On August 10, 2025, a sweeping wave of protests rippled across Iran, exposing the deep-seated fragility of a regime besieged by its own incompetence. From the sweltering suburbs of the capital to vital industrial hubs, citizens from all walks of life took to the streets in a unified display of outrage. These are not isolated grievances but interconnected symptoms of a systemic collapse, fueled by decades of corruption and catastrophic mismanagement that have pushed the nation’s essential services and economy to the breaking point.
Power and Water Crises Ignite Public Fury
In the oppressive summer heat, crippling power outages became a flashpoint for popular anger. Residents in the Tehran suburbs of Golestan and Salehiyeh staged protests at local electricity offices after sudden, prolonged blackouts paralyzed their communities.
August 19—Tehran province, northern Iran
Residents of Golestan and Salehiyeh counties rally to protest constant and extended electricity outages which has brought life to a standstill.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/0Qlg6MCgs1— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) August 10, 2025
Similar demonstrations erupted across Gilan province, including in the cities of Talesh, Rasht, Khoshkebijar, and Khomam. In a potent display of defiance in Talesh, protesters marched with a banner sarcastically declaring, “There is no worship like a blackout – Ministry of Fried Eggs!” (which translates to Vezarat-e Nimroo, a play on the name of the Ministry of Energy, Vezarat-e Niroo)—a bitter joke mocking the regime’s inability to provide even the most basic necessities. The crisis has also hit the economy, with industrialists in the Chahardangeh industrial park near Tehran protesting the devastating impact of the blackouts on their production.
This infrastructure failure is mirrored by a deepening water catastrophe. A regime official, the CEO of Tehran’s Water and Wastewater Company for Zone Five, recently made the stunning admission that “Tehran has no water,” acknowledging that the capital’s water situation has “passed the point of limitation.” This confession is substantiated by official reports from state media site “Khabar Fouri,” which confirmed that over 60% of the capacity of Tehran’s dams is empty, following a 40% decline in reserves since 2021.
August 10—Babolsar, northern Iran
Locals gathered in front of the local electricity office to protest frequent and prolonged power outages, chanting "Water and electricity are our undeniable rights."#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/LGkhJ3DnZ5— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) August 10, 2025
The regime’s priorities were starkly illustrated in Rostamabad, where villagers facing severe water shortages discovered that local IRGC and state officials were allegedly protecting a private mineral water company’s operations, effectively plundering the public’s water resources for private gain.
A Unified Cry Against Poverty and Plunder
Simultaneously, a front of economic protests exposed the regime’s rampant corruption. Pensioners in Tehran and Ahvaz rallied outside the Social Security Organization and Refah Bank, respectively. Their central demand—that the Social Security Organization “must be freed from the government’s monopoly”—is a direct accusation that the state is plundering the retirement funds they worked their entire lives to build. Their chant in Ahvaz, “Refah Bank is ours, it is the product of our labor!” resonated as a cry against systemic theft.
August 10—Ahvaz, southwest Iran
Retirees of the Social Security Organization rally in the summer heat to reiterate their demands for higher pensions and better services and to demand for the SSO to be freed from government control.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/r6EnD6uwNz— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) August 10, 2025
This sentiment of economic injustice was echoed across the country. In the port city of Mahshahr, approximately 1,500 workers at the Razi Petrochemical complex protested against blatant wage discrimination. In other cities, employees of a major chain store demonstrated over two months of unpaid salaries and five months of missing insurance premiums. In Yazd, applicants for a state-backed housing project protested for the umpteenth time against astronomical price hikes and a unilateral increase in loan interest rates from 18% to 23%, leaving their life savings in limbo.
Iran’s Healthcare System Nears Collapse
The protests extended deep into Iran’s professional class, with healthcare workers sounding the alarm on a system in crisis. In Mashhad, nurses and radiographers gathered outside the provincial governor’s office to protest abysmal working conditions and unpaid benefits. Coordinated demonstrations by radiographers also took place in Tabriz and Kermanshah.
August 19—Kermanshah, western Iran
Radiologists hold protest rally, demanding better tariffs, an end to discriminatory policies, and proper rights and management of the radiology sector by government agencies. Similar protests are taking place in other provinces.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/3YqZBQZKc0— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) August 10, 2025
Underscoring the severity of the situation, the head of the country’s Nursing Organization publicly confirmed that severe staff shortages have already led to the closure of entire hospital wards, warning that hospitals themselves are now at risk of shutting down. This is a life-and-death consequence of the regime’s chronic neglect and mismanagement of the health sector.
These protests are more than a collection of scattered protests; they represent a unified, cross-sectoral rejection of the ruling theocracy. From retirees and industrial workers to nurses and families without water, the Iranian people are holding the regime accountable for a reality defined by corruption, incompetence, and decay. The slogans and demands articulated in streets across the country are not pleas for minor reforms but a powerful call for fundamental change.
As the regime proves incapable of resolving the myriad crises it has created, the Iranian people are demonstrating with ever-greater clarity that they see a future free from this failed system, and their collective voice for justice and freedom will not be silenced.