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Some shopkeepers in Tehran shut their stores for the second day in a row Monday in protest against economic hardships and sharp swings in Iran’s embattled currency, media reports said.
The rial has hit new lows on the unofficial market, with the US dollar trading at around 1.42 million rials on Sunday — compared to 820,000 rials a year ago — and the euro nearing 1.7 million rials, according to price monitoring websites.
The rates eased somewhat on Monday, with the dollar at around 1.39 million rials, and the euro at about 1.64 million rials.
A journalist from the pro-labour news agency ILNA reported “demonstrations” at several bazaars in the centre of the capital on Monday. Protesters are demanding immediate government intervention to rein in exchange-rate fluctuations and set out a clear economic strategy.
Price fluctuations are paralysing the sales of some imported goods, with both sellers and buyers preferring to postpone transactions until the outlook becomes clearer, AFP correspondents noted.
“Continuing to do business under these conditions has become impossible,” ILNA quoted protesters as saying.
State news agency IRNA reported: “Many shopkeepers preferred to suspend sales in order to prevent potential losses.” Some protesters on Monday “chanted slogans”.
The conservative-aligned Fars news agency released images showing a crowd of demonstrators occupying a major thoroughfare in central Tehran. Another photograph appears to show tear gas being used to disperse protesters.
“Minor physical clashes were reported… between some protesters and the security forces,” Fars said, warning that such gatherings could lead to instability.
On Sunday, mobile phone vendors joined the protests, briefly shutting shops to highlight the damage to their market from the currency crash.
Iranian Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei called for “the swift punishment of those responsible for currency fluctuations”. The government has also replaced the central bank governor, appointing former minister Abdolnasser Hemmati.
President Masoud Pezeshkian delivered the new budget to parliament, promising to fight inflation — but the proposed 20% wage increase falls far short of the official 52% inflation rate (and real price rises are even higher).
Iran’s economy, already crushed by decades of Western sanctions, faces fresh blows after the UN reinstated nuclear-related sanctions in late September. Ongoing uncertainty from the June war with Israel continues to darken the outlook.