By Joshua Arnold

President Donald Trump has found a new source of leverage against Iran’s Islamist regime — the Iranian people themselves. Protests that began nine days ago have now spread to 26 of Iran’s 31 provinces, as economic unrest catalyzed widespread dissatisfaction with the regime to the brink of open revolt. As is its habit, the repressive regime is now turning its weapons upon its own subjects, earning a stern warning from President Trump. “If Iran shots [sic] and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their [the protesters’] rescue,” the president said on social media. “We are locked and loaded and ready to go.”

The protest began with shopkeepers and bazaar merchants closing their doors in response to dire economic conditions. Since Iran’s war with Israel, its rial currency has lost 60% of its value, dropping at one point to a record low of 1.445 million to the dollar. Iran’s annual inflation rate reached 42.2% in December, with food prices up 72%. Meanwhile, Iran’s central bank registered a decline in gross GDP of 0.6% (0.8% excluding oil) for the six months beginning in late March 2025.

Residents of the oil-rich country have also suffered power outages and now face rising fuel prices; the central government puts more focus on building missiles, enriching uranium, and keeping its own coffers full than on the plight of its own people. The Iranian regime has even neglected to procure a stable water supply for the capital metropolis.

But what began as protests over economic conditions quickly grew into a more general challenge to the unbending regime. Footage emerging on social media showed protestors chanting “freedom” and “death to the dictator,” as well as calling for a return of Reza Pahlavi, son and heir of the late shah who was booted from power in 1979.

At first, the Iranian mullahs attempted to placate the protestors’ concerns, acknowledging “the pressure on people’s livelihoods” and promising reform. Mohammad Reza Farzin, Iran’s chief central banker, resigned last Monday as the fall guy for the ongoing inflation.

But the protests kept spreading and the popular hatred for their government began to cross the line into open rebellion. In one attack, demonstrators breached a police station affiliated with Iran’s Republican Guard Corps (IRGC) and burned several police cars. In another, they threw stones at police officers and regime-aligned militia members, resulting in one death and a dozen injuries among the government-aligned forces.

Soon, the Iranian regime had reverted to its more typical tactics of suppressing dissent through brutal force. Across protests at 22 locations in 78 cities, the Iranian regime has allegedly killed at least 20 demonstrators and arrested 990, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI) on Monday.

But the crackdown predated the protests. Since its catastrophic war with Israel in the summer of 2025, the Iranian regime says it has arrested 21,000 “suspects,” and international watchdogs have documented between 1,500-2,000 executions. “The only strategy the regime knows is repression,” said professor Saeid Golkar.

After sweeping out the shah to popular approval, Iran’s Islamist regime has faced increasing popular opposition in recent decades. In 2009, protests in the “Green Movement” challenged former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection. “Day of Rage” protests lasted for a year during the 2011 Arab Spring. High food prices spurred protests in 2017 and 2018, gas prices sparked riots in 2019, and the deadly enforcement of Islamic morality laws initiated protests in 2022.

In response to the 2022 protests, the Islamist regime quelled the protests by killing more than 500 people, suggesting the current repression could become even more deadly.

Yet some signs suggest the result of the current protests could be different. Over the past two years, Iran has suffered one humiliating setback after another, from the devastation of its terrorist proxies, to the collapse of the allied Assad regime in Syria, to Iran’s own defeat by Israel and the United States. As a result, Iran’s military might has been hollowed out, both physically and morally, prompting more protestors to boldly shake the already-shaking regime.

Additionally, Iran continues to face pressure from both Trump and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, who have both expressed solidarity with the protestors. “We’re watching it very closely,” Trump told reporters. “If they start killing people like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.”

Furthermore, one underreported aspect of the Iranian protests is the rapid growth of Christianity within the country, FRC’s Senior Fellow for International Religious Freedom Lela Gilbert told The Washington Stand. Despite a lack of official statistics, a 2021 report suggested Christianity was the fastest-growing religion in the country. In 2024, an Iranian court sentenced five Christian converts to 25 years in prison for abandoning Islam.

“Despite anti-Christian persecution and crackdowns, numerous reports of Iranian converts to Christianity continue. These appear on social media and through personal contacts,” Gilbert explained. “There are stunning stories of increasing numbers of new believers, even in the face of potentially harsh reactions and abuse by disapproving authorities. Yet, despite these concerns, and alongside personal attacks from families and friends, these new believers remain faithful and amazingly outspoken.”

Christianity constitutes a kingdom “not of this world” (John 18:36), and it rarely presents a direct challenge to the governing authorities that exist (Romans 13:1). However, the spread of Christianity also promotes ideas of human dignity and individual freedom, working these through a society like yeast leavening dough (Matthew 13:33). This has made Christianity one of the most powerful forces for toppling despotism in history.

Former President Barack Obama later reflected that he made a mistake not to do more to encourage the Green protests in 2009. Under a President Trump flush with victory, the United States could do many things short of military action —which is probably not off the table — to aid Iranian protestors against the regime. The Wall Street Journal lists several possible options: “restoring internet access when the regime cuts it off, unmasking regime thugs,” enforcing accountability for human rights abuses, and tightening enforcement of existing oil sanctions.

Would these actions be enough? Only the one “who brings princes to nothing” (Isaiah 40:23) knows for certain. But a certain former Venezuelan dictator might advise Ayatollah Ali Khamenei not to underestimate President Trump. According to The Times, a British paper, Khamenei has already worked out an “escape plan” whereby he and 20 close associates would flee to Russia with about $95 billion in assets. Such is not the plan of a man confident is his regime’s longevity.

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.