Iran’s Currency Crisis Sparks Protests And Attracts Foreign Meddling
John P. Ruehl – Independent Media Institute
01-30-2026 ~ The plunge of Iran’s rial has resulted in nationwide protests exposing deep economic and social grievances. Exile groups and foreign powers are quietly testing Tehran’s strength amid its weakest point since the 1979 revolution.
In early January, several currency trackers briefly displayed the Iranian rial’s value as “$0.00,” unable to process the speed and scale of the depreciation, making it unexchangeable on important international trading platforms. The fallout quickly translated into a protest in Teheran’s bazaar district and eventually led to a mass unrest.
Unlike the 2019 fuel price protests or 2022 women-led demonstrations, this wave was initiated by Iran’s commercial class and is being seen as a “battle for survival.” Their dissent over the worsening economic conditions drew in other groups around the country, producing widespread instability despite little coordination. Even conservative Iranian government estimates acknowledge more than 3,000 deaths, with other sources placing the toll as high as 30,000. On January 23, 2026, the UN Human Rights Council issued an “urgent investigation” to look into the “brutal crackdown” on protests, which have been “described by UN officials as the deadliest since the 1979 revolution,” according to the Geneva Solutions. The U.S. also announced new sanctions in response to the violent measures and has threatened a military attack, which has led to “worry” in the region. “Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal—NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS—one that is good for all parties,” President Donald Trump said on the Truth Social platform on January 28. “Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!”
Looming over Iran’s unrest is the question of foreign involvement. Western states and their regional partners have long sought to limit Iran’s influence abroad, and exacerbating its internal turmoil creates an opportunity to apply additional pressure. Yet visible interference, whether through a military strike or admission of operatives on the ground, risks validating Tehran’s claims of outside influence, intensifying repression and provoking wider regional instability.
Economic Breakdown
Iran’s economic foundation, weakened by chronic mismanagement and decades of Western sanctions, suffered particularly severe strain in 2025. Beginning in February, energy shortages disrupted daily life and sharply reduced industrial output, compounded by Israeli targeting of Iranian energy infrastructure during the 12-day war in June 2025. Extreme drought created “water bankruptcy,” raising fears Tehran could run out of water. Additionally, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom activated the “trigger mechanism” under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in September of last year, resulting in the restoration of UN sanctions.
Tehran also faced increasing pressure from Washington. Executive Order 13902, issued in 2020 to weaken Iran’s oil, shipping, and financial networks, expanded through 2025, alongside tougher sanctions on Iran’s “ghost fleet” used to transport oil and evade sanctions.
American authorities have also targeted billions of dollars in Iran’s “shadow banking network” across China, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), disrupting its revenue channels. And though Iran managed to export more oil in 2025 than in prior years, the heavy reliance on intermediaries and steep discounts reduced profits. As access to hard currency narrowed, the rial fell roughly 50 percent over the first 11 months of 2025.
As the government’s ability to stabilize the rial through interest rates, public spending, and monetary policy faltered, black market exchange rates effectively became the benchmark, overtaking official pricing. The crisis mirrors patterns seen in other countries under prolonged financial pressure; the Venezuelan bolivar’s collapse in the 2010s, for example, was a result of bad economic policies and years of U.S. sanctions that began under the Obama administration and intensified under Trump, driving hyperinflation in 2017-2019 and mass protests.
After the bolivar’s redenomination in 2018 and 2021, informal dollarization took hold as the government stopped resisting the dollar’s use. The U.S. dollars became the default for major purchases, while the fast-depreciating bolivar was only used for small, everyday transactions. The bolivar continued to decline in 2025 amid renewed U.S. pressure to remove then-president Nicolás Maduro, leading to further social upheaval in Venezuela.
