Nationwide Defiance: The "New Era" Uprising Shakes Regional Power to Its Core

The winter of 2025–2026 has marked a historic turning point in Iran, as a nationwide uprising has surged across all 31 provinces. What began on December 28, 2025, as a localized strike by shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar quickly metastasized into the most significant challenge to the Islamic Republic’s authority in decades. Driven by decades of systemic oppression and a collapsing economy, the movement has unified diverse social strata under a singular cry for the end of clerical rule.