Protests in Iran spread amid deep discontent over economic duress

Iran’s authorities has pledged to “listen patiently” to the concerns of protesters, arsenic demonstrations prompted by the plummeting currency and dire economical conditions person dispersed from Tehran to respective different cities.

Students took to the streets successful the superior connected Tuesday, portion protests besides broke retired astatine universities and institutions successful the cities of Isfahan, Yazd and Zanjan, Iran’s state-run IRNA quality bureau reported.

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Ilna, a quality bureau associated with Iran’s labour movement, reported that protests were held astatine 10 universities crossed the country, including 7 successful the capital.

The demonstrations marked the 3rd consecutive time of protests successful Iran since shopkeepers adjacent 2 main tech and mobile telephone buying centres, successful Tehran’s Jomhouri country and adjacent the Grand Bazaar, closed their businesses and took to the streets connected Sunday successful effect to the rial plunging to grounds lows, forcing up import prices and hurting retail traders.

The rial has been rapidly declining implicit caller weeks arsenic the United States and its Western allies heap connected sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and was trading astatine astir 1.42 cardinal rials to the US dollar erstwhile protests broke retired connected Sunday, compared with 820,000 rials a twelvemonth ago.

The country’s economy, battered by decades of Western sanctions, has been nether further strain since precocious September, erstwhile the United Nations reinstated planetary sanctions that had been lifted 10 years ago, linked to the country’s atomic programme.

Government pledges to listen

Responding to the increasing protests, a authorities spokesperson said the authorities would perceive to the concerns of the demonstrators.

“The authorities volition perceive patiently, adjacent if determination are harsh voices, due to the fact that we judge that our radical are diligent enough, and erstwhile their voices are raised, the unit that is being enactment connected them is high,” Fatemeh Mohajerani said astatine a quality league successful Tehran.

“The government’s occupation is to perceive the voices and assistance them scope a communal knowing to lick the problems that beryllium successful society.”

She said the authorities recognised the close to peaceful assembly.

“We see, hear, and recognise officially each the protests, the difficulties, and the crises.”

The comments came arsenic President Masoud Pezeshkian met Tuesday with labour leaders and made proposals to tackle the economical crisis, the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported.

Pezeshkian said helium had instructed authorities officials to perceive to protesters’ “legitimate demands” and pledged to support their livelihoods, which helium said was his “daily concern”.

Low nationalist religion successful government

Trita Parsi, enforcement vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said the Iranian nationalist did not person religion successful the government’s quality to code the economical problems.

“The president himself came retired astir a week oregon truthful agone and said that helium can’t bash thing astir these problems,” helium told Al Jazeera.

“Much of the deficiency of religion successful the government’s quality to code these problems is really due to the fact that of statements by the authorities itself.”

He said the large question present was whether the protests would stitchery momentum and germinate into a broader channelling of nationalist choler implicit issues different than the country’s economical problems.

“Protests astatine times tin commencement based connected economical grievances, which is the lawsuit here, but rapidly morph into different demands,” helium said, adding that the concern successful Iran “both politically arsenic good arsenic economically, has been precise bad”.

Multiple challenges

Iran’s economical problems are severe, with ostentation astatine astir 50 percent arsenic good arsenic a depreciating currency.

But they are acold from the lone challenges facing the country, which is besides dealing with an exacerbating vigor crisis, portion astir dams feeding Tehran and galore different large cities stay astatine near-empty levels amid a terrible h2o crisis.

The state besides has 1 of the astir restricted net environments successful the world.

Iranian authorities media reporting connected the protests has emphasised that they are motivated by the unchecked depreciation of the rial, alternatively than wider disenchantment with the theocratic constitution that has been ruling the state since the 1979 revolution.

Iran past saw nationwide protests successful 2022 and 2023, with thousands pouring into the streets crossed the state aft the decease successful constabulary custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for alleged noncompliance with strict Islamic laws regarding headscarves.

Hundreds of radical were killed, much than 20,000 were arrested, and several were executed successful transportation with the protests.