What happened in the Iran demonstrations
December 2025- january 2026
The streets were filled with demonstrators praising the leader and communism, counter-demonstrators opposing. The governing coalition split and the government was attacked on the floor of parliament. Newspapers and religious leaders turned against the leader. In the chaos military units intervened with tanks and arrested Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and installed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as the Shah of Iran. The time was August 17 1953, and these were not spontaneous uprisings. As the CIA history recounts these actions were orchestrated by Kermit Roosevelt using CIA money to pay media, politicians, religious figures and demonstrators to create the impression of a popular uprising. Even the pro-government demonstrators were paid off to praise communism. As the history recounts, “These actions resulted in literal revolt of the population, [1+ lines excised]. The military and security forces joined the populace, Radio Tehran was taken over, and Mosaddeq was forced to flee on 17 [sic] Aug 53.” Mosaddeq had committed the sin of demanding that British (primarily) and American oil companies share the proceeds of their activities in Iran with the government of Iran, and had ended up nationalizing the companies.
The overthrow of the elected prime minister of Iran became the template for numerous actions over the subsequent decades, from Guatemala to Ukraine. Decades later, this series of actions has been refined to a playbook of ‘popular” revolutions, the so-called color revolutions (so named after US sponsored demonstrations leading to overthrow of governments in post-Soviet countries). The algorithm starts with economic decline, often orchestrated by the west. It proceeds with propaganda and media shaping narratives sponsored by NGO’s, ultimately funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a US government funded entity which overtly performs what used to be done covertly by the CIA. Demonstrations follow with agents provocateurs ( here, here and here) who hope to trigger government over-reaction, resulting in the undecided middle joining the protests, and the government is overthrown. The new leaders are rapidly recognized by the west and the mob actions are hailed as triumphs of democracy.
A Brookings institute paper in 2003 reviewed how these steps might be implemented in an Iranian regime change operation, “supporting a popular revolution, stirring up Iran’s ethnic groups, or promoting a coup”.
And so when demonstrations started in Iran on December 28, two narratives commenced. In one narrative adopted by most of Western media, spontaneous demonstrations started because the economy was mismanaged by the government. A week later the widely supported Reza Pahlavi, the son of the Shah, called for further demonstrations to overthrow the government. Pitched battles ensued, until the government was able to brutally gain control. The death count rose to over 10,000, thirty thousand by some accounts.
The other narrative is as follows.
For years the US has imposed increasing sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy. These were loosened after the Obama administration negotiated the Iran Nucleur Deal (formally known as Joint comprehensive plan of Action (JCPOA)) but were reinstated when Trump revoked the treaty in 2018.They were perpetrated by the Biden administration.Sanctions were tightened in 2025, and the Iranian currency, the rial, was attacked by the US treasury department, resulting in it losing half its value in 2025, including a dramatic plunge on December 28. In December the government eliminated subsidized exchange rates for many essential imports, which increased import costs, and raised fears of further devaluation, that in turn led to a rush to exchange currency for gold, a classic self-fulfilling cycle. The first hit were electronics vendors in Tehran’s bazaars, but the economic cost was born by all. Government employees wages had fallen by more than 20% in real terms since the summer.
That this was due to American actions was clear from the boast of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “And if you look at a speech that I gave at the Economic Club of New York last March [2025], I said that I believe the Iranian currency was on the verge of collapse, that if I were an Iranian citizen, I would take my money out. President Trump ordered Treasury and OFAC division, Office of Foreign Asset Control, to put “maximum pressure” on Iran. And it’s worked. Because, in December, their economy collapsed. We saw a major bank go under. The central bank has started to print money. There is a dollar shortage. They are not able to get imports. And this is why the people took to the street. So this is economic statecraft. No shots fired.”
These demonstrations were infiltrated by Mosaad and western agents, as acknowledged by as ex Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, “Happy New Year to every Iranian in the streets. Also to every Mossad agent walking beside them...”
