Iran Protests and Historical Milestones + January 2026

Key facts

• On January 16, 1979, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi boarded a plane and left Iran, marking the end of the monarchy.
• Ruhollah Khomeini – the charismatic clerical leader returned from exile in February 1979 – became the symbol of the revolution.
• After Khomeini’s death in 1989, Iran’s leadership passed to Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who had served as president from 1981–89.
• The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated by President Hassan Rouhani’s administration had Iran curb its uranium enrichment in return for sanctions relief.
• In September 2025, Britain, France, and Germany formally triggered the JCPOA’s ‘snap-back’ mechanism, restoring United Nations (UN) sanctions on Iran’s nuclear and missile activities.
• The new round of protests began on December 28, 2025, and by early January 2026 had spread across Iran.
• Ayatollah Khamenei cultivated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a personal power base, shaping it into an instrument of control and regional influence.
• Reuters cited December 2025 inflation at 42.5% (year-on-year), and the British Parliament briefing reports food price inflation above 70% in 2025.