Similar to Venezuela, the Iranian government has attempted various fixes to prevent a slide, financing deficits by printing money, which caused inflation to surge. As Eurasia Review stated, the government also implemented “a three-tier gasoline pricing system. This caused the price of non-subsidized fuel to jump to 50,000 rials per liter. … It triggered immediate disruptions in supply chains and sent food inflation soaring past 70 percent.” Read more
Spotting Conspiracy Talk: A Linguistic Guide For The Digital Age
Quo Vadis, Nero and the burning of Rome, Altemus Edition, 1897. Illustration by M. de Lipman.
01-25-2026 ~ Learning to spot the language of conspiracy theories is a key skill for navigating digital media.
Editor’s Note: This article, by nature of the topic, may include language that is considered sensitive and/or vulgar to some readers.
While we may be most familiar with modern-day conspiracy theories about government intelligence, unidentified flying objects, anti-vaccination, COVID-19, and more, conspiracy theories have existed for centuries.
In July of AD 64, the great fire of Rome destroyed two-thirds of the city-state—which had a population of around 2 million—resulting in widespread death and homelessness. Despite several contributing factors such as intense summer heat, dry winds, and the prevalence of wooden houses, various conspiracy theories emerged, ranging from Emperor Nero “deliberately” starting the fire to “blaming” the Christian community for it.
When the fire began, Nero was in a different city altogether, leading to claims that he had conspired to bring about the catastrophe to rebuild Rome. Coincidentally, the Domus Aurea, an extravagant palatial project, was constructed on a portion of the ruins, which fueled conspiracy theories about his alleged involvement, despite evidence that he also supported relief efforts. In turn, Nero placed the blame on Christians, resulting in the crucifixion and burning alive of many from the religious community. There is also evidence that some Christians believed in prophecies about a forthcoming catastrophic fire in Rome at the time.
While the actual cause of this infernal disaster remains unproven, it illustrates how conspiracy narratives can arise from social crises. Psychologically, fear and uncertainty can be strong motivators, and conspiracy theories empower people by filling a knowledge gap. Socially, tribalism and in-group/out-group tendencies may also contribute to the birth of such theories; a united front can foster a sense of control. These psychosocial explanations reveal that we want to feel in control, and information is power.
Conspiracy in the Digital Age
Unlike in Ancient Rome, our everyday interactions with cyberspace make it easy to access and spread information. Now, more than two decades into the rise of Web 2.0, it might be assumed that social media has led to an increase in conspiracy theories and in the number of people who believe in them, but this may not necessarily be the case. Although evidence is mixed on whether social media has caused a population-wide increase in conspiracy beliefs over time, multiple studies show that people who rely heavily on social media for news are more likely to endorse conspiracy theories than those who do not. A 2022 multi-study report in the journal PLOS One still cautions “not to dismiss the availability of conspiracy theories online, the large numbers of people who believe in some conspiracy theories, or the potential consequences of those beliefs.”
Researcher Keith Raymond Harris echoes this concern in a 2022 article in the Conversation, arguing that even with “very small numbers of true believers [in conspiracy theories], the high visibility of these false ideas can still make them dangerous.” Step Together, an Australian support service committed to ending violent extremism, cautions that the dangers of conspiracy theories include provoking social conflict, increasing prejudices, spreading fear, and eroding trust.
Given the accessibility and visibility of information that the internet affords us, we need to develop digital media literacy that empowers us with critical thinking tools to evaluate the credibility of information.
What Exactly is a Conspiracy Theory?
Before learning how to identify a conspiracy theory, it is important to understand what it is and is not. While the term “conspiracy theory” may sometimes be used in a generic sense to describe a false narrative that promotes misinformation or disinformation, such as fake news, this is an overgeneralized and inaccurate description.
For one, conspiracies can be real or unreal. The Watergate scandal is an oft-cited example of a government conspiracy that did take place.
Michael Shermer, science historian and educator, in distinguishing between conspiracy and conspiracy theory, defines a conspiracy as “two or more people plotting or acting in secret to gain an advantage or to harm others immorally or illegally” and a conspiracy theory as “a structured belief about a conspiracy, whether it’s real or not.”
