Sporadic protests in Tehran as clashes reported in Iran’s west

Protests fuelled by economic duress spiral into political ones in some cases as they spread to different cities.Published On 4 Jan 2026Sporadic protests have broken out in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and other cities, according to local media, which also report intensifying clashes in the west of the country.The demonstrations kicked off on December 28 when shopkeepers staged a strike over economic concerns, but a week later, they have spread in size and scope as protesters are also making political demands.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Five things you need to know about protests in Iranlist 2 of 4Iran faces growing protests amid deepening economic crisislist 3 of 4Iran urges UN to respond to Trump’s ‘reckless’ threats over protestslist 4 of 4Democrats slam ‘illegal’ US attack on Venezuela, ‘capture’ of Maduroend of listAl Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi reported from Tehran on Sunday that the ongoing protests have yet to become nationwide in scope.“From time to time and sporadically, we witness protests, such as last night in Tehran, Kazerun and other cities,” Asadi said, adding that 14 people, including security forces, have been killed since the demonstrations started.“There might be further escalations if the government cannot come up with concrete and practical actions.”Protests on Saturday evening in Tehran were described as “limited” by the semiofficial Fars news agency, which said they were “generally made up of groups of 50 to 200 young people”.Tehran’s population is about 10 million.Demonstrations were reported in the district of Tehran Pars in the capital’s east; Ekbatan, Sadeghieh and Sattarkhan in the west; and Naziabad and Abdolabad in the south, Fars said.Riots reported in MalekshahiDemonstrators shouted slogans that included “death to the dictator”, Fars said, adding no major incidents were reported beyond stone throwing and rubbish bins being set alight.The news agency said the situation in Tehran “contrasted with an intensification of violence and organised attacks in other regions, notably the country’s west”.