In the first five days of protests and strikes in Iran, at least 119 citizens have been arrested and 7 people have lost their lives; at least 33 people have been reported injured. The protests, which began in Tehran…
During this period, it has spread to at least 32 cities in different provinces of the country and, along with union strikes and street gatherings, has been accompanied by intensified security clashes, the use of weapons, and widespread pressure on protesters.
HRANA, the news agency of the Human Rights Activists in Iran, writes in a detailed report: On the fifth day of protests, protest rallies, and union strikes have been reported in the following cities and locations:
In Tehran, protests and gatherings have been reported in the vicinity of Tarehbar Square. The city, which was the starting point of the protests on the first day with the strike in Tehran Bazaar, has continuously witnessed various forms of protests, strikes, and a large presence of security forces over the past five days in locations including Tehran Bazaar, Lalehzar Street, Valiasr Street, Yaftabad neighborhood, the intersection of Imam Khomeini Street, Jomhouri Street, Ferdowsi Street, Sabunian Street, Shadabad Street, Bani Hashem Street, Molla Sadra Street, Khayyam Street, Fruit and Vegetable Square, Qods City, and Mallard.
In Fars province, on the fifth day, protest gatherings of citizens were recorded in the cities of Marvdasht, Kavar, and Azna. This province has previously witnessed protests in the city of Fasa (opposite the governor’s office), Shiraz, and Noorabad Mamasani in the past few days.
In Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, protests have been reported in two cities. In Lordegan city, protesters gathered between the municipality square and the governor’s office, which was reportedly accompanied by tear gas fired by law enforcement. Protests by citizens have also been recorded in the city of Jonghan.
In Hamedan province, strikes and protests have been reported to continue in the city of Hamedan. The city has been among the active protest hotspots in previous days.
The city of Babol, in Mazandaran Province, was also the scene of popular protests on the fifth day.
In Isfahan province, a business strike and protest gatherings in Isfahan city and demonstrations by protesters in Shahinshahr took place on the fifth day. This is while protests were also reported in other parts of Isfahan during the second to fourth days, such as Naghsh-e Jahan Square, Ahmadabad neighborhood, Yakhchal Street, Foladshahr, and Najafabad.
The data summary shows that the protests have covered several provinces and cities in addition to Tehran for five consecutive days. According to HRANA information, the following cities and regions have also witnessed protests, gatherings, or strikes on the first to fourth days:
Isfahan, Fasa, Kohdasht, Aligudarz, Dorud, Genaveh, Baghmalek, Hamedan, Kermanshah (Nobahar Street), Shiraz, Sabzevar, Zanjan, Qeshm, Yazd, Arak, Noorabad Mamasani, Foladshahr, Najafabad, Shahr-e-Quds, and Mallard. The continuation of the protests on the fifth day indicates the temporal continuity and spatial expansion of these protest movements across the country.
University mergers and student protests
Along with street gatherings and union strikes, universities have also played a role as one of the centers of protest during the past five days of protests. According to recorded information, student movements began at the University of Tehran on the second day of the protests, and on the third day, the scope of these protests expanded to include the University of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti University of Tehran, Khajeh Nasiruddin Toosi University, Sharif University of Technology Tehran, Tehran University of Science and Technology, Tehran Amirkabir University of Technology Tehran, Tehran University of Science and Culture, Isfahan University of Technology, Allameh Tabatabaei University of Tehran, Yazd University, and Zanjan University.
On the fourth day of the protests, reports were published of continued student movements at Isfahan University of Technology and the Shahid Beheshti University dormitory in the Velenjak area. Meanwhile, Isfahan University of Technology has been reported as one of the main centers of student protests. Published videos show that students of this university have gathered, marched, and chanted protest slogans on the university campus. These movements have taken place simultaneously with union strikes and street gatherings in the city of Isfahan.