The Jerusalem Post on December 29 published a remarkable tweet from a Mossad account:“On Monday, the Mossad used its Twitter account in Farsi to encourage Iranians to protest against the Iranian regime, telling them that it will join them during the demonstrations. ‘Go out together into the streets. The time has come,’ the Mossad wrote. It continued, ‘We are with you. Not only from a distance and verbally. We are with you in the field.’” Mossad involvement was further reported by the Jerusalem, post on January 16. On January 13 Israeli channel 14 reported that Israel was arming protestors with firearms. Not to be left out, the CIA’s verified X account posted an open Persian-language message urging Iranians to contact the agency securely using tools such as Tor and VPNs, saying it could “hear your voice
The protests were also partaken in by groups within Iran opposed to the government. Iran is a large country and contains a number of ethnic groups, from Kurds and Azeris in the north to Balochs in the south, as well as a large population of impoverished Afghanistan refugees who are easily bribed. Almost 40% of Iranians are non-Persians.
The demonstrations were largely peaceful until 8 PM on january 8 when Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the Shah the son of the Shah called for the overthrow of the government. Large numbers of demonstrators turned out and confrontations turned violent. As the Financial Times (FT) reported,
“battles had taken place between armed opposition and security forces. The government drew a distinction between what it characterised as violent rioters and peaceful demonstrators. Testimonies from the scenes of the unrest — some spoken directly to the FT, in addition to those smuggled out through intermediaries — reveal a muddied account of the turmoil itself, in which agitators mingled with genuine protesters. Clashes claimed the lives not just of unarmed citizens who formed part of the leaderless crowds, but of well-equipped security personnel. “There were groups of men in black clothes, agile and quick,” said one demonstrator in Tehran. “They would set one dustbin on fire and then quickly move to the next target.” Another witness in western Tehran told the FT he saw about a dozen fit men, “looking like commandos”, dressed in similar black clothing, running through the area and calling on people to leave their homes and join the protests. “They were definitely organised, but I don’t know who was behind them,” he said.
There are reports of demonstrators armed with firearms who engaging in pitched battles with police. Hundreds of security forces were killed as were many demonstrators, some by knife wounds. To quote a report “there is video evidence of armed protesters confronting security forces with knives, machetes and in some cases firearms...There were also multiple reports of arson attacks against government buildings, as well as mosques and state television and radio facilities, indicating the extent to which the protest had shifted into a more openly insurgent register in some localities.“ Buses ambulances fire engines mosques were burned. As the FT reported,“’The opposition abroad hijacked our protests,’ said one woman who joined in the rallies but opposes Pahlavi. ‘Otherwise, things were moving forward and we might have gained concessions from the regime. Instead, the violence and crackdown pushed people back, with nothing to show but death and destruction.’”
The violent demonstrators were coordinated via the internet. When the internet was shut down, the opposition used Starlink terminals, which the wall Street Journal reported were provided by the US. Forty thousand were distributed. Most recently Damon Wilson the head of testified to congress that NED had provided Starlink terminals. His testimony was cut off by the subcommittee chairperson, Rep. Lois Frankel, who told him: “You know what, I’m going to interrupt you – we’d better not talk about it.” The key turning point in the conflict came when Russian information technology came to the assistance of Iran and was able to disrupt the use of these Starlink terminals. At this point, communication between the protestors and the outside world having been severed, the resistance collapsed. Those involved in the attempted violent overthrow if the government were identified and detained, with trials ongoing.
The official death count from the Iranian government that includes names and national ID numbers is almost 3000. Per the FT, “Iranian officials said hundreds of police and security personnel were among those killed, some allegedly beheaded or burned.” Higher estimates, to 30,000 have been reported. Where do these come from? Many of the estimates, as well as news, come from a group called Human Rights Activists In Iran, HRA or HRAI for short. Its media arm is the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). HRAI was founded in 2006 and is based in Fairfax, Virginia near CIA headquarters in Langley Although its website notes that, “because the organization seeks to remain independent, it doesn’t accept financial aid from neither political groups nor governments”, in the same paragraph it notes that “HRAI has also been accepting donations from National Endowment for Democracy, a non-profit, nongovernmental organization in the United States of America.” See also this linked funding document. Another NGO widely quoted is the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran (ABCHRI), which is also supported by the NED. Last year, the NED described the center as a “partner” organization. A third widely cited source is the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
The National Endowment for Democracy was founded on November 22 1983 under the Reagan administration in an era when the Church commission and others had revealed the infiltration of aid organizations by the CIA. Although it is funded by the US government, it calls itself a non-governmental agency and directly and through intermediaries it funds NGO’s in order to further US goals in other countries. Its enabling legislation calls for it to receive foreign policy guidance from the State Department. As the saying goes, follow the money.
