Videos from the city of Izeh in Khuzestan province showed nighttime protest gatherings in the southwestern city on Tuesday, with eyewitnesses reporting gunshots and use of violence against protesters.
Protest gatherings were also held in the city of Hamadan on Tuesday night, with protesters chanting pro-monarchy slogans like "Long Live the King" and "Reza Shah may God bless your soul", videos obtained by Iran International show.

Iran’s foreign minister appealed directly to Donald Trump in a Guardian op-ed on Tuesday, urging him to reopen negotiations with Tehran, reconsider Washington’s alignment with Israel and acknowledge what he described as Iran’s invincibility.
“For those willing to go where no one has gone before, there is a brief window of opportunity,” Abbas Araghchi wrote.
The op-ed appeared just a day after Trump met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, where the two discussed Israel’s proposals for potential new strikes on Iran alongside the Gaza peace plan.
Standing beside Netanyahu, Trump warned that renewed Iranian missile expansion or nuclear advances would trigger a US response.
"We’ll knock the hell out of them," said Trump. “Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down."
In June, Israel and the US carried out coordinated strikes on Iran that severely damaged several key nuclear facilities. Iran retaliated with missile attacks on a US base in Qatar and on Israeli targets. After 12 days of escalation, a ceasefire was reached under US pressure.
Israeli officials say Iran is quietly rebuilding systems damaged during the conflict.
Trump on Monday expressed his support for possible Israeli attacks on Iran if Tehran continues to develop its ballistic missile program.
Israel shaped US policy through 'myths'
Araghchi argued that what he called a “manufactured crisis” over Iran’s nuclear program has long been driven by Israeli narratives, misleading Washington into abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal and adopting a “maximum pressure” strategy that produced only resistance, according to the foreign minister.
“Those myths encouraged Washington to abandon a functional diplomatic framework in favor of ‘maximum pressure’ that only produced ‘maximum resistance’,” he wrote.
He also pointed to what he described as shifting opinion among Trump supporters, saying Israel is increasingly seen as a liability rather than an ally.
“A growing number of Americans – particularly those who want a focus on rebuilding the US – are publicly acknowledging what has been taboo: that uncritical acceptance of Israel’s narratives has drained American resources, undermined American credibility, and entangled the US in conflicts that do not serve American interests,” Araghchi wrote.
Araghchi also said recent conflicts across Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Yemen and Qatar have led regional governments to view Israel’s actions as “a threat to us all,” opening space for new diplomatic alignments.
Iran open to negotiations
Araghchi said “mutual friends of Iran and the US” are prepared to help facilitate talks and guarantee implementation of any future agreement, without naming those mediators.
Iran, Araghchi insisted, remains open to negotiations but not to surrender.
“Despite Israel’s attack on diplomacy amid Iran-US nuclear negotiations, Iran remains open to an agreement that is built on mutual respect and mutual interest,” he wrote, warning that Iran’s restraint should not be mistaken for weakness.
Araghchi reiterated that Iran will not give up what it regards as its rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including domestic enrichment for civilian use, and said any future deal must include “tangible and verifiable sanctions lifting.”
The appeal comes as Iran faces severe economic strain and a third straight day of nationwide protests. Bazaar merchants have launched strikes and university students are joining street demonstrations across multiple cities.
The unrest, driven by the plunging rial and surging prices, is widening in scope against the leadership and some analysts warn it could threaten the Islamic Republic itself.
Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi on Tuesday urged Iranians from all walks of life to join ongoing protests and expand strikes which started on Sunday in protest at economic instability and soaring prices.
"Your presence in the streets across Iran has kindled the flame of a national revolution. The continuation and expansion of your presence, and taking control of the streets, is today our foremost, vital priority," the prince said in a post on his X account.
"I call upon the people of Iran to join in with the nationwide strikes and protests: government employees, workers in the energy and transportation sectors, truck drivers, nurses, teachers and academics, artisans and entrepreneurs, retirees and those who have lost their savings—everyone, unite and join this national movement."
