For the past two weeks, Iran has been in the grip of protests challenging the country’s authoritarian clerical rulers. The uprising began as relatively modest demonstrations over economic woes, but when those grew into a mass movement, the government started a deadly crackdown.
Amid surging unrest, the Iranian authorities imposed a near-total communications shutdown, taking the country almost completely offline. With the amount of information coming out of the country significantly diminished, verification of the sparse video material from Iran has become critical to understanding what is happening there.
Here is what the visual evidence tells about how the greatest threat to the Iranian regime in decades has unfolded.
The Spark: A Crashing Currency
On Dec. 28, the Iranian rial plunged to a record low against the U.S. dollar, unleashing a wave of anger. Within hours, shopkeepers in Tehran’s bazaars — the historic heart of Iran’s economy — organized a strike and took to the streets.
Social media videos verified by The New York Times show shopkeepers and merchants chanting in Charsou Mall and marching out onto the street.
Protests continued over the next few days in Tehran and other cities, and the shopkeepers and merchants were joined by students on university campuses and impoverished Iranians angered by the deepening economic crisis.
Witness footage shows the authorities trying to disperse these early protesters with tear gas.
Dissent Widens
Over the next week, the demonstrations spread from markets and universities in major cities to towns across the country.
Footage from the southern town of Fasa on Dec. 31 shows protesters throwing objects at a government building, and then shaking the gates until they open.
As 2026 began, the movement’s first fatalities were officially reported, and the protests started to turn violent. In footage from the town of Azna, objects can be seen ablaze in the streets amid the sound of gunfire. “Shameless!” the protesters shout.
A Turning Point
The Iranian authorities initially struck a more conciliatory tone, with President Masoud Pezeshkian publicly acknowledging the economic pain protesters were feeling.
Then the Trump administration launched a stunning military operation that led to the capture of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, on Jan. 3. A day later, President Trump turned his attention to Tehran.
“If they start killing people like they have in the past,” he warned, “I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.”
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, acknowledged the hardship endured by the Iranian population, but blamed external enemies for the problems. And he insisted that “rioters must be put in their place.”
Around the country, the crackdown became more brutal.
The Violence Intensifies
After Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech, video emerged appearing to show security forces shooting at demonstrators and storming a hospital in the western province of Ilam. Mr. Pezeshkian ordered an investigation.
A video from the hospital, verified by The Times, shows men dressed in riot gear bursting through the glass doors as a woman screams.
Videos from the south of the country, verified by The Times, show the police beating a man on the ground in the town of Shiraz. When protesters throw projectiles at the police, officers move toward them on motorcycles. Moments later, a protester douses one officer with gasoline and sets him alight.
Unrest in rural provinces and border areas also continued. In the northeastern city of Mashhad, a video from Jan. 6 shows, protesters marched down a busy street. Similar scenes played out in Bojnord, a city close to the northern border with Turkmenistan, the next day.
Streets in Flames
On Jan. 6, Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, issued a statement calling for more protests. Videos that emerged later show large crowds on the streets and objects being set on fire in cities across the country.
In imposing the extensive internet blackout, the government aimed to cut the population off from outside influence. That is a tactic it has used in the past, most recently during the country’s 12-day war with Israel last June.
But when Mr. Khamenei issued a stark warning, the protests turned deadlier.
Undeterred, protesters continued coming out onto the streets in the tens of thousands. Footage shows a mosque being set on fire in Tehran.
Mourning the Dead
On Sunday, footage emerged showing crowds in front of a morgue in Tehran and people unzipping body bags to identify loved ones. Some human rights groups said nearly 200 people, and possibly many more, had been killed.
Videos released by Iranian state media showed large crowds turning out for pro-government rallies and funeral processions for members of security forces killed in the past week.
Mass funerals took place in the towns of Isfahan and Mashhad, as well as in the central square of Tehran, the city where the demonstrations began.
Another video, posted on the same day, shows mourners at the Behesht Zahra cemetery in Tehran. “This year is the year of blood,” they chant, vowing that Ayatollah Khamenei “will be overthrown!”
Monika Cvorak is a senior video journalist for The Times, based in London.
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