Anti-Iran Regime Protests Grow Across Country

Anti-Iran regime protests grow across country as Trump admin boosts demonstrators offering support

Efrat Lachter

Protests spread across Iran on Tuesday after President Donald Trump and other administration officials voiced support for demonstrators. Speaking Monday, Trump pointed to Iran’s economic collapse and long-standing public discontent while stopping short of calling for regime change.

Inside Iran, demonstrations entered a third consecutive day, expanding beyond the capital’s commercial center. The exiled opposition coalition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported widespread strikes and student protests across Tehran and multiple provincial cities, describing clashes with security forces and anti-government chants. A video obtained by the NCRI appears to show protesters pushing back security forces, forcing them to leave the scene on Tehran’s Jomhouri Street. 

Iran International reported that universities emerged as major protest hubs, with rallies at Tehran University, Sharif University of Technology, Shahid Beheshti University, Elm-o-Sanat University and Khajeh Nasir University. Security forces tightened entry controls at campuses and reinforced offices linked to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Strikes spread across Tehran’s Shoush and Molavi districts and into Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square, while parts of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and the gold market shut down. Mobile phone traders gathered outside major shopping centers after closing their stores. Protests turned violent in several locations, with tear gas fired in Tehran and Malard and reports of live fire in Hamadan. Nighttime demonstrations were reported from Qeshm Island in the south to Zanjan and Hamadan in the north, with videos showing chants of "death to the dictator."

Speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, Trump said he was "not going to talk about overthrow of a regime." Instead, he focused on Iran’s deteriorating economy and the state’s violent response to protests. "They’ve got tremendous inflation. Their economy is busted, the economy is no good," Trump said. 

"Every time they have a riot or somebody forms a group, little or big, they start shooting people," Trump said. "You know, they kill people. All of a sudden people start getting shot and that group disbanded pretty quickly."

Trump said he has watched the unrest build for years, describing Iran’s leadership as brutal.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz issued a direct message of support. "The people of Iran want freedom," Waltz wrote on X. "We stand with Iranians in the streets of Tehran and across the country as they protest a radical regime that has brought them nothing but economic downturn and war." 

A parallel statement from the U.S. government’s Persian-language account, @USAbehFarsi, said Washington supports the Iranian people’s efforts "to make their voices heard," urging the Islamic Republic to respect fundamental rights rather than suppress protests.

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