Tehran bazaar revolt enters third day as regime admits organised resistance
As Iran enters the third day of a rapidly spreading revolt on 30 December, protests that began in Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar have turned into a nationwide challenge to the ruling theocracy
- Fars' admission of a political challenge
- PMOI and Maryam Rajavi mentioned by the regime
- Protests at universities and student residences
- University closure and economic collapse of the rial
- Security deployment and evolution of the uprising
What initially erupted as a strike by merchants protesting the collapse of the currency and unbearable inflation has quickly turned into an open political challenge, with chants demanding the overthrow of the regime echoing in central Tehran and spreading to multiple cities across the country. The participation of bazaar merchants, students, workers, and retirees is not a sign of a passing disturbance, but of a deep and structural rupture between society and the state.
It is crucial to note that one of the most revealing acknowledgements of the political and organised nature of this uprising has come not from opposition sources, but from the regime itself. In a report published on 29 December, the Fars news agency, directly affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), admitted that the protests in central Tehran were not limited to economic grievances.
According to Fars, witnesses reported that among a crowd of about 200 people there were organised cells of between five and ten individuals chanting slogans that went beyond professional or commercial demands.
Fars' admission of a political challenge
This admission is surprising. For decades, the regime's media has tried to portray the unrest as spontaneous, leaderless, or driven by vague ‘foreign conspiracies.’ However, in this case, the IRGC's own media outlet acknowledges a structured and determined presence at the demonstrations.
What Fars describes as ‘small cells’ pushing the protests in a radical political direction accurately reflects the operating pattern of the PMOI's Resistance Units, which rely on the decentralised mobilisation of small groups to sustain and politicise popular unrest.
PMOI and Maryam Rajavi mentioned by the regime
Even more revealing is that Fars goes further by explicitly naming Maryam Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran. The agency notes that, simultaneously with the protests in the bazaars, Rajavi called for ‘the formation of a chain of protests,’ citing intelligence sources who described this as an attempt to transform economic criticism into political instability.
In doing so, the regime's own media confirms that it considers the PMOI and its network of resistance to be the main catalyst and strategic driver of the uprising to transform economic discontent into a mobilisation against the regime.
Protests at universities and student residences
The unrest has now decisively spread beyond the bazaar. In the last 48 hours, protests have spread to major universities and student residences in Tehran, including Tehran University, long considered a political benchmark. Students chanted slogans such as ‘Students would rather die than be humiliated’ and ‘Fear us, fear us, we are all together,’ prompting security forces to close the halls and surround the campuses to prevent the public from joining them.
The spread to universities represents a dangerous escalation for the regime, reminiscent of previous uprisings in which student participation played a decisive role.
University closure and economic collapse of the rial
In response, the authorities have opted for a preventive rather than openly violent tactic. The regime has announced the closure of universities from Wednesday, effectively extending the closure over the weekend holidays. This measure appears designed to break the momentum of protests on campuses and prevent further coordination between students and striking merchants, rather than to restore normality. This is a common manoeuvre: administrative closures used as political firewalls.
The overall context remains one of severe and accelerating economic collapse. The Iranian rial has fallen to historic lows, with the US dollar exceeding 140,000 tomans, making normal commercial activity impossible. Much of Tehran's commercial infrastructure, including the Alaeddin and Charsou complexes, Lalehzar Street, the gold and electronics markets, and the arteries of the Grand Bazaar, remain closed. Similar strikes and demonstrations have been reported in Mashhad, Karaj, Kermanshah, Hamedan, Malard, and Qeshm, highlighting the nationwide scope of the unrest.
Security deployment and evolution of the uprising
It is noteworthy that, so far, the regime has avoided mass killings. Security forces have been deployed widely, but with calculated restraint. The apparent goal is to suppress the protests without causing fatalities that could quickly radicalise public anger and draw in broader segments of society. This tactical caution reflects the regime's concern that excessive violence at this stage could accelerate rather than contain the uprising.
As the bazaar and universities become centres of resistance, Iran appears to be entering a phase in which organised opposition and popular anger are increasingly aligned, posing a sustained challenge to the foundations of the clerical regime.