{"id":34673,"date":"2026-01-05T18:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=34673"},"modified":"2026-01-05T18:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T18:04:19","slug":"protests-challenge-irans-leaders-as-us-maduro-capture-sparks-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=34673","title":{"rendered":"Protests challenge Iran\u2019s leaders as US’ Maduro capture sparks fears"},"content":{"rendered":"
Iran\u2019s efforts to quell a wave of anti-government protests have been complicated by US President Donald Trump\u2019s warning of intervention, a threat reinforced by the recent capture of Venezuela\u2019s Nicolas Maduro, officials and insiders said on Monday.<\/p>\n

A day before US special forces seized Maduro and his wife on Jan. 3 and transferred them to New York, Trump warned on social media that if Iran\u2019s leadership killed protesters\u2014who have been demonstrating since Dec. 28\u2014the US. \u201cwill come to their rescue.\u201d At least 17 people have died so far.<\/p>\n

Twin pressures on Tehran<\/p>\n

Tehran\u2019s options have been constrained by Trump\u2019s threats and a long-running economic crisis, which worsened after Israeli and US strikes in June targeted several of Iran\u2019s nuclear sites over 12 days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese twin pressures have narrowed Tehran\u2019s room for manoeuvre, leaving leaders caught between public anger on the streets and hardening demands and threats from Washington, with few viable options and high risks on every path,\u201d one Iranian official told Reuters.<\/p>\n

A second official said that, after US action in Venezuela, some authorities feared Iran could be \u201cthe next victim of Trump\u2019s aggressive foreign policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s economy has been battered by years of US sanctions. Its currency, the rial, has been in freefall since last year\u2019s Israeli-US strikes, which targeted nuclear facilities that the West says Iran has been using to develop nuclear arms. Tehran denies these claims.<\/p>\n

Read More: Iran protests enter 2nd week<\/p>\n

Expanding protests<\/p>\n

Protests that erupted in Tehran and spread to western and southern cities have grown beyond their economic focus, with some demonstrators chanting slogans like \u201cDown with the Islamic Republic\u201d and \u201cDeath to the dictator,\u201d targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in state affairs.<\/p>\n

Authorities are attempting a dual approach: acknowledging economic grievances as legitimate while dispersing some demonstrations with tear gas. At least 17 protesters have died, while security forces report two of their members killed and more than a dozen injured.<\/p>\n

A third official said worries were mounting in Tehran that \u201cTrump or Israel might take military action against Iran, like what they did in June.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s stance and international ties<\/p>\n

Iran, a long-time ally of Venezuela, has condemned Washington\u2019s action in Caracas and Trump\u2019s statements on Iran. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said such comments \u201camount to nothing more than incitement to violence, terrorism and killing under international norms.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Trump threatened to intervene if protesters faced violence, declaring: \u201cWe are locked and loaded and ready to go,\u201d without detailing specific actions.<\/p>\n

Economic hardships<\/p>\n

Economic grievances remain central to the unrest. Widening disparities between ordinary Iranians and the clerical and security elite, combined with mismanagement, runaway inflation and corruption, have fueled public anger.<\/p>\n

President Masoud Pezeshkian has urged dialogue and promised reforms to stabilize the monetary and banking systems and protect purchasing power. From Jan. 10, the government will provide a monthly stipend of 10,000,000 rials (about $7) per person in non-cashable electronic credit for select grocery stores. For lower-income households, whose monthly salaries barely exceed $150, this represents a modest but meaningful boost.<\/p>\n

The rial lost roughly half its value against the dollar in 2025, while official inflation reached 42.5% in December.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran\u2019s efforts to quell a wave of anti-government protests have been complicated by US President Donald Trump\u2019s warning of intervention, a threat reinforced by the recent capture of Venezuela\u2019s Nicolas Maduro, officials and insiders said on Monday. A day before US special forces seized Maduro and his wife on Jan. 3 and transferred them to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}