tehran, iran
AP
—
Iran’s largest protests in three years erupted on Monday after the country’s currency plunged to a record low against the US dollar and the central bank governor resigned.
State television reported Mohammad Reza Farzin’s resignation, while traders and shopkeepers rallied on Saadi Street in central Tehran and in the Shush district near Tehran’s main Bazaar. Market traders played a key role in the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the monarchy and brought Islamists to power.
State news agency IRNA confirmed the protests. Witnesses reported similar rallies in other major cities, including Isfahan in central Iran, Shiraz in the south and Mashhad in the northeast. In some parts of Tehran, police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators.
Monday’s protests were the largest since 2022, when the death of Mahasa Jina Amini, 22, in police custody sparked nationwide demonstrations. She was arrested by the country’s morality police for not wearing her hijab properly.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that traders closed their shops on Monday and asked others to do the same. The semi-official ILNA news agency said many businesses had ceased trading, although some businesses continued to open their stores.
Sunday’s protests were confined to two major mobile markets in downtown Tehran, where demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans.
The Iranian rial on Sunday fell to 1.42 million rials to the dollar. On Monday, the dollar traded at 1.38 million.
Reports about Farzin’s possible resignation have been circulating over the past week. When he took office in 2022, the rial was trading at about 430,000 rials to the dollar.
Rapid currency depreciation is exacerbating inflationary pressures and pushing up the price of food and other daily necessities, further straining household budgets, a trend that could be exacerbated by changes to petrol prices introduced in recent days.
According to the state statistics center, the inflation rate in December rose to 42.2% compared to the same period last year, and 1.8% higher than in November. According to the National Statistics Center, compared to December last year, food prices have increased by 72%, and health and medical items have increased by 50%. Many critics see these rates as a sign that we are approaching hyperinflation.
Further concerns have been raised by reports in Iranian state media that the government plans to raise taxes in the Iranian New Year, which begins March 21.
At the time of the 2015 nuclear deal, which lifted international sanctions in exchange for strict controls over Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s currency traded at 32,000 rials to the dollar. The agreement was dissolved after US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the US in 2018.
There is also uncertainty about the risk of renewed conflict following June’s 12-day war involving Iran and Israel. Many Iranians are also concerned about the possibility of a broader conflict that could involve the United States, adding to market anxiety.
In September, the United Nations reimposed nuclear-related sanctions on Iran through what diplomats call a “snapback” mechanism. These measures again froze Iran’s overseas assets, halted arms deals with Tehran, and imposed penalties related to Iran’s ballistic missile program.
