Translated with AI
At least 35 people have been killed and more than 1,200 protesters have been arrested in Iran during nine days of ongoing street protests, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported on Monday, January 5, citing the human rights organization Human Rights Activists in Iran and its media network, HRANA.
According to HRANA, protests, which began in late December amid a sharp decline in the Iranian rial, took place in at least 88 cities across 27 of the country's 31 provinces. It is noted that at a certain point, Iranian security forces began using force against demonstrators, particularly during protests in smaller towns.
These actions, according to human rights activists, sparked a new wave of protests in major cities, including Mashhad and the capital, Tehran. Students from at least 17 higher education institutions across the country joined the demonstrations. In response, student media reports indicate that security forces have begun raiding university campuses.
Human rights activists note that the current protests have become the largest in Iran since 2022, when the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her detention by the so-called "morality police" sparked large-scale demonstrations.
Of the 35 people killed during the protests, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, 29 were protesters, four were children, and two were security forces. Iranian state media previously reported at least one similar incident: the killing of a 21-year-old member of the Basij militia, a unit subordinate to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, during a demonstration in the city of Kuhdasht.
According to media reports, security forces attempted to use lethal force to disperse the protest in Kuhdesht, after which protesters began throwing stones, which could have resulted in the death of a Basij member.
On January 5, a spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran's judiciary stated that no leniency would be shown to those arrested during protests. Meanwhile, according to available data, nearly 2,000 people were executed in Iran in 2025, double the previous year's total.
Mass protests in Iran have been ongoing since December 28. According to AFP, they began in Tehran's main bazaar, where many retailers closed their stores in protest against hyperinflation and sharp price fluctuations. On December 29, the Iranian rial fell to a new record low, with one rial valued at approximately 0.00002 euros. In October, according to the World Bank, food inflation in Iran reached 64.2%, surpassing only South Sudan in this indicator.
