ISW: Gas crisis has caused new protests in Iran

Ongoing gas shortages have sparked protests in northeastern Iran, said the US Institute for the Study of War, Report informs.

"Protesters gathered in front of the local governor's office and lit a fire in the streets in Torbat-e Jam, Khorasan Razavi Province on January 16," the Institute said.

Protesters were responding to the Iranian regime cutting gas services for thousands of customers in the city in recent days. Citizens have struggled to keep warm in the winter conditions. Some locals have claimed that the regime has cut electricity to the city as well.

According to ISW, these energy shortages could stoke further protests throughout Iran, especially in its northern and eastern provinces in the coming days:

"Iranian officials have increasingly warned of a national 'gas crisis' in recent days and briefly closed banks, public facilities, and universities in some provinces to reduce gas consumption."

Institute says that the Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Ministry released a statement on January 16 denying that executed British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari served as deputy defense minister:

"The defense ministry statement alleged that Akbari only served as the Defense Studies Department director in the ministry. This statement contradicts reports from Iranian state media that have explicitly labeled Akbari as the deputy defense minister for foreign relations. The defense ministry is likely trying to downplay the significance of a former senior official being an alleged foreign agent. The defense ministry may also be trying to politically distance itself from association with Akbari."

IRGC Deputy Commander Brigadier General Ali Fadavi stated on January 16 that 60 security officers have died and over 5,000 were injured in the protests. Independent open-source analysts have assessed that closer to 73 officers have died since September 2022—the most that have died in a single Iranian protest wave since the revolution in 1979.