Iranians protest widespread economic hardships

University students in different cities in Iran joined protests against the regime Tuesday by chanting slogans that included “student, be the voice of your people,” and “death to Islamic Republic.” 

The protests began Sunday in downtown Tehran as the Iranian currency hit a new low, but they have since expanded in size and scope, moving beyond the narrower cause of the economy to “freedom and equality” and an end to the regime, evident in the slogans protesters are chanting.

Many shop owners in two major malls in downtown Tehran and in other cities have closed their stores and joined the demonstrations, as severe uncertainty remains in the country’s currency trade market following a sharp decline in the value of the rial, the national currency. The rial has been fluctuating in value between 1.38 million and 1.45 million per U.S. dollar since Sunday.

Reports from across the country indicate that shop owners in other cities, including the western city of Hamedan and the southern island of Qeshm, have also joined the protests by closing their stores. Slogans such as “death to the dictator” and “Seyyed Ali (Khamenei) will be toppled this year,” referring to Iran’s supreme leader, were heard in Qeshm and Zanjan, according to reports.

Amid the widespread protests and the currency plunging to a new record low, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted the resignation of the head of the country’s Central Bank on Monday, IRNA reported.

Most Iranians struggle to keep up with the constantly rising prices in the country due to the rapid fall of the rial, which declined in value from 34,000 rials against the U.S. dollar in July 2016 to 165,000 rials against dollar in May 2020. Its value has plummeted more than 800% since then.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged the protesters’ demands in a post on his X account on Monday, saying in part that “the livelihood of the people” is his “daily concern.”

“We have fundamental actions on the agenda to reform the monetary and banking system and preserve the purchasing power of the people,” he added. “I have tasked the Minister of the Interior to hear the legitimate demands of the protesters through dialogue with their representatives, so that the government can act with all its might to resolve problems and respond responsibly.”

Also Read: Iran may exit NPT amid sanctions, political turmoil

Pezeshkian’s comments, however, do not appear to have appeased protesters on the street, whose demands do not stop at resolving economic hardships.

Students at Khajeh Nasir University of Tehran shouted slogans including “No to scarf, no to suppression. Freedom and equality,” targeting the regime’s suppression of personal and political freedom over the last decades.

The ongoing protests are the biggest Iran has seen since the nationwide protests in 2021 and 2022 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in a hospital in Tehran after she was arrested by police for not fully following the sharia-based law of the Islamic Republic that women wear the hijab. Hundreds were killed and tens of thousands were arrested in the resulting outcry across the country.

Video and pictures coming from different cities in Iran show a heavy police and security force presence at the ongoing protests, with some video showing the police using tear gas against protestors.

A widely shared video from Tehran shows a solitary protester sitting in the middle of a street, hunched over and covering his head, as a large number of police on motorcycles face him just a few yards away. The scene has quickly become symbolic of the ongoing protests.

The protests come as Pezeshkian said Iran is in a “full-scale war” with the U.S., Israel, and Europe, claiming that the West does not want Iran to stand on its feet. President Donald Trump on Monday responded that the U.S. would “knock the hell” out of Iran if Tehran attempted to rearm itself following U.S. attacks earlier this year on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Asked if he would support an overthrow of the Iranian regime, Trump said Monday that he was not going to discuss it.

“I mean, I’m not going to talk about overthrow of a regime. They’ve got a lot of problems they are in. They have tremendous inflation. Their economy is bust, they’re economy is no good. And I know that people aren’t so happy,” Trump said.

ABC