Protests Turn Deadly in Iran Over Rising Costs

Thu Jan 01 2026 22:48:08 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Clashes between protesters and security forces in Iran have left two people dead amid ongoing protests against inflation and government policies.

Two individuals were killed during protests in Iran that have escalated over five days in response to soaring inflation and currency collapse. The unrest began in Tehran and spread to several cities, with demonstrators calling for significant political change. While some reports attribute the fatalities to clashes with security forces, the situation remains fluid and tense, with authorities declaring a bank holiday to attempt to quell the unrest.

Two people are reported to have been killed during growing unrest in Iran on the fifth day of protests over the soaring cost of living.

Both the semi-official Fars news agency and human rights group, Hengaw, said people had died during clashes between protesters and security forces in the city of Lordegan, in south-western Iran.

On Thursday videos posted on social media showed cars set on fire during running battles between protesters and security forces.

Many protesters have called for ending the rule of the country's supreme leader. Some have also called for a return to the monarchy.

Thursday marks the fifth day of protests in cities across the country, sparked by a currency collapse.

Videos verified by BBC Persian show protests in the central city of Lordegan, the capital Tehran and Marvdasht in the southern Fars province taking place on Thursday.

Fars reported that in Lordegan two people were killed, citing an informed official. The report did not specify whether those killed were protesters or members of the security forces.

Rights group Hengaw said the two killed were protesters, naming them as Ahmad Jalil and Sajjad Valamanesh.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify the deaths.

Separately, state media said a member of the security forces linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) was killed in clashes with protesters on Wednesday night in the city of Kudasht, in the western Lorestan province.

A further 13 police officers and Basij members were injured by stone throwing in the area, according to state media.

Schools, universities and public institutions were closed across the country on Wednesday after a bank holiday was declared by authorities in an apparent effort to quell the unrest.

They began in Tehran - among shopkeepers angered by another sharp fall in the value of the Iranian currency against the US dollar on the open market.

By Tuesday, university students were involved and they had spread to several cities, with people chanting against the country's clerical rulers.

The protests have been the most widespread since an uprising in 2022 sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was accused by morality police of not wearing her veil properly. But they have not been on the same scale.

To prevent any escalation, tight security is now reported in the areas of Tehran where the demonstrations began.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his government will listen to the legitimate demands of the protesters.

But the prosecutor general, Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, warned that any attempt to create instability would be met with a decisive response.