"Iran and its streets belong to the Iranian nation. And we will be victorious, because we are united and we are many."
Three days after merchants ignited strikes across Iran, the country’s bazaar is now openly defying the Islamic Republic, marking a historic break between conservative traders and a state accused of sacrificing livelihoods to missiles and security spending.
Historically, in Iran, religious institutions and conservative merchants—the Bazaaris—were inseparable allies. It was the Bazaaris who bankrolled the anti-state revolution of 1979, famously chartering the plane that carried Ayatollah Khomeini back to Tehran.
Yet, 46 years later, the Islamic Republic has managed to alienate its oldest and most critical constituency. For the Iranian merchant today, that alliance is dead, and commerce has become a losing game.


Three days after merchants ignited strikes across Iran, the country’s bazaar is now openly defying the Islamic Republic, marking a historic break between conservative traders and a state accused of sacrificing livelihoods to missiles and security spending.
Historically, in Iran, religious institutions and conservative merchants—the Bazaaris—were inseparable allies. It was the Bazaaris who bankrolled the anti-state revolution of 1979, famously chartering the plane that carried Ayatollah Khomeini back to Tehran.
Yet, 46 years later, the Islamic Republic has managed to alienate its oldest and most critical constituency. For the Iranian merchant today, that alliance is dead, and commerce has become a losing game.
Despite having no hand in inflation, merchants are often blamed as price gougers. If they reject state-mandated pricing, they are accused of hoarding and tampering with the market; if they comply, they may not be able to afford to restock their inventory, selling their way into bankruptcy.
Simultaneously, the centralized allocation of foreign currency for imports drags on for months, while exporters are forced to sell their hard-earned foreign currency at losses due to state pressure.
The atmosphere grew more volatile last week with the announcement of a new gasoline pricing policy, which exacerbated existing anxieties about the economy.
The release of the next year’s budget was the last straw. With oil revenues projected to cover a mere 5% of administrative costs, the government wants the public to foot the bill through deficit spending and significant tax increases.
The trade-off is stark: while every subsidy has been stripped from the ledger, the budget for security and defense has increased. By prioritizing the military and security over public welfare, the state has effectively transferred the entire burden onto the people’s dinner tables.
The market is rejecting this pressure. Merchants argue that they are being suffocated to fund the state's regional ambitions. Facing chronic 60% inflation and the weight of sanctions, business owners can no longer survive, let alone profit.
The message from the bazaar is clear: the economy cannot sustain the vows to rebuild the missile arsenal.
The state’s response to the protests has been predictable: a photo-op meeting with a handpicked group of supportive businessmen and the scapegoating of the Central Bank Governor.
The dismissal of Mohammad-Reza Farzin had been on the table for months, held in reserve as a sacrificial offering. Now, with protests spreading throughout the country, the administration offers his firing as a promise of change.
But the Iranian people see through this theater. They know the Central Bank Governor is not an independent policymaker, but a mere functionary. Replacing him with Abdolnaser Hemmati—a recycled official previously fired from the same post over rial's devaluation—signals continuity, not reform.
Public slogans reveal that the bazaar and the street are now speaking with one voice. The grievances have moved beyond daily economics; they challenge the specific governing priorities that drive this decline. The public understands that their economic distress is not an accident of mismanagement, but the calculated cost of the state's strategic choices.
This leaves the Islamic Republic with a binary choice: abandon regional ambitions and missile proliferation to return to the negotiating table, or double down on repression.
As evidenced by the direct fire opened on protesters yesterday, the regime has chosen the path of force. The market’s message is unmistakable: the people want fundamental change. The government’s answer is not reform, but bullets.
Former US Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that the collapse of oppressive governments is inevitable and that Iran will follow the path of the Soviet Union.
“No oppressive regime can last forever. Inside every human heart is an unquenchable fire that burns to be free. Just as the Soviet Union collapsed under the weight of its own sins, so too will be the fate of the oppressors of Iran,” Pence wrote on X. “May 2026 be the year that sees the dawn of a Free and Democratic Iran.”





