Iran’s Bazaar Uprising Enters Third Day, Joined by Widespread University Protests and Clashes in Tehran
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Written by
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
Bazaar Uprising-No. 6
Repressive forces on full alert and heavily present on the streets but could not prevent the protesters from gathering.
Rajavi: This uprising reflects the anger of tens of millions of Iranians fed up with the mullahs’ oppression; their slogans target the root of the problem—the Velayat-e Faqih system—and point to the solution: resistance and uprising.
On the morning of Tuesday, December 30, 2025, popular protests and uprisings entered their third day, spreading to include students from various universities in Tehran and many other cities. Merchants and shopkeepers in different parts of Tehran—including the goldsmiths’ bazaar, Saray-e Melli, Seyed Esmail, Bein-ol-Haramein, Souresrafil, Amin Hozour, Jafari, Pachenar, and on Sabounian Street in the Shush market, Ahangaran, Jelokhan, Hamamchal, Molavi, and Bani Hashem—closed their shops. Protesters gathered at Tehran’s iron market (Shadabad). The Special Unit attacked protesters with tear gas in Shush and Javadieh squares in Tehran.
Simultaneously, the strike expanded to other cities, including Shiraz, Isfahan (Naqsh-e Jahan Square), Kermanshah (Mossadegh Street), Mashhad (Saadi Street), Ahvaz, Yazd, Karaj, Malard, Pardis, Hamedan, Qeshm, Zanjan, and Tabriz (BRT drivers). This occurred as repressive forces—including the IRGC, the State Security Force (SSF), the Ministry of Intelligence, and plainclothes agents—were on full alert and heavily deployed in many areas.
Students from Tehran University, Sharif University of Technology, Khajeh Nasir Toosi University, National University (Beheshti), Amirkabir University, University of Science and Technology, Tabataba’i University, University of Science and Culture, Isfahan University of Technology, and Yazd University joined the bazaar uprising, holding marches and protests while chanting slogans such as ‘Death to the dictator,’ ‘The student will die but will not accept humiliation,’ ‘So many years of crime, death to this Velayat (Guardianship),’ and ‘Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, we are all together.’ At the National and Khajeh Nasir universities, students confronted Basij and plainclothes agents, shouting ‘Dishonorable, dishonorable.’
In Tehran, demonstrations on Mellat Street and in Shush and Javadieh squares led to clashes with repressive forces. Special Unit officers fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, but defiant youth and residents resisted and continued their protests.
The clerical regime attempted to prevent protesters from gathering by extensively deploying SSF and plainclothes agents on Ferdowsi, Valiasr, and Sattar Khan streets and around the bazaar, but they failed. In other cities, including Karaj and Mashhad, security forces have been widely deployed in the main areas of the city.
Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, described the uprising of the bazaar merchants and other segments of the population as a reflection of the anger of tens of millions of Iranians who are fed up with the rapid fall of the country’s currency, soaring inflation, unprecedented recession, and systematic government discrimination and corruption. She added that their slogans target the root of the problem—the Velayat-e Faqih (clerical) system—and point to the solution: resistance and uprising.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)
30 December 2025