An attack on a government building in southern Iran was carried out earlier by citizens, according to the authorities, on the fourth day of protests against the high cost of living and the economic crisis facing the Islamic Republic.

At the same time, the award-winning Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi referred to the protests of recent days as a “revolution” meant to “push history forward.”

“The entrance gate (…) of the provincial governor’s building was damaged in an attack carried out by several individuals,” said Hamed Ostovar, head of the Judiciary in the city of Fasa, as reported by the judicial website Mizan, without specifying the circumstances or explicitly referring to demonstrators.

Fasa is located 780 kilometers south of the capital, Tehran, where a spontaneous movement against the high cost of living began on Sunday among merchants before spreading to some universities, quickly gaining momentum in many parts of the country.

“An uprising to push history forward”
The protests that have shaken Iran in recent days are an “uprising” aimed at “pushing history forward,” said the 65-year-old director Panahi, who has been imprisoned twice in Iran and who won the Palme d’Or last May at the Cannes Film Festival for his film A Simple Accident.

“Shared pain has turned into a cry in the streets. For four days, the people have risen up, not to complain, but to demand change,” he wrote on Instagram.

“This revolution is a will that has decided to persist, to move forward and to propel history,” added the filmmaker, an opponent of the Iranian regime. “When there is nothing left to lose, fear disappears. Voices unite, silence is broken, and there is no turning back,” Panahi continued.

Today, the prosecutor general warned that Iran’s judiciary would show “strictness” if the protests are exploited with the aim of destabilization. “From a judicial standpoint, peaceful demonstrations to defend livelihoods (…) are understandable,” said Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, according to state television.

“There will be a strict response”
“Any attempt to turn economic protests into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property, or implementation of scenarios engineered abroad will be met with a lawful, proportionate, and strict response,” he warned.

Responding to the protest movement, President Masoud Pezeshkian said that he hears the protesters’ “legitimate demands.”

Yesterday, Tuesday, student protests broke out at least ten universities in the capital Tehran and in several other Iranian cities, according to the IRNA and ILNA news agencies.

Previously, Iranian media had not reported new protests, even though schools, banks, and public institutions were closed by order of the authorities across almost the entire country due to cold weather and to save energy.

Different from 2022
At this stage, this movement against the high cost of living does not resemble the large-scale protests that shook Iran in late 2022 following the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman who died while in custody.

Her death, after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly in violation of Iran’s strict dress code, triggered a wave of anger during which hundreds of people were killed, including dozens of members of the security forces.