At least five people were killed in widening anti-government protests across Iran, the most substantial threat to the country’s government in years.
Demonstrations sparked by anger among Tehran shopkeepers over a collapsing currency have spread to multiple cities and brought together a wide swathe of society, sparking clashes with security forces and calls for Iran’s cleric-led regime to be overthrown.
The authorities have sought to respond with a wide array of concessions — including launching an anti-corruption drive and firing the head of the central bank — and are seeking to quell the protests with a shutdown of government services. “People have nothing to lose,” an Iranian Nobel laureate told RFE/RL, “they can’t stand it anymore.”