PARIS: Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday ordered security forces not to crack down on economic protests, drawing a distinction betw­een peaceful demonstrators and armed “rioters”.

The statement comes as Iranian cities continue to see a wave of protests against economic hardship triggered by price rises and currency collapse.

While Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) claimed at least 27 protesters died during the demonstrations that kicked off with a shopkeeper’s strike on Dec 28, Iranian media outlets reported 13 deaths, including members of the security forces and a policeman.

In a video released by the news agency, Mehr, after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Iran Vice President Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah said Pezeshkian had ordered that no security measures be taken against the demonstrators. “Those who carry firearms, knives and machetes and who attack police stations and military sites are rioters, and we must distinguish protesters from rioters,” Ghaempanah added.

Outside threats won’t be tolerated, warns Iranian army commander

Warning to Iran’s foes

Gen Amir Hatami, commander of the Iranian army and one of its most senior military officers, warned Tehran will not tolerate outside threats “without responding”.

According to the Fars news agency, Hatami said “if the enemy makes a mistake,” Iran’s response would be more robust than during last June’s 12-day war with Israel.

In recent days, US President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene in Iran if demonstrators were killed, while Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expressed support for the protests.

But the economic protests have attracted international attention, including from the leaders of the Iran’s international foes.

“We’re watching it very closely. If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States,” Trump said.

Netanyahu told Israel’s cabinet: “We stand in solidarity with the struggle of the Iranian people and with their aspirations for freedom, liberty and justice.”

The latest demonstrations have spread to the capital’s Grand Bazaar, and several more towns and cities.

On Tuesday, clashes erupted in the Grand Bazaar for the first time since the protests began, with police using tear gas to disperse crowds. In one case, gas drifted into a hospital, which is 2km from the bazaar. To disperse a crowd, “tear gas was used in the alley adjacent to the Sina Hospital”, the ISNA news agency reported, citing a statement from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences.

Elsewhere in Tehran, calm returned on Wednesday as residents conducted business as normal.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2026