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The clerical dictatorship is facing a fresh convergence of economic and political pressures as the rial fell to another record low, medical costs pushed some patients out of treatment, and factional warfare over negotiations spilled from official media into loyalist street rallies. On September 9, 2026, the free-market dollar climbed to about 233,900 tomans, nearly 13 percent above its level two weeks earlier and roughly 25 percent higher than a month ago.
The ruling establishment’s factional conflict is no longer confined to newspapers, parliament or social media. At loyalist nighttime rallies on September 7, speakers and crowds openly targeted former regime president Hassan Rouhani over his calls to end the war “honorably” and consult the public over prolonged confrontation. In Shahriar, cleric Aqil Kalantari declared that Rouhani was among those who “should now be on the gallows,” while challenging him and his allies to appear in the streets. In Mashhad, participants chanted, “Broken be the tongue that speaks of compromise,” while a rally in Kerman featured pledges of allegiance to Mojtaba Khamenei.
The assault is being reinforced from the top. Fars portrayed Rouhani’s argument that the Strait of Hormuz should be a route for commerce rather than permanent warfare as putting the clothes of “prosperity” on “surrender.” It quoted Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei saying the strait must remain an instrument for forcing adversaries to accept Tehran’s demands. Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari went further, describing Rouhani’s “honorable end” to the war and Mohammad Khatami’s “honorable peace” as “disgraceful and humiliating surrender” and urging judicial and security bodies not to ignore the statements.
Iran's #fuel hike takes effect: station-card gasoline doubles to 10,000 tomans/liter. Pumps lack 5-digit displays; queues form. Ahvaz rail worker self-immolates after 5 months unpaid wages and dismissal. Two Basij killed in Sistan-Baluchistan. Despair and strains deepen.
by…— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 8, 2026
The judiciary has now entered the dispute in language that raises the stakes further. Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei asked whether someone who speaks in a way that “makes the enemy happy” is committing “treason” or a “crime.” At almost the same moment, the regime’s Jomhouri Eslami newspaper complained that attacks against Pezeshkian and former officials had “reached a peak” and had even taken over some of the nighttime rallies. Pezeshkian himself responded by asking, “Why should we fight each other?” The contradiction is stark: Mojtaba Khamenei’s demand for cohesion is now being invoked by rival factions while their confrontation becomes increasingly public and personal.
Patients Are Abandoning Treatment
The political battle is unfolding as the livelihood crisis moves into a more dangerous phase. Ahmad Ariyaeinejad, a member of parliament’s Health Commission, warned on September 8 that rising medicine and medical costs are causing patients to postpone treatment or abandon it altogether. He said declining attendance at some clinics should itself be regarded as a “serious alarm.” In one case he cited, a worker who is also a tenant requires two injections each month costing a combined 74 million tomans—just for the medication.
The latest domestic figures show why. Mehr reported year-on-year increases of 220 percent for gabapentin, 375 percent for acetaminophen, 285 percent for amoxicillin and 100 percent for fluoxetine, while some insulin prices have risen as much as sixfold. Another member of parliament’s Health Commission, Salman Eshaqi, said more than 70 percent of treatment costs are being paid directly by patients. The result is no longer simply more expensive prescriptions: households already struggling with food, rent and transportation are increasingly being forced to choose whether they can afford treatment at all.
"#Economic hardship, fear of renewed unrest and the unresolved dispute over war versus negotiation are increasingly feeding the same internal struggle that Mojtaba Khamenei has repeatedly tried to suppress," @MansoreGolestan writes.https://t.co/eeeSgCy87J
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 7, 2026
Economic Pressure Produces New Friction
Fresh labor action is continuing alongside the health crisis. On September 9, workers on the Sixth National Gas Pipeline in Ahvaz and Bidboland continued protests over employment conditions and the outsourcing of permanent work to contractors. ILNA reported that the employees had protested for several days without receiving a response, with one worker describing contracting as “an injustice to the workforce.” Separate actions were reported by SnappBox couriers in Semnan over fares and higher fuel costs and by landowners in Arak.
Even the gasoline increase is creating new disputes inside the establishment after its implementation. Parliament deputy speaker Ali Nikzad acknowledged that public concern over its wider inflationary effect is justified: “The people are right,” he said, because higher fuel costs raise transportation and ultimately the final price of goods. Playing the blame game, he added that the manner in which the government implemented the policy was “not what we had agreed with the government.”
The latest picture is therefore one of pressures reinforcing one another. Economic decisions are generating new labor and household grievances; medical inflation is forcing some patients out of treatment; and the dispute over war and negotiations has spilled into loyalist rallies, media attacks and warnings of possible criminality. Rather than suppressing factional warfare, the leadership’s demand for unity is increasingly becoming another weapon in it.