Iran shuts down amid nationwide protests

Iran has experienced a government-ordered shutdown affecting businesses, universities, and offices across 21 of its 31 provinces, including Tehran, amid escalating nationwide protests. These demonstrations, now in their fourth day as of late December 2025, stem from economic turmoil like soaring inflation, currency devaluation, and declining living standards.​

Protests have erupted in cities such as Tehran, Shiraz, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Hamadan, and Fasa, with bazaar merchants leading strikes and nighttime crowds chanting anti-regime slogans like “Death to Khamenei.” Clashes involve security forces using gunfire and tear gas, while demonstrators hurl objects and storm government buildings, prompting military helicopter flyovers.​

President Masoud Pezeshkian imposed the one-day shutdown to curb unrest, alongside leadership changes like appointing a new central bank head and an IRGC deputy commander. Opposition groups like the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran share videos of the violence online.