Although there was no independent report of a new student gathering on the fifth day, available data indicates that the university protests were part of the overall five-day trend of protests and were formed in the context of the same economic and social dissatisfaction. The continued security atmosphere around universities and the sensitivity of law enforcement and security agencies towards these centers have been reported as consistent features of the past few days.
Methods of protest and slogans
According to information gathered by HRANA, the protests continued on their fifth day with a combination of union strikes, protest rallies, and street marches. The strike by merchants and marketers, which began on the first day of the protests in Tehran’s bazaar, spread to other cities in the following days, and continued in some urban centers and local markets on the fifth day. Closing shops, refraining from economic activity, and inviting other guilds to join the strike have been among the main methods of protest during this period.
In addition to union strikes, short-term street rallies and marches have been reported in various parts of the cities. These rallies have often been sporadic and quick-moving, and in many cases, protesters have left the area after chanting slogans before the widespread intervention of security forces. In some cities, rallies have also been held in front of government buildings, including governorates.
According to verified videos and reports over the five days of protests, the slogans raised by the protesters were a mix of livelihood, economic, and political demands. Among the slogans heard on different days, the following can be mentioned:
“Death to the dictator”, “Woman, life, freedom”, “Bazaar of courage, support and support”, “Man, homeland, settlement”, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, we are all together”, “Close the shops; sit down without any pride”, “Business with prejudice, support and support”, “Dishonorable, dishonorable”, “Close, close; close the bazaars, sit down without any pride”, “No headscarf, no headscarf; freedom and equality”, “You are a whore, you are a whore; I am a free woman”, “Basij, Sepahi, you are our ISIS”, “Khamenei is a murderer, his government is invalid”, “This year is the year of the house, Seyyed Ali will be overthrown” and slogans criticizing the economic situation, inflation and the fall in the value of the national currency.
The continuation of these slogans in different cities indicates the overlap of union and political demands in the context of the current protests.
Police-security forces clash and details of violence
Reports from the fifth day of protests indicate a continued and intensified presence of law enforcement and security forces in various parts of the city. In Tehran and a number of provincial centers, the deployment of anti-riot forces, police vehicles, and plainclothes forces has been reported in squares, main streets, and around sensitive urban centers. This widespread presence continues the pattern of the past four days and is aimed at controlling gatherings and preventing the spread of protests.
In some cities, the clashes between the police and security forces and protesters have led to the use of tear gas and crowd control devices. For example, in the city of Lordegan, a gathering of citizens between the municipality square and the governor’s office was met with tear gas shots by the police. Reports indicate that the protesters dispersed after this action and a security atmosphere was created in the area.
In previous days, there had been reports of shooting at protesters, physical confrontations, and pursuit of citizens; including in the city of Fasa, where on the fourth day of protests, police and security forces clashed with protesters in front of the city’s governor’s office, which turned violent. Images released that day showed security forces firing at protesters. Also, in Kermanshah, police and security forces opened fire on protesters in Mossadegh Square and the Dabir Azam neighborhood. According to HRANA’s informed sources, officers in this city fired at protesting citizens using shotguns. In response to these incidents, local authorities denied the use of military weapons and reported the use of plastic or shotgun bullets.
On the fifth day of the protests, security forces reportedly used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters in Nahavand. In Kohdasht, officers also used shotguns to disperse protesters. In addition, in the city of Azna, reports indicate that a group of people gathered in front of the police headquarters; a clash between protesters and officers ensued, resulting in the deaths of three people and the injury of 17 others. Both cold and hot weapons were used in the clash.
Also, over the past five days, there have been reports of citizens being detained by plainclothes forces in public places and markets. In some videos, citizens have reported security forces attempting to detain protesters and have called on the public to prevent this action. In many of these cases, precise information about the time and identity of the arresting forces is not available, but the reported pattern of behavior is consistent with previous security responses.
