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As Suren Edgar watched fireworks light up the Australian sky to welcome the New Year, he pictured a different scene — gunfire and protests in his homeland.
“Sometimes it’s hard to be Iranian and live in Australia,” he told SBS News.
“We’ve got democracy here, freedom, and we’re living in a peaceful situation … It’s a bit hard when you’re living in a society like Australia, and your mind is back there.”
Edgar, the vice president of the Australian Iranian Community Alliance, said the recent protests have hit close to home for the community.
“People in Iran are looking for a normal life. They come to the street without any weapon, they’ve only got their life in their hands,” he said.
“They’re taking to the streets, raising their voices for freedom.”
Since the protests broke out in Tehran a week ago, they have spread to 113 locations across 46 of the country’s cities, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).
It’s the biggest wave of demonstrations since the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in 2022, triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Jina Amini, who was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s mandatory hijab rule.
While the recent protests were triggered by the country’s ongoing economic crisis, Edgar said other issues can quickly rise to the fore when people take to the streets.
“We’ve got many, many issues back there. It’s about freedom, it’s about human rights, women’s rights, it’s about the economy,” Edgar told SBS News.
“Any of these incidents can spark a protest at any moment.”
Iranian university students have long played a pivotal role in protest movements throughout the country’s modern history, from the 1979 revolution to ongoing demonstrations against the regime.
The mass protests started on Sunday, when shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar went on strike, as the country’s currency hit a record low against the US dollar.
Ian Parmeter, a research scholar in Middle Eastern studies at the Australian National University, told SBS News that this was sparked by “a perfect storm of very bad economic developments for Iran”.
“[The protest] shows the regime itself is getting increasingly unpopular.”
Iran’s rial lost nearly half its value against the US dollar in 2025, with inflation hitting 42.5 per cent in December. Meanwhile, food inflation has surged 72.3 per cent.
The country’s economy has faced additional pressure since late September, when the United Nations snapped back international sanctions related to the nuclear program that had been lifted a decade earlier.
“On top of that, Iran is a very badly managed country economically, there’s rampant corruption and mismanagement,” Parmeter said.
“The people themselves don’t have any confidence in the regime to manage the economy successfully.”
The protesters’ demands were not solely economic; they’ve chanted slogans like “Death to the dictator”, referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and demanded regime change.
The protests have also reached universities, with 15 student demonstrations taking place across 13 universities, according to HRANA.
“These represent a series of overwhelming issues that remain unresolved as long as the current regime holds power.”
Rana Dadpour, a spokesperson for the Australian United Solidarity for Iran (AUSIRAN) community group, said the demonstration has “quickly turned into an anti-regime and anti-establishment protest”.
“Iranians know very well that the problem is not just economy, it’s not just water, it’s not just pollution, it’s not, it’s not just the gender apartheid that women in Iran go through,” she told SBS News.
“These are all a collection of massive, huge issues and problems that will not get solved while the regime is in power.”
‘They always react with live ammunition’
Since the protests started, Iranian officials have said they “officially recognise the protests”.
Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani has said: “We hear their voices, and we know that this originates from natural pressure arising from the pressure on people’s livelihoods.”
But in recent days, some officials and government-backed media have adopted a more hardline tone, describing the protesters as rioters.
This has also been seen in the streets, as HRANA reports that at least eight protesters have lost their lives and dozens have been detained.
Amirhesam Khodayarifard, one of those killed, was shot directly with live ammunition by Iranian forces, according to the Oslo-based Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights.
Videos published on social media also show security forces using violence against protesters.
“This is how the regime in Iran always reacts. They always react with live ammunition, with brutal violence and oppression of people,” Dadpour said.
“Every single life that is being lost is a disaster. These are Iranian people that want nothing more than a normal life and a chance to choose what they want and how they want to live.”
‘I keep the hope alive’
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, responded by saying Iran’s armed forces “are on standby and know exactly where to aim in the event of any infringement of Iranian sovereignty”.
Parameter describes US intervention as one “wildcard” scenario that could affect the fate of the protests, with the second being how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might react.
“It’s very hard to say just what intervention by the United States and Israel could actually achieve.”
In June 2025, Israel launched a series of attacks in Iran that would begin 12 days of conflict between the two sides, with the US intervening to intercept Iranian attacks and launch its own airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites.
An uneasy truce has persisted since.
While protests unfold in Iran and their outcome remains uncertain, thousands of kilometres away, some Iranian-Australians cling to hopes for a brighter future.
“I keep the hope alive,” Dadpour said.
“I think every one of us are watching with the stress and anxiety at the same time keeping this hope alive — all we want to see is a free Iran.
“[Iran] can be one of the best, most peaceful, most prosperous countries in the world, and this is something this regime is preventing from happening. And this is something that people inside Iran want to happen.
“I think they will continue their resistance until this happens.”
