Here's everything you need to know about the protests rocking Iran

AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi

Iranian protesters chant slogans at a rally in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. Iranian hard-liners rallied Saturday to support the country's supreme leader and clerically overseen government as spontaneous protests sparked by anger over the country's ailing economy roiled major cities in the Islamic Republic.

Iran was rocked this week by the largest protests in the country since 2009.

Pro- and anti-government demonstrators took to the streets starting Thursday, and gradually moved from the outer cities into the capital, Tehran, and Iran's second-largest city, Mashhad. 

The protests have since attracted global attention, and footage of the action has been shared hundreds of thousands of time on social media. 

The demonstrations became so widely publicized that Iran blocked access to Instagram and a popular messaging app used by activists to organize and discuss the protests. 

Here's what you need to know about the demonstrations: