Iran Uprising Enters Second Week: Death Toll Hits 10 as Khamenei Threatens Crackdown, Trump Warns of Intervention

The streets of Iran are on fire again. And this time, with Maduro’s capture making headlines, the question everyones asking is: Could Iran be next?

At least 10 people are now confirmed dead as economic protests that began Sunday, December 29th have spread from Tehran’s bazaars to rural provinces across the country. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei broke his silence Saturday with words that sent chills down the spines of anyone who remembers the brutal crackdowns of 2022: “Rioters must be put in their place.”

The 86-year-old cleric was careful to distinguish between “protesters” – who he says officials should talk to – and “rioters.” But anyone whos watched Iran over the past decades knows what that distinction really means. The Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force is about to get the green light.

Economic Desperation Sparks Unrest

This started the way these things usually start – with money. Or the lack of it. The Iranian rial has plunged to historic lows, with the exchange rate hitting roughly 1.4 million rials to one US dollar. Thats not a typo. One point four million.

Shopkeepers and bazaar merchants closed their doors Sunday in protest. By Monday, students had joined. By midweek, the demonstrations had spread to cities most Americans have never heard of – Lordegan, Azna, Kouhdasht – places where the government’s grip has always been tenuous.

Three people were killed in Lordegan, in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. Three more in Azna when protesters stormed a police station – 17 injured in that attack alone. One killed in Kouhdasht. A 21-year-old Revolutionary Guard Basij volunteer also died, though the circumstances remain unclear.

Videos circulating online show fires in streets, gunfire echoing off buildings, and crowds chanting “Death to Khamenei” – even in Qom, the holy city where such words were once unthinkable.

Trump Enters the Chat

On Friday, Trump posted what can only be described as a direct threat on Truth Social: “If Iran shots (sic) and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”

Yes, he misspelled “shoots.” That didnt make the message any less clear.

The Iranian response was immediate and furious. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf warned that Trump’s statement makes “all American bases and forces across the region legitimate targets.” Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to Khamenei, declared: “Every hand of intervention that approaches Iranian security… will be cut off with a regrettable response.”

Coming hours before the Venezuela strike, these weren’t empty words. Tehran is watching what just happened to Maduro and wondering if theyre next on the list.

The Biggest Since 2022

These are the largest protests Iran has seen since Mahsa Amini died in police custody in September 2022. That uprising lasted months and saw more than 500 people killed, over 22,000 detained. The regime survived, but barely.

The difference now? Iran’s economy is in even worse shape. The June 2025 war with Israel – and US strikes on nuclear facilities – devastated what little economic stability remained. The government announced it would stop enriching uranium, a signal that theyre desperate enough to negotiate. But talks haven’t materialized as Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu keep ratcheting up the pressure.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, the reformist who won last year’s election, has tried signaling willingness to negotiate with protesters. But he’s admitted publicly theres not much he can do. The real power in Iran isn’t the president – its Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guard.

Cities Burning

The protests have now reached over 100 locations in 22 of Iran’s 31 provinces, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency. That geographic spread is significant. This isnt just Tehran liberals venting. This is rural, conservative Iran saying enough.

Government buildings have been attacked – governor’s offices, judiciary buildings, banks, even a Friday prayer complex. In multiple cities, crowds threw stones at anything representing state authority. Security forces responded with tear gas and gunfire.

Iran declared Wednesday a public holiday, citing “cold weather.” Nobody believes that. They wanted the streets of Tehran empty. The government knows what happens when crowds gather in the capital.

The Regime’s Playbook

If history is any guide, we know what comes next. The Revolutionary Guard will flood the streets. Internet access will be throttled or cut entirely. Journalists will be arrested. Anyone with a phone camera becomes a target.

In 2019, when fuel price protests erupted, over 300 people were reportedly killed in the crackdown. The world barely noticed.

But this time feels different. The economic pain is deeper. The regime is weaker. And now there’s a US president who just proved he’s willing to send special forces to drag a Latin American dictator out of his bedroom.

Khamenei also said Saturday that America “must and will leave” the Middle East. “With the determination of the region’s nations, America must and will leave this region.”

Whether thats bravado or delusion, only time will tell.

What to Watch

The funerals of those killed in the protests are already becoming flashpoints. Videos show mourners chasing off security forces who tried to attend the burial of 21-year-old Amirhessam Khodayari in Kouhdasht. Funerals in Iran have a way of becoming protests, which become crackdowns, which create more funerals. CNN has been tracking the death toll as it rises.

The US State Department put it bluntly: “First the bazaars. Then the students. Now the whole country.” The situation echoes how the US and allies have been tightening financial pressure on Russia – economic warfare that eventually boils over into something else.

Im not gonna predict where this ends. Ive seen too many Iranian uprisings crushed by the Guard’s boots. But Ive also seen regimes that looked invincible collapse overnight. The Shah. Ceaușescu. And now, maybe, Maduro. Al Jazeera has Khamenei’s full remarks, and PBS News is covering the international response.

Khamenei is 86 years old. The regime has no clear succession plan. And the people – at least some of them – have stopped being afraid.