Interior ministry frames protests as test of social cohesion

Protesters in several Iranian cities chanted a range of political slogans on Tuesday night, according to videos received by Iran International.

Footage showed protesters in the western city of Hamadan chanting “Javid Shah,” a slogan associated with Iran’s former monarchy.

In Arak, demonstrators were heard chanting “This is the final battle, Pahlavi will return,” invoking the name of the former ruling dynasty that was overthrown in 1979.

Separately, video from Sabzevar in northeastern Iran showed protesters chanting “After all these years of crimes, death to this rule,” a slogan directly targeting the clerical system.

Iran’s prosecutor general said on Wednesday that any attempt to turn economic protests into insecurity or damage to public property would be met with a “legal, proportionate and decisive” response, as demonstrations continued across Iran.

Mohammad Movahedi-Azad said peaceful livelihood protests were understandable and should be addressed through legal channels.

But he warned against what he described as organized exploitation of legitimate demands.

“What we cannot be indifferent to is structured misuse of these legitimate demands,” he said, referring to “directed media networks, distorted narratives, and the use of deceived individuals or those who disrupt public order.”

Movahedi-Azad said efforts to convert protests into public disorder, property damage, or scenarios designed from outside the country would trigger a firm legal response.

Iranian security forces were deployed in the city of Karaj on Wednesday, with videos showing officers stationed under the Azadegan Bridge amid reports of a heavy security atmosphere.

Footage sent to Iran International showed security personnel gathered beneath the bridge, a major traffic artery linking parts of the city.

Two major universities in Tehran said on Wednesday they would hold classes online until the end of the current semester, as protests and strikes expanded across Iran, citing cold weather and energy imbalances.

Allameh Tabataba’i University and Shahid Beheshti University announced that in-person classes would be suspended through the remainder of the 1404–1405 first semester.

The Education Ministry’s deputy said the decision was taken “due to cold weather and problems caused by energy shortages, and in order to ensure student welfare.”

The announcement came as universities have emerged as focal points of protest activity, with student demonstrations reported across Tehran over the past several days.

“I have seen no indication that the ruling system wants to change its paradigm,” Alaei said in a video interview with the news site Entekhab, published on Monday. “The current situation shows that previous policies and strategies have not worked.”

Alaei said sanctions had left Iran unable to export freely or access the global banking system, while the domestic economy remained dominated by the state, despite what he described as historical evidence that state-led economic models do not succeed.

“We cannot export normally and we have no access to the world’s banking system,” he said. “At the same time, the economy is still run by the state, even though human experience shows such models fail.”

He said Iran could still pursue a change in direction but argued that parts of the ruling establishment viewed any paradigm shift as a retreat from core values. Others, he added, believed revising failed strategies was itself a way of safeguarding the country’s fundamental principles.

Alaei also warned that the United States and Israel were moving toward what he described as a “Plan B,” centered on intensifying sanctions to worsen economic conditions, trigger unrest and potentially justify military intervention – unless Iran addressed domestic economic mismanagement and recalibrated its foreign policy.

He said a diplomatic opening could still be possible if the United States were to lift all sanctions, even under current political conditions.