Iran International
Tehran’s response to the protests this week has looked markedly different, whether out of calculation or necessity, with Iranian media reporting on the unrest, the government striking a conciliatory tone and the internet remaining largely accessible.
The protests, triggered by rising prices, quickly moved beyond economic grievances. Slogans once again targeted the ruling system itself, with demonstrators openly calling for its downfall.
In both 2019 and 2022, when similar chants echoed across Iran, authorities moved swiftly to shut down the internet, cutting off communication with the outside world and crippling domestic news coverage. Protesters were rapidly branded as enemy foot soldiers, and state media framed the unrest almost exclusively as a foreign-backed security threat.
This time, the state broadcaster appears to have adopted a more cautious line, quoting hardline outlets on the causes of the protests while limiting its own commentary, perhaps to avoid provoking demonstrators—or to reclaim an audience long lost to social media and foreign-based Persian-language outlets.
‘Right to protest’
State television presenters have repeatedly asserted in recent days that “protesters have every right to protest rising prices.”
That framing mirrors President Massoud Pezeshkian’s recent assertion that “protesters do not need a permit to take to the streets under the Iranian Constitution.”
The statement was always legally correct, but no senior official or major outlet had previously expressed it so plainly.
At a December 31 press conference, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani reiterated that the administration recognizes the public’s right to protest, adding that Pezeshkian has pledged to listen to citizens and resolve their problems.
The new central bank governor, Abdolnasser Hemmati, issued sweeping promises: to control inflation, end privileges for well-connected individuals and address banking irregularities, including unauthorized withdrawals from government accounts.
Hemmati previously held senior economic posts under Presidents Rouhani and Pezeshkian without achieving those goals, but on December 31 he insisted he now has “full authority” and is determined to deliver.
Cities shut down
At the same time, the government has taken steps to sap momentum from the streets.
Beginning December 31, schools and offices in 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces were closed for four days, a move widely seen as an attempt to replace open unrest with a fragile calm—particularly as the closures were announced amid unusually clear weather in the capital, rather than the pollution that has forced similar shutdowns in recent months.
As heavy smog over Tehran briefly lifted after months, some protesters remarked—almost incredulously—that Mount Damavand was visible again on the northeastern horizon, an unintended symbol of dissent long presumed dormant but never extinguished.
Yet an ominous sign looms as well.
Ali Fadavi, the IRGC’s deputy commander, has been replaced by Ahmad Vahidi, a figure known for harsher methods and strict loyalty to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Reports already suggest that shootings at demonstrators and arrests increased on Thursday, the fifth day of unrest.
It remains to be seen whether Tehran sustains its current posture if unrest deepens—or reverts to its familiar factory settings of internet disruption and brute force.
The decree, issued in Vahidi’s former name Vahid Shahcheraghi and read out at a handover ceremony, said the appointment was made following a proposal by the IRGC commander. Senior Guards commanders and military officials attended the event.
Vahidi has been implicated by Argentine prosecutors in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people.
At the time, Vahidi was the head of the Quds Force, the external operations branch of Iran's sprawling paramilitary organization the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Interpol said in a 2009 statement that a red notice for Vahidi was issued in November 2007 at Argentina’s request, adding that a red notice is not an international arrest warrant and that any decision to detain an individual rests with national authorities.
Argentina’s foreign ministry said in April 2024 that it wanted Vahidi arrested in connection with the AMIA case when he traveled abroad as part of an Iranian delegation. Iran has repeatedly rejected allegations of involvement in the attack.
The United States has sanctioned Vahidi for his role in Iran’s suppression of protests, including the use of lethal force by security services during demonstrations sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini.
The Treasury Department said Vahidi oversaw law enforcement agencies involved in serious human rights abuses and had earlier been sanctioned over alleged links to Iran’s nuclear and weapons programs.
Iranian media have described Vahidi as a veteran Guards commander who held senior posts spanning the IRGC’s intelligence and overseas operations and later served in cabinet roles, including as defense minister and interior minister.
