Widening 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 put Iran’s rial currency into a free fall, now trading at some 1.4 million to $1.

Meanwhile, Iran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance” — a coalition of countries and militant groups backed by Tehran — has been decimated in the years since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.

A threat by U.S. President Donald Trump warning Iran that if Tehran “violently kills peaceful protesters” the U.S. “will come to their rescue,” has taken on new meaning after American troops captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran.

“We’re watching it very closely,” Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One late Sunday. “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.”

Here’s what to know about the protests and the challenges facing Iran’s government.

How widespread the protests are

Demonstrations have reached over 220 locations in 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported early Monday. The death toll had reached at least 20 killed, it added, with more than 990 arrests. The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest.

Understanding the scale of the protests has been difficult. Iranian state media has provided little information about the demonstrations. Online videos offer only brief, shaky glimpses of people in the streets or the sound of gunfire. Journalists in general in Iran also face limits on reporting such as requiring permission to travel around the country, as well as the threat of harassment or arrest by authorities.

But the protests do not appear to be stopping, even after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “rioters must be put in their place.”

Deadly clashes 

The protests have taken place in 23 out of Iran's 31 provinces and affected, to varying degrees, at least 40 different cities, most of them small and medium-sized, according to an AFP tally based on official announcements and media reports.

The Norway-based Hengaw rights group said that Revolutionary Guards opened fire on protesters in the Malekshahi county of the western Ilam province on Saturday, killing four members of Iran's Kurdish minority.

The group said it was checking reports that two other people had been killed, adding dozens more were wounded. It also accused the authorities of raiding the main hospital in the city of Ilam to seize the bodies of the protesters.

The Iran Human Rights NGO, also based in Norway, gave an identical toll of four dead, as well as 30 wounded, after "security forces attacked the protests" in Malekshahi.

It said funerals for the dead took place on Sunday with mourners chanting slogans against the government and Khamenei.

Both organisations posted footage of what appeared to be bloodied corpses on the ground, in videos verified by AFP.

Iranian media said a member of the security forces was killed in a clash with "rioters" who attempted to storm a police office, with "two assailants" killed.

In Tehran, sporadic demonstrations on Saturday night were reported in districts in the east, west and south, the Fars news agency said.

Hundreds detained 

On Sunday, the vast majority of shops were open in the capital, although the streets appeared less crowded than usual, with riot police and security forces deployed at major intersections, AFP observed. 

Images verified by AFP showed Iranian security forces using tear gas to disperse a group of protesters who gathered in central Tehran during the day on Sunday.

HRANA said that over the last week at least 582 people have been arrested. 

Hengaw said almost all of those killed were from ethnic minorities, chiefly Kurds and Lors.

Abroad, several hundred people took part in two separate rallies in Paris on Sunday to support the protesters, following similar actions in London a day earlier, AFP correspondents said.

Why the demonstrations started

The collapse of the rial has led to a widening economic crisis in Iran. Prices are up on meat, rice and other staples of the Iranian dinner table. The nation has been struggling with an annual inflation rate of some 40%.

In December, Iran introduced a new pricing tier for its nationally subsidized gasoline, raising the price of some of the world’s cheapest gas and further pressuring the population. Tehran may seek steeper price increases in the future, as the government now will review prices every three months.

The protests began first with merchants in Tehran before spreading. While initially focused on economic issues, the demonstrations soon saw protesters chanting anti-government statements as well. Anger has been simmering over the years, particularly after the 2022 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody that triggered nationwide demonstrations.

Iran’s alliances are weakened

Iran’s “Axis of Resistance,” which grew in prominence in the years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq, is reeling.

Israel has crushed Hamas in the devastating war in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group in Lebanon, has seen its top leadership killed by Israel and has been struggling since. A lightning offensive in December 2024 overthrew Iran’s longtime stalwart ally and client in Syria, President Bashar Assad, after years of war there. Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels also have been pounded by Israeli and U.S. airstrikes.