Tehran, January 7,2026: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday directed security forces not to crack down on peaceful economic protests, underscoring the need to distinguish between unarmed demonstrators and armed “rioters” amid growing unrest across the country.
The directive comes as several Iranian cities continue to witness protests sparked by economic hardship, rising prices and a sharp collapse of the national currency. Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) claimed on Tuesday that at least 27 protesters have been killed since demonstrations began with a shopkeepers’ strike in Tehran on December 28. Iranian media, citing official sources, have reported 13 deaths, including security personnel and a policeman shot dead earlier this week.
In a video released by Mehr news agency following a cabinet meeting, Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said President Pezeshkian had “ordered that no security measures be taken against the demonstrators.”
“Those who carry firearms, knives and machetes and who attack police stations and military sites are rioters, and we must distinguish protesters from rioters,” Ghaempanah said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Army Chief, General Amir Hatami, issued a stern warning to external actors, saying Tehran would not tolerate foreign threats “without responding.” Speaking to military academy students, Hatami said that if “the enemy makes a mistake,” Iran’s response would be stronger than during the 12-day war with Israel last June, according to the Fars news agency.
The protests have drawn international attention. US President Donald Trump warned that Washington could intervene if demonstrators were killed, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for the protesters. “We stand in solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people and with their aspirations for freedom, liberty and justice,” Netanyahu told his cabinet.
Trump told reporters on Sunday, “We’re watching it very closely. 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.”
The demonstrations, though not as widespread as the mass protests of 2009 or the 2022–2023 movement, have spread to key economic centres, including Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and several towns in western Iran.
On Tuesday, clashes were reported in the Grand Bazaar for the first time since the protests began, with police using tear gas to disperse crowds. According to ISNA news agency, tear gas drifted into the nearby Sina Hospital, prompting concern. The Tehran University of Medical Sciences later said gas had been used in an adjacent alley and denied claims that it was deliberately fired at the hospital.
By Wednesday, calm appeared to have largely returned to parts of the capital. AFP reporters observed normal business activity along Vali Asr Avenue, one of Tehran’s main thoroughfares, as residents resumed daily routines despite the continuing political and economic tensions.
