Iran Sees Unprecedented Protests as Millions Answer Pahlavi’s Call

Iran witnessed its largest wave of anti-government protests in forty-seven years on January 8, 2026, as millions of people heeded the call of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and poured into the streets of dozens of cities and towns. Iranians on social media said the scenes looked like something out of a Hollywood movie, with massive crowds overwhelming the few dozen or few hundred security forces deployed in various locations to block them. Many wrote that they never imagined they would live to see crowds of this size.

One of the largest gatherings took place in the Shi’ite holy city of Mashhad, where some estimates put the crowd close to one million people. Mashhad is the birthplace of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and traditionally has been considered a conservative stronghold. The city is currently dominated by one of the most hardline clerics, Ahmad Alamolhoda, making the scale of the protest there particularly striking.

By contrast, protesters during the 2022 unrest were largely very young, and crowd sizes were relatively smaller, which emboldened well-trained security units tasked primarily with crowd control. This time, however, demonstrators represented a broad cross-section of society, including residents of affluent neighborhoods in Tehran.

Although security forces largely retreated when confronted with overwhelming numbers, in some locations they opened fire. Social media reports spoke of dozens killed in a neighborhood of Karaj, a city about 20 miles west of Tehran. The following morning, reports indicated that security forces fired on protesters at one location in Mashhad. Despite this, there were no reports of crowds dispersing. In many areas, demonstrations continued well past midnight.

Violent confrontations occurred in several locations, particularly where security forces attempted to confront demonstrators. Protesters responded by throwing stones, bricks, and in some cases Molotov cocktails. In areas where police and Basij forces withdrew, protesters set fire to their vehicles. Videos circulated showing government buildings ablaze and several police stations overrun. In one video, a car drove at high speed into a column of anti-riot police crossing an intersection, leaving several officers lying on the ground. Social media posts from Isfahan reported that protesters set fire to the state television building in the city.

Protesters were also seen dismantling surveillance cameras installed across cities in recent years to identify demonstrators. Prosecutors and security officials had warned that protesters would be tracked and prosecuted. While many demonstrators wore masks and hats, others focused on disabling or destroying the cameras altogether.

President Donald Trump again voiced support for the Iranian people and repeated a warning to Tehran not to harm protesters. He introduced a caveat, distinguishing between deaths resulting from crowd control and what he described as intentional killings—a distinction that is difficult to sustain. Iranian security forces routinely fire directly at demonstrators to disperse them, which constitutes deliberate and targeted violence. Trump also referred to deaths caused by crowd trampling, a phenomenon for which there have been no confirmed reports in Iran.

A Fox News correspondent reported that there has been “no change to U.S. military posture in the Middle East in response to Tehran protests,” adding that U.S. Central Command is closely monitoring the growing unrest.

Other reports claimed that Khamenei had already sought asylum from Russian President Vladimir Putin. On January 9, the 86-year-old leader delivered another speech denouncing protesters as “saboteurs” and “foreign mercenaries,” reaffirming his insistence on continued repression and asserting that Trump, too, would fall.

He portrayed demonstrators as aligned with Trump, dismissing them as “a handful of inexperienced, careless people” who accept the U.S. president’s words, “act according to his wishes,” and “set garbage bins on fire to please him.”

Russian transport aircraft were observed landing in Tehran in recent days, with sources claiming they were carrying Iran’s gold reserves to Russia.

Many Iranians posting online say the Islamic Republic is nearing exhaustion. Calls are growing for greater coordination among protesters, including organized efforts to seize key government buildings. Many expect mass demonstrations to continue on the evening of January 9, in line with Pahlavi’s call for two consecutive nights of nationwide protests.