TEHRAN: Tear gas burning his eyes, his voice hoarse from shouting anti-government slogans as cars honked around him, Majid joined crowds of Iranians taking to the streets in defiance of a crackdown on a swelling protest movement. 

He used a pseudonym for security reasons and, like all those who spoke about the protests, was reached by AFP journalists outside Iran.

Majid described how he rallied with hundreds of others in the streets of eastern Mashhad on Wednesday (Jan 8) night, even as police tried to disperse the crowd that nonetheless kept reforming. 

"Police are targeting people with pellets, tear gas and shotguns," Majid said.

"At first, people dispersed, but they gathered again," rallying in the streets until the early hours of the morning. 

"We know that if we go out there, we might not survive, but we are going, and we will go out there to have a better future," he said. 

The demonstrations sparked in late December by anger over the rising cost of living and a currency nosedive have spread nationwide, their numbers - and death toll - growing.

Protesters filled the streets of the capital, Tehran and other cities on Thursday night, despite a crackdown that left dozens killed by security, according to the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights. 

Local media and official statements have reported at least 21 people, including security forces, killed since the unrest began, according to an AFP tally.

Violent crackdowns accompanied the last mass protests to sweep Iran in 2022-2023 sparked by the custody death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women.  

Majid, a mobile shopkeeper in his thirties, said this time felt different.

"During these protests, even those people or those classes that had never felt the pressure before are now under pressure," he said.

"You can see 50-year-old women, I saw someone who used to collect garbage on the streets, chanting slogans along with shopkeepers. Young, old, men, women, all are in the streets." 

This wave of protests has hit as the clerical authorities under the suprem...