Widespread anti-regime protests erupted across Iran on Sunday night as the Islamic Republic marked its 46th anniversary amid growing anger towards the clerics in power.

Citizens voiced their dissent against the Islamic regime through co-ordinated demonstrations from homes and rooftops in multiple cities, with people openly chanting “death to the dictator”.

The public display of anger towards the Tehran regime comes amid escalating tensions within Iran, marked by increasing economic hardship, international isolation, and growing public dissatisfaction with the government’s policies, particularly regarding personal freedoms and human rights.

Combined, this has left the Iranian government in its weakest position since the revolution of 1979.

Israeli victories over its proxies – Hamas and Hezbollah – and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria have also severely weakened Tehran’s power.

As government-sponsored fireworks and light displays illuminated the sky to commemorate the revolution, residents in several neighbourhoods of Tehran and other major cities responded with anti-government chants, primarily targeting Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader.