TEHRAN: A government building in southern Iran was attacked on Wednesday, as the country’s top prosecutor warned of a “decisive response” to any attempt to create instability after days of economic protests.

Spontaneous protests, driven by dissatisfaction with Iran’s economic stagnation, began on Sunday in Tehran’s largest mobile phone market, where shopkeepers shuttered their businesses, and have since drawn in students across the country.

“A portion of the provincial governor’s office door and its glass were destroyed in an attack by a number of people,” said Hamed Ostovar, the head of the judiciary in the city of Fasa.

The attack came after the country’s prosecutor general said the protesters’ economic concerns were legitimate, but warned action would be taken if necessary.

“Peaceful livelihood protests are part of social and understandable realities,” Mohammad Movahedi-Azad told state media.

“Any attempt to turn economic protests into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property, or implementation of externally-designed scenarios will inevitably be met with a legal, proportionate and decisive response.”

His comments came days after Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency posted on social media that it was “with you on the ground” in a message to Iranian protesters.

Posting on its Persian-language X account, the spy agency encouraged Iranians to “go out into the streets together”.

Iran, which does not recognise Israel, has long accused it of conducting sabotage operations against its nuclear facilities and assassinating its scientists.

Fighting for food

The rallies have since built momentum, with students at 10 universities in the capital and in other cities, including Iran’s most prestigious institutions, joining in on Tuesday.

The vice president of the University of Tehran, Mohammad Reza Taghidokt, told the Iranian Students News Agency that four students were arrested on Tuesday and released overnight.

Nevertheless, the protests remain limited in number and concentrated in central Tehran, with shops elsewhere in the sprawling metropolis of 10 million people unaffected.

Iran’s economy has been in the doldrums for years, with heavy US and international sanctions over its nuclear programme weighing heavily on it.

The currency, the rial, has also plunged in recent months, losing more than a third of its value against the dollar since last year.

Some basic necessities are becoming unaffordable for a portion of the population, which has been suffering from international sanctions for decades.

“Everyone here is fighting for a scrap of bread,” said one protester interviewed by a newspaper.

Schools, banks and public institutions were closed on Wednesday for a bank holiday, with officials saying the directive was due to the cold weather and the need to save energy.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2026