Iran is once again witnessing a nationwide uprising that leaves little doubt about the political will of its people. What began in late December as protests by merchants in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar over currency collapse and soaring inflation has rapidly spread to cities and universities across the country. As in previous waves of unrest, economic grievances quickly transformed into open political defiance. The slogans echoing through the streets, including “Death to the dictator,” “Neither Shah nor Supreme Leader,” and “Freedom and equality,” make clear that Iranians are not merely protesting hardship. They are rejecting dictatorship in all its forms.
The scope and persistence of the current uprising are striking. Demonstrations have erupted in Tehran and across provinces, with students, workers, shopkeepers, and professionals participating side by side. Protesters have openly challenged the ideological backbone of the ruling system, chanting against the principle of Velayat-e Faqih and calling for the overthrow of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. These protests are not isolated or spontaneous. Even state-affiliated media linked to the Revolutionary Guards have acknowledged that organized networks and resistance units are helping sustain and spread the unrest, and that demands have moved decisively beyond economics into calls for fundamental political change.
Predictably, the regime has responded with repression and deception rather than reform. Security forces have relied on intimidation, arrests, and violence to suppress demonstrations. At the same time, the authorities have attempted to divert and fracture the movement through infiltration and disinformation. One particularly cynical tactic has been the promotion of false narratives suggesting that protesters seek a return to monarchy. According to eyewitness accounts and video evidence, plainclothes agents have been dispatched to chant pro-monarchy slogans, only to be rejected by demonstrators who respond with chants condemning both the former Shah and the current Supreme Leader.
This rejection is central to understanding the uprising. The Iranian people are not choosing between competing forms of authoritarianism. The chants heard repeatedly, such as “Death to oppressor, be it Shah or Leader,” reflect a collective memory shaped by lived experience. Iranians remember the repression, corruption, and inequality of the monarchy as well as the brutality and ideological control of the current theocracy. What is emerging from the streets is not nostalgia for the past, but a clear demand for a democratic future.
Disinformation has also taken a more sophisticated turn. Doctored videos and manipulated audio clips have circulated on social media, falsely portraying crowds as supporting the Shah’s son. Independent analyses have exposed these clips as deepfakes or recycled footage with altered soundtracks. In several cases, original videos from university protests were later repurposed to manufacture a narrative that does not reflect reality on the ground. These efforts are designed to obscure a simple truth. This uprising is driven by a popular demand for democracy, not by elite power struggles or foreign agendas.
At the heart of this movement is the insistence that change must come from the people of Iran themselves and from those who possess legitimacy inside the country, the Iranian Resistance and its political coalition, the National Council of Resistance of Iran. For 47 years, the NCRI and its principal constituent, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, have stood up to this brutal regime. More than 120,000 of their members and supporters have been executed or killed under torture by the authorities, a grim testament to the price paid for organized resistance.
Despite this repression, the Resistance has articulated a clear and forward-looking alternative. The NCRI’s Ten-Point Plan calls for a democratic republic based on popular sovereignty, separation of religion and state, gender equality, abolition of the death penalty, and respect for ethnic and religious diversity. This vision resonates deeply with the slogans heard in today’s protests and reflects the aspirations of millions of Iranians who want freedom without fear and justice without revenge.
This alternative has also gained significant international recognition. More than 4,000 parliamentarians worldwide have expressed support for the NCRI’s democratic platform. Most recently, the United States House of Representatives passed Resolution 166, affirming support for the Iranian people’s desire for a democratic, secular republic and recognizing the legitimacy of their resistance against tyranny.
History offers a sobering reminder to Iran’s rulers. In 1978, the Shah attempted to placate protesters by acknowledging their grievances and promising reform. Within months, his regime collapsed under the weight of popular resistance. Today, official statements acknowledging “legitimate demands” ring just as hollow to a population that has heard such promises before and paid dearly for believing them.
The current uprising marks a critical moment. It reflects a society that has rejected dictatorship in every form and is asserting its right to determine its own future. The message from Iran’s streets is unmistakable. Neither monarchy nor theocracy, but a secular, democratic republic chosen by the people of Iran themselves.
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Jila Andalib is a member of the Organization of Iranian American Communities – CT