A significant and intensified wave of protests swept across Iran on May 21 and 22, 2025, laying bare the profound public anger simmering over deteriorating living conditions and systemic government mismanagement.
From truck drivers to bakers, and farmers to factory workers, citizens from diverse sectors and regions voiced their desperation, signaling a critical juncture in the nation’s socio-economic crisis.
The protests on Thursday, May 22, 2025, were prominently marked by a nationwide truck drivers’ strike. Drivers in key cities including Kermanshah, Arak, Bandar Abbas, Qazvin, Shiraz, and Ilam participated, effectively paralyzing shipping terminals and transport companies as no drivers appeared for loading.
This widespread action stemmed from immense economic pressures, notably exorbitant increases in social security premiums, reportedly reaching 3.3 million tomans per month, while transport fares remained stagnant and the costs of spare parts and fuel surged.
In Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, the situation had already intensified a day earlier, on May 21, where striking drivers blocked the Geno Road, setting a pickup truck ablaze in the middle of the thoroughfare.
May 22—Kermanshah, western Iran
Tanker drivers on strike, protesting high fuel prices and low income.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/JDOkHsB6QN— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 22, 2025
Video footage from the scene captured voices exclaiming, “Strikes have started here in Geno, Bandar Abbas, they have blocked the road… the roads are closed.”
The crisis extended beyond transport. On May 22, 2025, frequent and unscheduled power outages in one of Iran’s agricultural and fish farming regions led to a devastating catastrophe. Tens of thousands of fish perished, ponds dried up, and 30-year-old trees were reported to be on the verge of destruction.
Farmers and fish breeders voiced their anger over the “deadly silence of officials and their unresponsiveness to their suffering.”
A day earlier, on May 21, residents of Zarangoush village in Ilam Province, western Iran, exasperated by several consecutive days without water, blocked the main Darreh Shahr-Ilam Road. They asserted they had no choice but to protest this way to be heard, questioning, “How long must we live without water in this unbearable heat?! Why is no one accountable?” The report noted that in this province, “it seems the only way to be seen is to block roads and protest in the streets.”
May 22—Sanandaj, western Iran
Protest by bakers, highlighting their grievances over escalating costs and lack of government support.#IranProtestpic.twitter.com/U2jcDMf3yP— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 22, 2025
Bakers on the Frontline of Economic Despair
Bakers across the nation also took to the streets. On May 22, 2025, bakers in Sanandaj, western Iran, protested ever-increasing costs and livelihood challenges, while in Neyshabur, northeast Iran, bakers closed their shops and gathered before the Bakers’ Union building, decrying exorbitant cost increases and insufficient support.
These followed similar actions on May 21, when fancy bread bakers in Yazd, central Iran, gathered to protest a sharp increase in flour prices. In Shiraz, southern Iran, bakers protested in front of the Fars Governorate building against the “Nanino” project, which they view as an impediment.
For nearly a month, bakers in numerous cities—including Qom, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Birjand, Kermanshah, and Mashhad—have protested unpaid government subsidies, the rising costs of production and raw materials, and debilitating power cuts. Ahmad Soleimani, head of the Sabzevar Bakers’ Association, stated that subsidies had not been paid since May 3rd, leaving some bakery owners with less than 10 million tomans per month and making it difficult to retain workers paid as little as 500,000 Tomans daily.
May 22—Rasht, northern Iran
Protest by workers at the Gilan Tobacco Complex in Iran, highlighting their grievances over receiving only half their monthly wages and a significant decline in production.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/KnKbflI3H4— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 22, 2025
Discontent Spreads Across Various Sectors
The protests on May 21, 2025, further revealed the breadth of the discontent. Retirees in Isfahan, central Iran, gathered before the provincial pension office demanding pension increases, emphasizing their inability to cover basic needs amidst rising inflation.
Workers at the Abadan Refinery, southwest Iran, chanted, “The salary is not enough!” protesting low wages inconsistent with their harsh working conditions. In Qom, central Iran, workers of the Mihan Dairy Company went on strike, gathering at the company headquarters with chants of “Prices are in dollars, our salaries are in rials!”
Khuzestan canola and wheat farmers protested before the Governorate building, demanding immediate payment for delivered crops. Workers at the Gilani Tobacco Complex in Rasht, northern Iran, protested receiving only half their monthly wages amid a sharp decline in production.
May 21—Shiraz, southern Iran
Protest by bakers against the regime's economic policies affecting their livelihoods.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/VJmu7qz0Kc— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) May 21, 2025
A Regime Failing its People
Amidst these widespread economic grievances, rebellious youth set fire to a base belonging to the suppressive Basij forces in Tehran on May 21, the latest of a series of protest activities against the regime’s oppressive centers.
These continuous and varied protests paint a stark picture of an Iran grappling with a severe and complex economic crisis. It has become increasingly clear to the public that the ruling regime lacks both the will and the capability to solve these deep-seated problems.
The immense costs of rampant corruption, chronic mismanagement, and the diversion of national resources towards regional conflicts and nuclear ambitions—leading to crippling international sanctions—are being borne by the Iranian people.
Fundamental crises like electricity outages and water shortages are worsening, alongside a relentless surge in the prices of essential goods and a catastrophic decline in the purchasing power of wages. This dire situation, coupled with a consistent lack of genuine response from officials, is pushing broad segments of society towards despair and increasing the likelihood of wider, more intense civil unrest as people feel they have little left to lose.