Seeds of Revolt: Iran’s Economic Collapse and Inflation

Image by Ollie Barker-Jones.

The recent protests in Iran began on 28 December 2025, mainly in Tehran, when shopkeepers and bazaar merchants started closing their businesses and marching in the streets. The immediate trigger was the sharp fall of Iran’s currency (the rial) to historic lows and rapidly rising inflation, which made basic goods increasingly unaffordable for large sections of the population. Although they are no longer headline news in the Western press and media, protests have...