The Iranian regime’s violent suppression of nationwide protests is not merely a humanitarian catastrophe. It is a national security threat Washington can no longer treat as secondary. When a state uses mass violence and information blackouts to preserve itself, it does not become more stable. It becomes more dangerous.

The protests that erupted in late December 2025 began with economic failure. Inflation destroyed purchasing power, unemployment surged, and currency collapse turned ordinary life into a daily emergency. Those pressures exposed a regime that prioritized ideological projects and regional adventurism over competent governance. As protests spread, the government responded with lethal force, mass arrests, and an internet shutdown to isolate citizens and conceal the scale of repression.