A STRIKING photo of a lone protester sitting defiantly in the road in front of armed security forces in Iran has sparked comparisons with the iconic ‘Tank Man’ image from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
The dramatic picture shows the demonstrator blocking armed police on motorbikes as unrest grips the country.
Shared widely by local outlets, the image quickly went viral worldwide after Iran was rocked by its biggest protests in three years.
The unrest erupted after the Iranian rial slumped to a record low against the US dollar.
The powerful image echoes the haunting ‘Tank Man’ photograph, also known as the ‘Unknown Rebel’, taken during mass student-led protests against China’s authoritarian regime in 1989.
That famous picture shows an unidentified man clutching shopping bags as he stands in front of a line of Type 59 tanks on Chang’an Avenue near Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 5.
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It was taken just a day after troops opened fire on thousands of unarmed demonstrators, killing thousands.
Now, Iran is seeing student-led protests spread rapidly.
Demonstrations have erupted in Tehran and at least eight other cities amid a deepening economic crisis.
Ilna, a news agency linked to Iran’s labour movement, reported protests at seven of Tehran’s most prestigious universities, as well as at the technology university in the central city of Isfahan.
A student at Tehran University, Nafas, told The Telegraph: “Students have been chanting since last night.
“[The security forces] surrounded the campus last night and rode their motorcycles around it. They returned today with batons, stun guns, and tear gas.
“Students clashed with them and forced them out, but the gates are now closed.
“Students at many universities have said they will not attend classes and will continue protesting.
“What’s the point of studying when there is no future, and the regime gives our money to Gaza and Lebanon?”
The student unrest followed protests by shop owners in central Tehran on Monday and the two groups unexpectedly came together to hold wider protests over the autocratic regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
It also came just a day before banks, schools and businesses across the capital and most provinces were temporarily shut to save energy during freezing weather.
Iran’s currency collapse has piled pressure on everyday life.
When protests broke out on Sunday, the dollar was trading at around 1.42million rials, up from 820,000 a year ago.
The plunge has sent import prices soaring and hammered retail traders.
Today, huge numbers of police and security forces were deployed at major junctions in central Tehran and around several universities.
Spontaneous demonstrations first broke out on Sunday at the city’s biggest mobile phone market.
They later gathered pace but remained small and largely confined to the city centre, with most shops elsewhere staying open.
President Masoud Pezeshkian met labour leaders on Tuesday and floated measures to address the crisis.
Under Iran’s system, he holds far less power than supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He wrote: “I have asked the interior minister to listen to the legitimate demands of the protesters by engaging in dialogue with their representatives so that the government can do everything in its power to resolve the problems and act responsibly.”
State television reported that parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also called for “necessary measures focused on increasing people’s purchasing power”.
But he warned that foreign agents and government opponents could try to exploit the unrest.
Fatemeh Mohajerani, a government spokesperson, added that the government are taking the economic plight of its citizens seriously.
She said: “The demands of the Iranian people are clear and legitimate, and we are listening to them and we recognise them.”
The current protests over the soaring cost of living have not yet reached the scale of the nationwide unrest seen in 2022.
Those demonstrations erupted after the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly breaking strict dress code rules.
Her death sparked months of turmoil, with hundreds killed, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands arrested.
Traders say wild price swings are paralysing sales of imported goods.
Many buyers and sellers are reportedly holding off deals until the situation becomes clearer.
According to the Etemad newspaper, one trader said officials had failed to help shopkeepers struggling with soaring costs.
He said: “They didn’t even follow up on how the dollar price affected our lives.”
“We had to decide to show our protest.
“With this dollar price, we can’t even sell a phone case, and the officials don’t care at all that our lives are run by selling mobile phones and accessories.”
Official figures put inflation at 52 percent year on year in December.
But many Iranians say real price rises, especially for basic goods, are far higher.
Iran’s economy has been battered by decades of Western sanctions.
Earlier, this year Israel accused Iran of harbouring nuclear weapons – a claim they denied – leading to a series of vicious US strikes on suspected facilities.
Why have anti-regime protests erupted?
A series of mass demonstrations have erupted across multiple Iranian cities in response to an escalating economic crisis.
The protests sparked over skyrocketing inflation, rising price of goods and the rapid depreciation of the Iranian rial.
There are wider frustrations around the tyrannical regime of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and its treatment of women.
Traders were the first to rise up together, but soon the demonstrations spread to universities.
The movement has become the largest outbreak of unrest since Mahsa Amini died in suspicious circumstances for allegedly not wearing a hijab.