So where does the figure of 30,000 come from? Originally it was quoted by Time magazine and included a little noted statement that ‘TIME has been unable to independently verify these figures.” The figure was provided by a Dr Amir Parasta, an Iranian-German eye surgeon who turns out to be a close associate and lobbyist for Reza Pahlavi the son of the Shah. Parasta openly serves as an advisor to the ironically named NUFDI, the National Union for Democracy in Iran, the main US-based lobbying group working re-establishing Pahlavi as Iran’s monarchs. The 30,000 figure was spread by a guardian reporter, Deepa Parent, who claimed it had been fact checked “by [an] Iranian factchecking organisation” known as “Factnameh”. Factnameh however is not Iranian. On its website Factnameh describes itself as a subsidiary of “ASL19, a private company registered in Toronto, Canada”. It is not neutral but has received millions from the State department. In short, it seems that “Iran killed 30,000 protesters is the new Iraq has WMDs. “
The claimed death toll echoes the false claims made after demonstrations in 2022, when the figure of 15,000 protestors detained by Iranian authorities originated from the afore mentioned Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). As NBC reported, many who had taken up these false claims were forced to retract them, including Canadian premier Justin Trudeau.
It is of note that opposition news networks based abroad have been actively spreading revisionist histories, painting a picture of a lost Pahlavi “golden age’. This is reinforced by a social media campaign. A report published in October by the Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity watchdog group, described a network of fake profiles on X, amplified by artificial intelligence that spread narratives encouraging Iranians to revolt. As the New York Times reported, much of this online content that is written in Persian and that is supportive of Mr. Pahlavi is linked to Israeli sources, as he is known to have close ties with Israel and has met with Netanyahu. To quote the Times, “A few of the accounts we have seen are directing their message to an audience of one: the president of the United States, to convince him to take action against Iran and to back Reza Pahlavi.” This echoes the disastrous installation in the 1950’s of Diem as president of South Vietnam and of Ahmed Chalabi in Iraq after the 2003 US invasion.
The original plan was to have the US attack Iran and what was presumed to be a weakened state that would readily collapse. Reportedly Trump was ready to attack January 14, but was dissuaded by Netanyahu and the US chiefs of staff because Israel and the US were not prepared for the inevitable retaliation. The Jerusalem Post reported on Jan 15 “Netanyahu asked Trump to pump brakes on US strikes in Iran, NYT reports” and the Times of Israel reported that Israel was not ready to defend itself.
Now a month later war has started, an aggressive war of choice. Just as Trump attacked Iran last June while negotiations were taking place, so too has he done this February. The result will probably be massive destruction in Iran, but Israel and the US will not be unscathed. In the June 2025 12 days war Israel was running out of defensive missiles after 10 days and asked the US to broker a cease fire. Israel suffered heavy damage in the exchange though its censorship has kept it hidden from much of the world. This time around Iran will not hold back, and the damage will include the oil structures in the Middle East, as well as blockage of the Straits of Hormuz. Chinese and Russian ships are in the area. The scene is set for a spark to set off world war III that would well mean the end of the world. Meanwhile the neo-cons and Israeli dream about an Iran fractured into pieces, the easier to be looted and leaving the door open for an Israel ever expanding to its maximal Biblical borders, from the Nile to the Euphrates. This would be the fulfillment of a Bush administration 2001 five year plan (revealed in 2003 by General Wesley Clark) to attack Iraq first before taking action against Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.