A 2022 meta-analysis of conspiracy theories in online spaces characterizes these beliefs as “unique epistemological accounts that refute official accounts and instead propose alternative explanations of events or practices by referring to individuals or groups acting in secret.”
More broadly, conspiracy theories are a social phenomenon that uses narrative to explain events, often amid a societal crisis. As humans, we have a proclivity for narrative; we use stories to teach, inform, and explore—not just to entertain. Essentially, they are a device we use to understand ourselves, our experiences, and our surroundings. A 2018 study published in the journal Topics in Cognitive Science explains that “the specific adaptive value of storytelling lies in making sense of non‐routine, uncertain, or novel situations.” The team of researchers further posits that storytelling is not merely an adaptive activity but also a collective activity, “promoting social cohesion by strengthening intra‐group identity and clarifying intergroup relations.”
Expanding on this component of intergroup relations, Jan-Willem van Prooijen, a behavioral scientist, argues in an article for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) that societal crises do not solely drive the spread of conspiracy theories. He reasons that it is easier to find an explanation in the midst of a crisis by identifying a scapegoat, such as an “antagonistic outgroup.”
Accordingly, conspiracy theories can be understood as a narrative genre that supports people’s attempts to make sense of an event, especially one shrouded in uncertainty, and often operates in parallel to strengthen social bonds. Read more
Trump Has Built His Own Fascist Paramilitary Squad
01-21-2026 ~ ICE tactics are designed to instill fear in people and create chaos in communities as part of an overarching strategy aimed to silence opposition to Trump’s overall domestic agenda and let citizens know that this is the dawn of a new era.
Exactly a year ago today, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States. He took over a nation with strong imperialistic tendencies and a democratic polity but with widespread illiberal features throughout its history and, in less than a year, succeeded in establishing a 21st-century US variant of fascism while espousing a lawless world order.
The successful transition of the United States from an imperial republic to what could be best described as imperial proto-fascism was achieved due to the ease with which the Trump administration weakened the country’s institutions meant to restrain power and the massive support that it received, and continues to receive, from the nation’s oligarchy. There are thus eerie similarities between Trump’s United States and the rise of Italian fascism and German Nazism, and none more so than those between Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and Mussolini’s Squadristi and Hitler’s Sturmabteilung (SA), respectively.
Fascism, the most reactionary regime of oligopolistic and decaying capitalism, has always relied on violent paramilitary groups to intimidate political opponents and spread fear across society. In Italy, in 1919, Benito Mussolini formed a paramilitary squad of war veterans called Blackshirts (or squadristi) whose primary goal was to terrorize fascism’s political opponents, mainly the socialists and the communists. By the early 1920s, the squadristi had wiped out the Italian left and destroyed Italian democracy. In Germany, in 1921, Adolf Hitler established the SA, known as the Brownshirts due to their brown uniforms. They were street thugs who used violent intimidation against opponents of National Socialism and assaulted non-Aryan citizens, particularly Jewish citizens. Blackshirts and Brownshirts acted with impunity as the regular uniformed police in both Italy and Germany turned a blind eye to their thuggish tactics.
Violent paramilitary groups were seen by fascists as essential tools in the struggle to uproot the previous sociopolitical and cultural order and pave the way for the success of fascism’s ultimate goals and objectives, which are to promote extreme nationalism and do away with democratic liberties and implement policies without legal or political restraints while dehumanizing those labeled as “the enemy.” Under fascism, propaganda and violence work in unity in order to secure conformity and subdue the opposition.
Enter the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). ICE was created in 2003 pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The US Congress has granted ICE “a unique combination of civil and criminal authorities,” which make it a very powerful federal law enforcement agency. The primary mission of ICE is to enforce immigration laws. It has the power to search, arrest, and deport undocumented immigrants. It can also detain and try to deport green card holders by claiming that they represent a threat to US national security.
