• Killed: at least 22
• Detained: at least 3,700
• Flashpoint: Economic Grievances
• Scope and Location: Protests began in Mashhad but spread to more than 80 cities and provincial towns with at least 42,000 participants

On December 28, 2017, demonstrators in Mashhad, Iran’s second largest city, took to the streets to protest the government’s economic policies and the high prices of basic goods and commodities. The demonstrations quickly spread across the country to over 140 cities in every province, organized largely through social media messaging apps. The scope of the protests also expanded from economic woes to Iranian involvement in the Middle East and calls for regime change. Slogans included “not Gaza, not Lebanon, my life for Iran,” “leave Syria, think about us,” “Khamenei, shame on you, leave the country alone!” and “death to the dictator.” The protests were the largest and most intense since the 2009 Green Movement. But unlike the Green Movement, the 2017-18 protests were largely leaderless and disorganized. After two weeks of protests, at least 22 protesters were killed and more than 3,700 were detained.