Tariq Saeedi
The discontent curdled into frustration and frustration morphed into anger. — This is the description of the Iran situation in one sentence.
It started rather peacefully in Tehran when the shopkeepers and merchants (Bazaari Class) in Grand Bazar, also known as Tehran Bazar, staged a peaceful strike on 28 December 2025. The things snowballed rather fast after that. Students and women joined in the following days.
The street agitation has continued for nearly two weeks now. Without going into details of the situation, it is possible to offer some suggestions for returning to meaningful and last normalcy.
The first thing is to deconstruct the matrix and assemble it afresh.
An important step in this direction would be to reinterpret the doctrinal guidelines and divide them into the following categories:
- Mandatory
- Recommended
- Permissible
- Tolerable
This would be controversial but necessary.
It is a fact of life that hardliners are a part of the society, every society. However, they are not the entire society. The bigger part consists of moderates, who follow the middle path. This is the natural configuration of a society. It makes proper sense to accommodate the moderates.
Women, slightly more than the male population in Iran, are naturally hardworking and independent. More than 60% of university applicants are females. Women are shop owners and restaurant managers. They are eager to contribute to the national economy and in return they don’t want much – just some freedom and a revision of the dress code. This, as mentioned earlier, can be done by dividing the doctrinal guidelines into Mandatory, Recommended, Permissible, and Tolerable.
There is also the need to reimagine the structure and role of Basij, the sprawling paramilitary and civilian voluntary organization. It is present on every street and every corner of every town and city. By redefining the entire Basij concept, it is possible to harness volunteerism for the economic rebuild.
A logical way to peaceful streets is to think separately of the grievances of each group and offer some quick fix.
For instance, the students can be asked to describe their complaints and it should not be very difficult to solve their problems.
The shopkeepers and merchant class (Bazaari Class) is facing a plethora of challenges from the freefall of Rial to stubborn bureaucracy.
The inflation is already in high double digits and the government’s decision in early January 2026 to end a preferential subsidized exchange rate for importing basic goods is expected to cause further price spikes of 20-30% for many items, particularly chicken and eggs.
If it is not possible to restore temporarily the subsidized exchange rates, the government can consider barter trade for importing the staples including wheat and wheat flour (though current stock is sufficient for considerable part of this year), corn, barley, soybean meal, cooking oil, rice, and beans.
Moreover, as a stopgap arrangement, the government may consider raising the monthly stipend per person from $7 to about $15 or so. Also, there is the need to streamline the system of food vouchers.
The government is certainly taking some initial steps in this direction but more needs to be done sooner.
The participation of women in the protests is built on the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement of 2022. Their demands need to be treated as a subset of the larger set of issues. It would be advisable to let women negotiate with women and respect the consensus they reach.
Above all, there is the need to deal the protestors with patience and foresight, keeping the larger interests of Iran as a country and the Iranian people as a nation in mind. /// nCa, 9 January 2026