According to a report by Times of Israel, on Friday January 9, 2026, demonstrators in Tehran delivered a scathing verdict on Iran’s foreign policy, saying that Iranians should be the ones to pay the price for the actions of Gaza and Lebanon.
The Islamic Republic faced its greatest threat in years as protests spread to 110 cities and towns, with the shout “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, My Life for Iran” resonating through the crowds.
The phrase captures the outrage that citizens feel against a government that puts international militias ahead of the crumbling domestic welfare system.
Iranian funding for Hezbollah in Lebanon amounts to almost $1 billion per year, while the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas receive an estimated $70–100 million per year, according to US Treasury officials.
As inflation eats away at incomes and unemployment soars, Iranian families watch their wealth flee abroad.
Economic destruction was directly linked to government ideology, according to demonstrators at Sharif University, protests in Kermanshah, and Tehran’s Vanak neighbourhood.
According to demonstrators, Iran’s healthcare system, education system, and infrastructure are in disrepair, and the government has been spending $700 million to $1 billion yearly on regional proxies since the 1980s.
It first arose in the Green campaign of 2009, reappeared in the economic protests of 2017 and 2018, gathered momentum in the fuel price demonstrations of 2019, and was the driving force behind the “Woman, Life, Freedom” campaign that followed Mahsa Amini’s death in 2022.
Rejection of theocratic rule became more widespread with each iteration.
Iranian university students yelled out “Where is justice?” and demonstrators at Shahid Beheshti University yelled out “You are the pervert, you are the harasser, I am the free woman.”
In Hamadan, security officers opened fire on protesters, and around the capital, they used tear gas to disperse the crowds.
The rioting persists despite 1,203 arrests and more than 20 deaths. The demands persisted despite Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s crackdown order issued on January 3.
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