Iran sees record surge in protests amid deepening economic and legitimacy crisis
Iran recorded over 4,200 protest incidents between March 2025 and March 2026, highlighting expanding unrest across many social groups.
Official records for the Iranian calendar year 1405 (March 20, 2025 - March 20, 2026) list 4,229 protest events, an increase of 327 compared with the prior period. The unrest spanned a broad cross-section of society, including workers, retirees, truck drivers, bakers, university students, farmers, teachers, and medical staff. Between Dec. 22, 2025 and Jan. 20, 2026, 1,839 protests were logged, with 1,767 classified as part of a nationwide uprising, marking a shift from isolated grievances to a coordinated challenge.
Economic strain is evident: bread prices rose by almost 97%, while chicken, cooking oil and fuel costs also climbed, and the minimum wage’s 60% rise failed to keep pace with 87.9% inflation. Poverty estimates place many families well below the cost of basic living expenses. The regime responded with heightened security measures, deploying police and Basij forces, increasing checkpoints and securitizing public spaces to deter further mobilization. Organized opposition groups, such as the Mujahedin-e-Khalq-affiliated Resistance Units, continue to operate despite severe repression, underscoring the regime’s waning legitimacy.
Why it matters
The scale and breadth of Iran's protests reveal a deepening crisis that could destabilize the country's political and economic order.
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