The sum of this data shows that the police and security forces’ response to the recent five-day protests has gone beyond field control and creating a security environment, and in numerous cases has led to the use of means of repression, physical violence, and restrictions on the freedom of peaceful assembly.
Arrests, deaths, and other security pressures
According to reports compiled by HRANA, the recent five-day protests have been accompanied by a significant increase in citizen arrests, deaths of protesters, injuries, and security pressure in various parts of the country. The information provided in this section is based on documented data and includes the names, numbers, locations, and status of individuals.
Arrests
During the first five days of protests, at least 119 citizens were arrested in 24 incidents across the country’s provinces and cities. This includes both individual and group arrests.
Deaths
During the fifth day of protests, at least 7 citizens have lost their lives, the details of which are as follows:
Amir Hossam Khodayarifard, civilian (Lorestan Province, Kohdasht City (security agencies claim his affiliation with the Basij forces, but local sources have declared him to be among the protesters))
Dariush Ansari Bakhtiarvand, civilian citizen (Isfahan Province, Foladshahr City)
Sajjad Vala Manesh and Ahmad Jalil (Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Lordegan City, between the Municipality Square and the Governor’s Office)
Three citizens with unknown identities (Fars Province, Azna City at the police headquarters)
Reaction of government officials and media
In response to the recent five-day protests, government officials and media outlets close to security institutions have presented narratives consistent with securitizing the protests and reducing them to “riots,” while simultaneously attempting to downplay the dimensions of the repression and its human consequences.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, affiliated with security agencies and the Revolutionary Guard Corps, have called the protesters “rioters” in their reports and claimed that the protests were accompanied by “subversive actions.” The Fars news agency reported that two people were killed in the Lordegan rallies and announced that the protests were accompanied by “stone-throwing by protesters at government buildings” and that the police used tear gas to disperse the crowd. The media outlet also described the situation in the city as “calm.”
Tasnim News Agency also reported the arrest of seven people in Kermanshah, claiming that these individuals “intended to turn the protests into violence” and were “affiliated with hostile and opposition groups abroad,” a claim that was made without providing independent documentation.
At the executive level, Tehran Governor Mohammad Sadeq Motamedi said that the protests were “managed with the cooperation of the authorities” and described the police’s policy as “self-restraint.” He claimed that the clashes occurred only in limited cases and due to “disturbances in public order,” and that the atmosphere in the city had been calmed down.
Meanwhile, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani has called on governors to hold meetings with representatives of guilds and market traders to pave the way for “direct dialogue.” These statements come amid reports of arrests, deaths, and violent confrontations with protesters.
On the other hand, Mohammad Saleh Jokar, head of the Parliament’s Internal Affairs and Councils Commission, announced that following recent events, the parliament’s agenda has placed the “Assemblies and Marches Bill” on review with greater urgency; a bill that had previously been described by critics as a tool to restrict citizens’ right to peaceful assembly.
In the academic sphere, the Vice Chancellor of Education at the University of Tehran announced that classes and exams will be held online until January 8, citing the reasons for this decision as “weather conditions and energy imbalances.” This decision was made in the context of ongoing student protests and the security environment surrounding universities.
Summary and final evaluation of the fifth day
The protests, which began on the first day with a strike by marketers in Tehran, have turned into a widespread movement with union, livelihood, political, and student dimensions on their fifth day. The geographical spread of the protests, the continuation of the strikes, the joining of universities, and the repetition of political slogans indicate the depth of public dissatisfaction with the economic conditions, the collapse of the national currency, and the lack of livelihood prospects.
In contrast, the government’s response has primarily focused on crisis security management, increasing arrests, applying multi-layered pressure, and shaping the media narrative. The record of at least 119 arrests, seven deaths, and dozens of injuries over five days reflects the heavy human cost that protesting citizens have suffered. At the same time, the authorities’ attempts to reduce the protests to “riots” and make unsubstantiated claims about the protesters’ affiliations are in stark contrast to the breadth of demands and social composition of the protests.