‘I’m spending my savings just to survive’: Iran’s economic crisis fuels new protests

Every week, the regime hands down severe sentences to arrested protesters, including death sentences. It also relentlessly arrests journalists, artists, activists and athletes for the slightest public expression of anti-regime views or for failing to observe restrictive Sharia rules on social media. Over the past eight months, the Islamic regime in Tehran has executed at least 54 prisoners for political reasons, including 31 protesters who took part in the mass anti-regime protests in January, according to the Iran Human Rights Group based in Norway. But many Iranians continue to protest despite the risks. Retirees protest in Shush, in southwestern Iran, on August 9, 2026 chanting: ‘We don’t want war. We want life.’ To display this content from Telegram, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. On September 9, the syndicate of university professors in Iran said in an open letter that if the government failed to fulfil its economic promises and raise professors’ salaries, they would not attend classes in the new academic year, which begins on September 23. Nurses protest in Neyshabur on August 11, 2026, over months of unpaid salaries. To display this content ...