<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hundreds of women lined up for a marathon on </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="_blank" title="Iran's"><span>Iran's</span></a><span> resort island of Kish in early December wearing matching shirts and leggings with hair tied loosely behind their backs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In a country where ignoring dress codes could land you hefty fines and prison sentences, the runners turned their focus on the course ahead, ignoring government directives and the complimentary headscarf placed by the race organisers in the marathon starter pack, in anticipation of violations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In October, a band played the "Seven Nation Army" riff to a headbanging crowd on the streets of the Iranian capital Tehran in a viral moment on social media reposted by the American guitarist behind the White Stripes hit, Jack White.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-former-prosecutor-jack-smith-says-he-had-enough-evidence-for-conviction/6289cfea-b7a5-4a1a-b7b2-1af4fdeac62d" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Ex-prosecutor tells Congress he had enough to convict Trump</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This week, shopkeepers, bazaar merchants and students took to the streets in several Iranian cities, chanting anti-regime slogans over their inability to pay rent after the currency hit record lows. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The protests were the largest since a 2022 nationwide uprising sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody after she was arrested for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US State Department said in a post on X that it was concerned about reports that protesters were facing "intimidation, violence, and arrests" and called on the authorities to end the crackdown.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/iran-major-protests-currency-fall-social-restrictions/da07a3e2-322e-4c40-b655-4c78b21494d1" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"First the bazaars. Then the students. Now the whole country. Iranians are united. Different lives, one demand: respect our voices and our rights," the State Department said in a post on its Farsi account on X.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/queen-camilla-speaks-out-about-assault-in-1960s-domestic-violence-campaign/cc058271-e5bb-47e7-b42f-cad88f687441" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Queen Camilla reveals indecent assault as a teen for first time</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite being so far limited, the protests mark the latest chapter in growing discontent in Iran while a population quietly reclaims public spaces and personal freedoms through uncoordinated acts of defiance. The Islamic theocratic regime – long opposed to Western cultural influence – appears to be overlooking the growing civil disobedience to focus on its own survival.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>At the helm is Iran's ailing 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who spent decades trying to fortify his regime from domestic and foreign threats, but must now contend with a failing strategy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Domestically, a frustrated youth are showing unprecedented defiance of Islamic norms, the national currency has plummeted to record lows, Iranian cities are running dry and protests are beginning to emerge. Outside its borders, its arch-enemy Israel continues lobbying the US over further military action against the Islamic Republic.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/jeffrey-epstein-over-5-million-documents-under-review-us/4c8a8869-f236-4ff8-bdc4-d1ed7fe8b776" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Millions more Epstein documents under review</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>With limited options, Khamenei is now adopting a cautious waiting game, avoiding major decisions and drastic strategies despite the mounting domestic challenges.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Many observers relay a sense of no one being at home; no one making any big decisions, or rather that Khamenei is not permitting any real decisions," Mohammad Ali Shabani, editor of Amwaj.media, a London-based news site focusing on Iran, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula countries, told CNN.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Right now, whatever decision Khamenei may make will likely feature a significant downside, so it seems as if he's sitting out any major decision," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Supreme Leader, or "</span><em><span>Vali-ye Faqih"</span></em><span> – a significant title granting its holder ultimate authority over all state and religious affairs – was reportedly incommunicado and confined to a secure underground bunker for his own safety during a 12-day war with Israel in June, a conflict that caught Tehran off guard despite decades of preparation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Khamenei emerged after the conflict with a weakened military, a heavily damaged nuclear program, and a population rapidly losing faith in the 36-year-old policies of the once-revolutionary leader.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In the months that followed, Iran's struggling population watched their nation grow increasingly dysfunctional with mounting crises. Persistent electricity blackouts, record inflation and soaring unemployment have left citizens disillusioned by their powerless leadership.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Smog fills Iran's skies after the government, desperate to keep power on this winter, switched to cheaper, lower-quality fuel, that's dirtier than natural gas.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Twenty provinces across Iran suffered this year through the country's worst drought in more than 40 years. A mismanaged water crisis that has become so dire that President Masoud Pezeshkian has openly proposed the idea of residents evacuating Tehran to ease the massive strain on the capital's dwindling supplies.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Economically, the country suffers as inflation soars. The rial hit historic lows this month triggering protests by shopkeepers as basic necessities spiral out of reach. Years of heavy money printing has devalued the currency so dramatically that the government's latest budget ran into the quadrillions of rials.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Iran's once cunning and innovative foreign policy has ground to a halt, with no diplomatic breakthrough in sight as Western powers tighten the screws through relentless sanctions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Revolutionary Guard's network of militant proxies, long a cornerstone of Iran's regional influence and deterrence, is badly weakened amid near-daily targeting from Israel, and a key territorial advantage was lost when Syrian rebels overthrew the Iran-aligned Assad dynasty last year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Weathering the pressure</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Islamic Republic of Iran has long been accustomed to crises and relentless pressure. Soon after the 1979 revolution the country became locked into an eight-year brutal war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, but it endured that conflict with fierce determination and ultimately survived.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Inheriting a nation that was wrecked and regionally isolated by war, a younger Khamenei faced the daunting task of resurrecting his fractured economy and society. He had to manage internal dissent and rivalries within Iran's complex clerical circles, confront unyielding international economic pressures, all while preserving the revolutionary ideals of sovereignty and independence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As Iran's current mounting crises deepen in the aftermath of yet another war and the country's political elite engage in a bitter blame game, the older Supreme Leader watches on, sticking rigidly to his familiar playbook: churning out missiles and drones, scrambling to rebuild battered regional proxies, and refusing Western preconditions for negotiations.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Everybody in Iran wants change. The hardliners want a return to the past, the reformists a shift to the future and many moderates want any change. Nobody is happy with the status quo," said Shabani, of Amwaj.media.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Khamenei had spent decades loyally consolidating the Islamic Revolution across all levels of Iranian society such that his inevitable end, whether by death or overthrow, will mark a monumental moment, one that could profoundly alter Iran's trajectory, depending on who comes after him.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Undoubtedly his departure from the scene would be the most pivotal moment in the history of the Islamic Republic … and there would be an opportunity in changing Iran's geostrategic direction, but it depends on who and what comes after Khamenei," Ali Vaez, director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group, said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It remains unclear whether the establishment is set on a successor to the Supreme Leader. Analysts cite potential candidates like Mojtaba Khamenei, his son and a cleric with influence, or Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the 1979 Revolution's founder.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The outside world has very little influence on who would come next, and it really depends on the internal dynamics and the balance of power between internal forces," Vaez said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Equally important is whether the West will provide the new leadership in Iran with a way out…if the West is to be prepared to capitalise on that moment of change in Iran it needs to start thinking about that as of now."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>'Job unfinished'</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Amid protests, civil disobedience and the simultaneous convergence of disasters, Khamenei now faces another external threat with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who flew to the US this week to press President Donald Trump on taking more aggressive action, sounding the alarm on Iran's ballistic missile program.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump had repeatedly declared Iran's nuclear program destroyed, politically closing the nuclear file and removing Israel's most powerful historical justification for US support for war with Iran, Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Centre for International policy said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Netanyahu's pivot to missiles should therefore be read not as the discovery of a new threat, but as an effort to manufacture a replacement casus belli after the nuclear argument collapsed" Toossi said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we're going to have to knock them down," Trump said after meeting Netanyahu, adding, "We'll knock the hell out of them."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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