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Will the Iranian Regime Withstand the Uprisings? Potential Reaction of Tehran and Possible US Intervention

Published January 9, 2026, 10:46

The handling of the uprising in Iran is likely to determine the future of the Tehran regime, according to international relations expert Charalambos Chrysostomou. The protests in Iran are in their 12th day, starting on December 28th, and appear to be spreading to all cities. “It appears that the protests and demonstrations are expanding to many cities in Iran and the capital, Tehran, and are now reaching the level of an uprising. These are not isolated protests in some areas. They are violent and the Iranian regime is undertaking operations to suppress them violently. We are in a situation of widespread popular protest in many cities, reaching the level of an uprising,” said Mr. Chrysostomou. He noted that this is not the first time this has happened, referring to four other major protests in 1999, twenty years after the Islamic Revolution, in 2009 and more recently in 2017-18, and in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police for not wearing the hijab. “Now is perhaps the fifth wave of such demonstrations,” he pointed out. The main cause, he said, is the appalling economic conditions and the rise in prices that are oppressing a large part of the Iranian population. Another reason, he added, is the authoritarian restriction of human rights and freedoms by the theocratic regime. “The lack of human rights, poverty and economic hardship have overflowed and we are seeing these now widespread demonstrations,” he said. Will the regime withstand? A question, Mr. Chrysostomou noted, is whether the United States will intervene and in what way. US President Donald Trump has already stated that if the violent suppression and killings of protesters continue, the United States will intervene against the Iranian regime. The second question, continued Mr. Chrysostomou, is how the regime itself will react to these demonstrations. “These two lead to one thing: whether the regime will remain in power or whether it is now so weakened that it may fall,” Chrysostomou stressed, noting that we cannot answer this with certainty at this time. As he said, a violent suppression with hundreds of deaths and thousands of arrests could once again allow the regime to impose itself on the uprisings. However, he noted that the regime is currently very weakened both internally and externally and may not be able to control the security forces in various regions. He also reminded that after the war with Israel and the US strike, the economic and social situation has deteriorated even further. “Therefore, if they cannot contain the popular uprising, they may proceed with some kind of political or economic actions or decisions to mitigate the situation,” he estimated.