When Iran’s Girls Lead Again – OpEd

On December 28, 2025, a seemingly ordinary economic protest in Iran (sparked by the plunge of the national currency and soaring inflation) quickly ignited nationwide unrest. In the days that followed, shopkeepers shuttered their stores and marched through the historic alleys of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, and by December 29 security forces had begun firing tear gas at demonstrators, underscoring the regime’s growing unease.

But beneath the economic anger lies something more profound and poignant: young girls and university students are once again at the forefront, their courage recalling the waves of youthful defiance seen during the 2022. This time, too, they are refusing to be side-lined, even under the threat of repression.

Clashes and the Regime’s Response

Despite the remarkable courage on display, the regime’s response for the first 3 days has been familiar: security forces used tear gas in central Tehran, including near the Grand Bazaar, in efforts to disperse crowds. Tear gas and other crowd-control tactics are meant to fracture protests. But in many clips circulating online, protesters especially girls and students are shown not fleeing in fear, but continuing to chant and organise, illustrating a level of resilience that has grown with every wave of dissent in recent years.

On Wednesday, 31st December 2025, the fourth day of nationwide protests, security forces in Fasa city, in Fars Province, opened fire on unarmed protesters. The clash began when protesters broke down the entrance door of the governor’s office and entered the building. Videos coming from the MEK network inside Iran show the level of public anger, with people storming the governor’s office as security forces fired at them.

Girls and Students: A Visible Force in the Streets

What is most visibly remarkable is the presence of young Iranians, especially girls, leading chants, confronting security forces, and marching defiantly. Social media footage shared across X (formerly Twitter) over these past days shows scenes resonant with the spirit of 2022:

Videos show university students and especially female students defiantly, their voices unbroken despite the grim backdrop of tear gas and heavy security presence:

• Students at Tehran University chase away suppressive forces trying to enter the campus
https://x.com/bmt_freeiran/status/2006051497646469619?s=46<https://x.com/bmt_freeiran/status/2006051497646469619?s=46>

• Women are actively involved:
https://x.com/rouzbehemad3/status/2006054562977714395?s=46<https://x.com/rouzbehemad3/status/2006054562977714395?s=46>

• Tehran University Students protests:
https://x.com/en_simayazadi/status/2006047666732454056?s=46<https://x.com/en_simayazadi/status/2006047666732454056?s=46>

• Groups of women and girls are shown organising protests together, calling out slogans with a clarity and resolve that reflect deep political consciousness.
https://x.com/womenncri/status/2006045625960321497?s=46<https://x.com/womenncri/status/2006045625960321497?s=46>

• Further footage captures young girls is leading the protests
https://x.com/rouzbehemad3/status/2006053091309736070?s=46<https://x.com/rouzbehemad3/status/2006053091309736070?s=46>

• University students:
https://x.com/kavehnovin/status/2006064730142584943?s=46<https://x.com/kavehnovin/status/2006064730142584943?s=46>

These images raw, immediate, and unguarded tell a story of a generation refusing to remain invisible.

The bravery of young girls in these early days of the uprising is not new in Iran’s long struggle for dignity it recalls the monumental role played by women and students in the 2022 protests, which were sparked by the tragic death of Mahsa Amini while in morality police custody. Women are challenging authority with visible courage.

Today, although the immediate trigger is economic, the presence of girls in the streets chanting, confronting forces, and refusing to stand down is symbolic and powerful. It reflects not just outrage at rising living costs, but a continuity of resistance: a refusal to accept a political order that marginalises women and a system perceived as unresponsive to the needs of younger generations.

Students Step Forward: A Legacy of Resistance

University students have surged into the streets, transforming an economic protest into a broader political uprising. In the NCRI’s statement on December 30, students from Tehran University, Sharif University of Technology, Beheshti University and others are described as joining bazaar merchants in demonstration, chanting with bold defiance.

Their slogans: “Death to the dictator,” “The student will die but will not accept humiliation,” and “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, we are all together” resonate with political meaning. These are not merely economic grievances; these are demands for dignity, justice, and regime change.

These students, many in their late teens or early twenties, are forestalling a narrative that economic protests are strictly about money. Their presence signals a generation that understands the intersection of economic misery and political oppression, and is ready to confront both.

Why Girls and Students Matter

Young girls leading chants and taking to the streets are not just protesting they are redefining courage in a context where fear has long been a tool of governance. Their presence recalls the broader, nationwide discontent seen during the 2022 uprising, but with the same message: the current barbaric regime in Iran must go!

The NCRI quoted Maryam Rajavi, the group’s President-elect, saying 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 regime and point to the solution: resistance and uprising.”

That quote is crucial because it reframes these protests not merely as a fleeting economic reaction, but as a broader political movement rooted in long-standing public frustration.

Executions in Iran

More than 2,200 Executions in 2025 in 91 cities, An Unprecedented High in Khamenei’s 37-Year Criminal Rule.

Executions in 2025 were more than double those in 2024, two and a half times those in 2023, and approximately three times those in 2022.

Executions in the second half of 2025 were more than double those in the first half. The 376 executions in December 2025 have been unprecedented in the last 37 years.

The execution of 64 women, which is nearly double last year’s figure, and the execution of 13 people in public, which is almost three times the number from the previous year.

Mrs Maryam Rajavi the president-elect of NCRI said: “Collective and arbitrary executions are a clear case of organised crime and a crime against humanity, and a desperate effort by a regime, which, fearing enraged people and an explosive society, has resorted to the gallows for its survival.”

The uprising of merchants and angry citizens in Tehran in the final days of 2025 showed the failure of the policy of resorting to mass executions to prevent uprising. The regime is weaker and more fragile than ever and is at a complete impasse.