The protests in Iran are the largest in years to challenge the regime. Here

Iran has faced intense nationwide protests for nearly two weeks, marking the biggest challenge to the country’s ruling regime in years, and prompting President Trump’s pledge to intervene on behalf of protesters if they face a violent crackdown.

Initially caused by IranDue to the free fall of the economy and severe inflation, protests have spilled over and around 180 cities are facing demonstrations. A monitoring group has reported thousands of arrests and dozens of deaths since the protests began.

Here’s what you need to know:

How the protests in Iran began and what they have become

The current wave of protests began in the capital, Tehran, in late December, when merchants went on strike and marched into the streets. Small business owners in Iran have long been seen as supporters of the regime, but anger over spiraling inflation and the devaluation of the country’s currency, which lost more than 40% of its value last year, making everyday goods unaffordable for many people, sparked the demonstrations.

The protests spread quickly, with people joining marches across the country to denounce not only economic problems, but also to express broader discontent with the country’s hardline regime.

As of Friday, protests were reported in at least 180 cities across the country’s 31 provinces, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, or HRANA, a U.S.-based monitoring group founded by anti-regime activists.

Demonstrations have also been reported on dozens of university campuses since late December, and strikes and market closures were reported in more than a dozen cities, HRANA said.

Videos posted on social media virtually every night have shown Crowds of protesters marched through the streets of several Iranian cities.singing anti-government slogans and, in some cases, clashes with the country’s security forces.

How Iranian authorities have responded

According to HRANA, more than 2,300 people have reportedly been detained since the wave of protests began, including at least 167 minors under the age of 18. Some 65 people have died, the group said, including 50 protesters, at least seven minors under the age of 18 and 14 members of the security services.

The semi-official Fars news agency of the Islamic Republic claimed on monday that some 250 police officers and 45 members of the feared Basij security forces had been injured amid the unrest.

Iranian authorities They cut off phone service and internet access on Thursday. night across the country, according to internet monitoring organization NetBlocks, which said a “nationwide internet blackout” continued on Friday.

“Even Starlink, which has been the main line of communication for some activists in different parts of the country, has been blocked,” Maziar Bahari, editor of the independent news site IranWire, told News themezone on Friday, referring to the satellite communication system run by Elon Musk.

News themezone sought comment from SpaceX, which manages Starlink, but did not get any immediate response.

Trump warns that he will hit Iran “very hard” if it kills protesters

Mr. Trump has threatened On several occasions since the protests began, he has said he could order US intervention if Iranian authorities kill protesters.

Speaking at the White House on January 9, Trump reiterated that he was open to some type of US action, although he said that would not involve a US incursion.

“I have made a very strong statement that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved,” Trump said. “We’re going to hit them very hard where it hurts the most. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts the most. So we don’t want that to happen.”

In a Jan. 2 post on Truth Social, he said: “If Iran [shoots] and violently kills peaceful protesters, as is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue.”

“We’re locked, loaded and ready to go,” the president said.

Speaking on News on January 8, Trump said the United States was “ready” to hit Iran hard if protesters were killed, but added that “for the most part, they haven’t been.”

The president’s comments came a little more than six months after ordered airstrikes against three Iranian nuclear facilitiesin the middle of a deadly conflict lasting several days between Iran and Israel.

The unrest in Iran also comes as Mr Trump takes a more aggressive stance on the world stage.

US forces captured former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a night military operation in Caracas on January 3, and Trump has suggested that he is open to military action in Colombia to combat drug trafficking and even take control of Greenland.

Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute who studies Iran, told News themezone last week that Trump’s gestures of support could embolden Iranian protesters, saying his comments may be “the only ingredient needed to keep… the street movement alive.”

IranWire’s Bahari said Iranian officials had told him they were concerned about the possibility of Trump intervening in Iran even before the protests began.

The recent US attack on Venezuela “has really scared many Iranian officials and may have affected their actions in terms of how to confront protesters. But at the same time, it has inspired many protesters to come out, because they know that the leader of the world’s leading superpower is supporting their cause.”

Iranian leaders acknowledge problems, but blame US

In a speech on state television broadcast on Friday after an intense night of protests, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed that his regime “will not back down,” called for unity and accused “a group of vandals” in Tehran of causing chaos in the capital “to please the American president.”

In some cases, Iranian officials have attempted to adopt a conciliatory tone, acknowledging the economic concerns and insist that people have the right to protest peacefully. State media reported that President Masoud Pezeshkian had directed security forces not repress peaceful protesters.

The government has also offered some relief in the form of $7 a month stipends that can be used at grocery stores to purchase essential items.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned Trump’s threats of American intervention, accusing the United States of “inciting violence and terrorism.”

Commander of the Iranian Army, Major General Amir Hatami threatened on Wednesday “cut off the hand of any aggressor.”

Iran’s history of mass protests

Protests (and severe repressive measures) are a recurring theme in Iran.

The last major round of protests occurred in 2022, spurred by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, arrested by theocratic government forces for allegedly improperly wearing the veil. Hundreds of people were delicate throughout months of demonstrations.

Other protest movements arrived. 2019 and 2017and Iran was beset by a large-scale uprising in 2009 about the country’s disputed presidential elections.

“From what we saw on social media channels and also from conversations with different people in Iran, the number of protesters in different parts of the country is not as high as in 2022, but there are more protests; the protests are more widespread in different parts of the country,” Bahari told News themezone. “So even in some smaller towns where there’s never been a protest, you see protests these days, and I think people are more desperate than before.”

The current protests look different compared to previous rounds (and could be harder for the regime to quell by offering concessions) because of their roots in the country’s economic problems, according to Mona Yacoubian, director and senior advisor of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

He noted that in 2022, the regime was able to appease protesters “simply by addressing their grievances about women’s headscarves and so on.”

But now protesters are more focused on economic problems and “there’s really nothing [the regime] “we can do” to get Iran’s moribund economy back on track, he said.

“These protests are about the economic situation, but also about dignity,” Bahari told News themezone. “This is about national pride. And so this protest will be very, very difficult to contain.”

Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi applauds protests

Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, whose father, the former shah, fled just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought the current clerical regime to power, has applauded the protests from exile, urging demonstrators this week to keep the movement “disciplined” and “as large as possible.”

The crown prince called on Iranians to sing together against the country’s leadership at 8 p.m. local time, or 12 p.m. Eastern time, on Thursday and Friday, and many appeared to respond to his call.

Pahlavi’s call to action “could be a turning point” in the protest movement, Yacoubian told News themezone on Thursday.

“This is a regime that is not afraid to use lethal force,” Yacoubian said. “But the question is to what extent, if they are overwhelmed, if the protests become overwhelmingly large and if there are elements in the security forces, the police, etc., at the local level, who are suffering the effects of this economic crisis and who decide not to shoot people – these are the types of questions that I think we need to keep an eye on.”