On December 19, DHS announced that it had deported more than 620,000 noncitizens while 1.9 million undocumented immigrants have “self-deported” since Trump took office. If these figures are true and haven’t been exaggerated for propaganda purposes, we’re looking at the largest forced relocation of immigrants in a single year in the history of the United States. Immigration detention has also expanded dramatically in Trump’s second term. Read more
Revolt Against Wilders: Seven PVV Members Start Their Own Party
01-21-2026 ~ NOS Dutch news Agency reports:
Seven of the 26 PVV members of parliament are leaving their party after a party meeting in which they criticized the course of party leader Wilders. These include Gidi Markuszower and Hidde Heutink.
They are starting a separate party called Groep Markuszower. In the coming period, they will consider whether they also want to form their own party.
“We tried to start a discussion, but that proved impossible,” Markuszower says. The seven mainly wanted to discuss the lost parliamentary elections and the poor polls of recent months. Heutink: “We are doing this for the right-wing voter, not for ourselves.”
A document prepared for this meeting, obtained by NOS, shows that the seven demanded changes in policy that would take effect immediately. They believe the party hasn’t achieved enough for voters and that Wilders being the only party member is undesirable. This jeopardizes the party’s survival, they say. They are referring to the proposal to ban political parties that refuse to accept members.According to the seven, Wilders should have accepted a change of course “starting today.”
Wilders now has nineteen seats left in the House of Representatives. The Green Left Labour Party GL-PvdA has become the largest opposition party with twenty seats.
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Why It’s Essential To Scrap The Cap
01-18-2026 ~ Al Polk landed a job at a cutting-tool plant in his early 20s and then promptly started paying Social Security taxes—every week, 12 months a year, without a break, for decades.
Polk realized that collective responsibility for Social Security ensured a dignified retirement for all, and he took pride in holding up his end of a sacred compact with millions of fellow Americans.
Now 82, Polk continues to enjoy his golden years because of Social Security and his union-negotiated pension. But he knows that future generations of workers will be forced to scrape by in retirement or toil until they die—unless the wealthy finally begin paying their fair share to Social Security, a lifeline at ever greater risk of insolvency.
“Remove the cap, and you don’t have to worry about it,” observed Polk, a longtime activist with the United Steelworkers (USW) from Mansfield, Massachusetts, noting that more equitable contributions from the uber-rich would end the funding crisis in short order.
“It’s an easy fix,” he added. “It’s not going to hurt anybody.”
The federal government imposes Social Security taxes only on the first $184,500 in wages, no matter how much money a person makes in 2026. Because of this arbitrary and nonsensical cap, hundreds of the nation’s richest people paid their Social Security taxes within the first few minutes or hours of 2026.
Now, despite the pressing need to shore up the Social Security trust funds, they’re sitting out the rest of the year.
Nothing illustrates this rigged system better than the case of Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, who rakes in so much money at so great a speed that he effectively paid all of his required Social Security taxes on his wage earnings by 12:15 a.m. on January 1, 2026.
On the other hand, more than 160 million ordinary working people—Americans who perform essential jobs but never come close to pocketing $184,500 a year—will keep contributing to Social Security through December 31.
Working people like Polk, who spent much of his life negotiating contracts for union colleagues and holding employers accountable, understand the power of shared prosperity and a strong middle class.
But the rich have a selfish view. They’re bent on hoarding their wealth, widening the economic inequality that’s already tearing at the nation’s social fabric, and turning America into a land of haves and have-nots.
“The hell with everybody else,” Polk said, summing up the mindset of Musk and others of his ilk, who would rather squander their money on failed rocket launches and other vanity projects than support the common good. “It’s just greed.”
Musk’s companies helped themselves to billions in federal funds over the years, meaning he owes much of his wealth to the ordinary Americans he looks down on. Read more
How Venezuela Grew Poor With More Oil Than Saudi Arabia
John P. Ruehl – Independent Media Institute
01-15-2026 ~ Donald Trump has been clear about framing oil as a central part of Washington’s interests in Venezuela, but whether the country’s vast reserves can translate into real prosperity is unclear.
