelihoods nor about reforming the system.

Again and again, loudly and clearly, people have said they want the overthrow of the Islamic Republic—and now they are shouting that demand openly.”

Another activist warned against government narratives that portray the unrest as purely economic in nature.

Some analysts argue that Israel’s air campaign in June 2025 weakened the regime’s leadership by targeting senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, potentially undermining its ability to manage the current unrest. Social-media accounts apparently linked to Israel began urging Iranians to join the protests on Monday.

One Persian-language account openly identifying itself as affiliated with the Mossad pledged support if the authorities resort to large-scale violence.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting with President Donald Trump on December 29, received backing for a possible new air campaign should Iran continue rebuilding its ballistic missile capabilities.

“Iran may be behaving badly,” Trump said. “It hasn’t been confirmed, but if it’s confirmed, they know the consequences. The consequences will be very powerful—maybe more powerful than the last time.”

The coming days, and possibly weeks, will determine whether Iranians can bring down the clerical system.

The absence of an organized revolutionary structure inside the country may prove decisive. Sustained street protests alone are unlikely to topple the regime without clear strategic objectives, such as seizing political or economic centers of power.

Unlike the 1979 uprising, today’s anti-Islamic Republic movement has no Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini-like figure operating inside Iran.