New Delhi, Jan. 6 -- Widening protests in Iran sparked by the Islamic Republic's ailing economy are putting new pressure on its theocracy.

Tehran is still reeling from a 12-day war launched by Israel in June that saw the United States bomb nuclear sites in Iran. Economic pressure, which has intensified since September when the United Nations reimposed sanctions on the country over its atomic program, has put Iran's rial currency into a free fall, now trading at some 1.4 million to $1.

Meanwhile, Iran's self-described "Axis of Resistance" - a coalition of countries and militant groups backed by Tehran - has been decimated in the years since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.

A threat by U.S. President Donald Trump warning Iran t...