Following the dramatic seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on January 3, 2026, Trump’s comments about taking control of Venezuela’s oil industry quickly triggered accusations of “neo-imperialism”. Critics argued that pledges to share profits with Venezuela were little more than cover to protect the interests of America’s major oil companies. Yet despite the allure of Venezuela’s reserves, many of those major oil firms have been notably cautious, citing uncertainty over the country’s political trajectory and the durability of legal and financial protections.
Venezuela sits atop more than 300 billion barrels of proven crude reserves, constituting roughly 17 percent of the global total. This is more than Saudi Arabia’s reserves, which is the world’s most recognizable oil power. The two countries have comparable population sizes, yet Saudi citizens rank among the wealthiest in the world, while Venezuela has become one of the poorest countries in the Americas.
The contrast can be partly explained by geology. Most Venezuelan oil is considered heavy and sour, meaning it is dense and high in sulfur. Extracting, transporting, and refining this oil is more expensive and technically demanding than the Saudis’ light, sweet crude, which flows more easily and requires less processing.
Saudi Arabia’s oil is also easier to access. Much of it lies close to the surface and on land, lowering extraction costs. Venezuela’s deposits are, meanwhile, often deep underground or offshore, complicating extraction and transportation.
Despite these constraints, Venezuela was one of the world’s leading oil producers by the mid-20th century and a major supplier to the United States. Oil revenues supported a relatively prosperous, urbanized society, and following the leverage gained by producer states after the 1973 oil shock, there was both elite and public support for greater national control over the industry. In 1976, the Venezuelan government nationalized the oil industry, creating Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).
The nationalization process was orderly, with U.S. and European oil companies compensated and the transition carefully negotiated. For years afterward, PDVSA operated with significant autonomy and technical competence, maintaining ties with foreign firms and continuing to develop its industry.
The politicization of PDVSA, however, proved fatal for it. After a period of market opening in the 1990s, Hugo Chávez was elected as the president of Venezuela in 1998 on a platform built around redistributing oil wealth and reasserting state control over the economy, particularly the oil sector. He quickly consolidated political control over PDVSA, and after a wave of labor strikes in 2002–2003, his government replaced roughly 20,000 experienced workers with political loyalists who often lacked the technical expertise and skills needed to do the job.
From that point, PDVSA increasingly functioned as a fiscal arm of the state. Political decisions overrode commercial logic, and revenues were diverted away from maintenance and reinvestment toward social programs and short-term spending.
Unlike the 1976 nationalization, Chavez’s approach rewrote established agreements, undermining foreign confidence and operations. Western energy companies reduced their exposure or exited altogether, taking capital, technology, and expertise with them. This was especially damaging because U.S. Gulf Coast refineries were uniquely suited to process heavy crude, having adapted to it over decades. American refiners replaced Venezuelan oil with Canadian heavy crude and domestic shale production, weakening Venezuela’s most natural export market.
During the oil boom of the 2000s, this appeared sustainable, with the country’s per capita income rebounding and Chavez’s social programs winning broad popular support. However, the policies also steadily hollowed out the oil industry’s capacity, while hundreds of thousands of the country’s skilled workers emigrated. The “oil strikes” in Venezuela to overthrow Chavez in 2002 and 2003 led to the country facing large layoffs in PDVSA. “This was the beginning of the large brain drain in Venezuela when many highly skilled industry workers left their home country to work for multinational corporations like ExxonMobil and Chevron,” according to the Borgen Project.
Political conditions worsened sharply in the 2010s, as Venezuela drifted further toward Moscow and Beijing. After Maduro took office in 2013 following Chavez’s death, the U.S., under former President Obama, began targeting Venezuelan officials with sanctions in 2015. The sanctions later expanded under Trump to reduce PDVSA’s access to financial markets, insurance, spare parts, and technology. Cut off from the West, Venezuela leaned more heavily on China and Russia, often accepting discounted deals that provided short-term liquidity but little long-term investment or capacity expansion. Read more