Iran promises reforms as it seeks to quell street protests

Govt unveils $7 monthly stipend as unrest spreads

DUBAI:

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged dialogue and promised economic reforms to stabilise the nation's monetary system, as his government announced a new monthly stipend for citizens—a direct measure to quell the worst unrest in three years.

Starting January 10, the government will provide 10 million rials (about $7) per person in electronic credit for use in select grocery stores, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The move targets lower-income households, where monthly salaries barely exceed $150, and comes as Iran's leadership struggles to contain a wave of protests that have grown amid a severe economic crisis and now face the complicating shadow of a US military intervention in Venezuela.

Iran's efforts to quell the anti-government protests have been sharply complicated by US President Donald Trump's threat to intervene on the side of demonstrators—a warning firmly underlined by the subsequent US capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, officials and insiders said on Monday.

A day before US special forces seized Maduro and his wife on January 3, Trump warned in a social media post that if Iran's leadership killed protesters who have taken to the streets since December 28, the U.S. "will come to their rescue."

The protests, which erupted in Tehran and have spread to some western and southern cities, do not match the scale of the nationwide unrest in 2022-23. But they have quickly expanded from an economic focus to broader frustrations.

That presents a challenge for authorities who have been trying to maintain the spirit of national unity that emerged during and after last year's Israeli-US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites. An official said worries were growing in Tehran that "Trump or Israel might take military action, like what they did in June."

Iran's economy has been hammered by years of US sanctions, but its rial has been in free-fall since those strikes, which mainly targeted nuclear sites. The rial lost roughly half its value against the dollar in 2025, while official inflation reached 42.5% in December.

In a sign of the leadership's concern, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday accused "enemies of the Islamic Republic" of fomenting unrest and warned that "rioters should be put in their place."

Authorities have attempted a dual approach, calling protests over the economy legitimate and promising dialogue, while meeting some demonstrations with tear gas amid violent street confrontations.

Rights groups said Sunday that at least 17 people have been killed in a week. Authorities have said at least two security service members died and more than a dozen were injured.

Witnesses in Tehran, Mashhad, and Tabriz reported a heavy security presence in main squares. "You can feel the tense atmosphere in Tehran, but life continues as normal," said Amir Reza, 47, a carpet shop owner in Tehran's Grand Bazaar.

On Friday, Trump threatened to intervene if protesters faced violence, declaring, "We are locked and loaded and ready to go," though he offered no details on what actions he might take.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Trump's statements about "Iran's internal affairs amount, under international norms, to nothing more than incitement to violence, incitement to terrorism, and incitement to killing."

Meanwhile, London-based Independent newspaper reported that Iran's 86-year-old supreme leader has a plan to flee the country for Russia if the ongoing protests overwhelmed security forces.

Khamenei will escape Tehran with up to 20 aides and family if it becomes clear that the army and security forces tasked with suppressing the protests are defecting or failing to follow orders, it reported quoting an intelligence source.

(with input from news desk)