Egg prices in Iran—a key point of contention in the anger over food prices said to have driven the original protests that set off the nationwide wave of Iranian demonstrations over the new year period—are to be cut.

They will be reduced under the government’s fixed price mechanism, Mehr News Agency reported on January 9. A price cut of 14% to IRR12,500 ($2.70) for a tray of 24 eggs is on the cards.

The protests over food prices, wider high inflation and other economic hardship spiralled into street unrest over general discontent felt about the state of the country.

The original egg price rises were a direct result of an avian flu epidemic that spread through the country, with more than 100mn birds culled, causing prices to double overnight.

Following the bird flu outbreak, the price of eggs jumped more than 16% during December. In the past 12 months, it has crept up more than 45%.

More than 21 people died during the protests, which sometimes turned into riots and occurred mostly in small towns and cities across provinces of Iran. It is believed the bulk of the people involved were under 25-years-old and earned less than $300 per month. 

The protests appear to have grown out of provincial working-class resentment at worsening hardship caused by Iran’s flagging economic recovery, partly caused by Trump’s refusal to get behind the sanctions-lifting nuclear deal strongly backed by all the major powers except the US.

They took on a political dimension as various groups opposed to the theocratic republic’s regime tapped into the wave of anger, but the demonstrations may have failed to reach critical mass in terms of potentially toppling the ruling establishment given confused messaging as to what they were all about and the reluctance of many middle-class reformist activists in Tehran to join in with anything so radical as a call for regime change.