TEHRAN: Following several days of protests by Tehrani shopkeepers about economic woes, Iran’s president encouraged his government to pay attention to the “legitimate demands” of demonstrators, according to state media on Tuesday. Due to Iran’s troubled currency hitting new lows on the unofficial market, retailers in the capital closed their doors for the second day in a row on Monday. According to price monitoring websites, the US dollar was trading at about 1.42 million rials on Sunday, down from 820,000 rials a year earlier, and the euro was getting close to 1.7 million rials.
According to the state-run IRNA news agency, President Masoud Pezeshkian stated, “I have asked the Interior Minister to listen to the legitimate demands of the protesters by engaging in dialogue with their representatives so that the government can do everything in its power to resolve the problems and act responsibly.” The pro-labor news agency ILNA said on Monday that demonstrators “are demanding immediate government intervention to rein in exchange-rate fluctuations and set out a clear economic strategy.” According to AFP journalists, price swings are paralyzing the sales of some imported items, with buyers and sellers choosing to delay transactions until the future is more certain.
Protesters were quoted by ILNA as saying, “It is now impossible to continue doing business under these conditions.” Images showed a mob of protesters seizing a main boulevard in central Tehran, which is famed for its numerous businesses, were obtained by the conservative-aligned news agency Fars. Another image seemed to depict the use of tear gas to scatter demonstrators. Fars warned that such gatherings could cause instability, saying, “Minor physical clashes were reported… between some protesters and the security forces.” A damaged economy The Mizan agency of the justice ministry said on Monday that Iranian Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei demanded “the swift punishment of those responsible for currency fluctuations.” The governor of the central bank will be replaced, according to the government.
Mehdi Tabatabaei, a presidential communications staffer, wrote on X, “Abdolnasser Hemmati will be appointed governor of the Central Bank by decision of the president.” Hemmati, a former minister of finance and economy, was fired by parliament in March due to the steep decline in the value of the rial. Pezeshkian promised to combat inflation and the high cost of living when he presented the budget for the upcoming Persian year to parliament on Sunday. Official statistics show that inflation was 52% year over year in December. However, this amount is still much below typical price hikes, particularly for necessities.
In late September, the United Nations reintroduced international restrictions related to the nation’s nuclear program that had been eased ten years prior, further straining the economy already devastated by decades of Western sanctions.
