Additional Coverage:
Economic Woes Spark Widespread Protests Across Iran
Tehran, Iran – Iran is currently grappling with its most significant wave of public demonstrations in years, as citizens take to the streets of Tehran and other major cities to voice their anger over the nation’s dire economic conditions.
The protests, which began on Sunday and intensified dramatically on Monday, were ignited by the Iranian rial’s unprecedented fall against the U.S. dollar. Many Iranians are already struggling with soaring living costs, and the recent surge in prices has fueled widespread fears of hyperinflation.
In a scene reminiscent of the 1979 Iranian Revolution, shopkeepers gathered to protest near Tehran’s central bazaar. During the revolution, merchants played a pivotal role by closing their businesses and demonstrating against the then-reigning monarch.
While the primary catalyst for these protests is economic hardship, online videos geolocated by NBC News on Sunday showed crowds chanting slogans against the country’s ruling clerics. The exact date of this footage could not be independently confirmed by NBC News.
A photograph from the state-run Fars news agency depicted tear gas being deployed. Despite this, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian urged authorities to heed the “legitimate demands” of the protesters. The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that Mohammad Reza Farzin, the beleaguered head of the central bank, resigned on Monday.
The Iranian rial plunged to an alarming 1.42 million to the dollar on Sunday, stabilizing slightly to 1.38 million on Monday. Analysts note that this drastic devaluation has left families struggling to make ends meet, as the value of their savings has plummeted.
According to the state statistics center, the inflation rate in December reached 42.2% compared to the same period last year, marking a 1.8% increase from November. Food prices rose by 72% and health and medical items by 50% year-over-year in December. Critics interpret these figures as a clear indicator of impending hyperinflation.
“People feel that they are left alone, that the leadership doesn’t care about them,” Omid Memarian, a senior Iran analyst at Dawn, a Washington-based nonprofit advocating for human rights in the Middle East, stated in a telephone interview with NBC News. “The president doesn’t know what to do and the sanctions are biting and the pressure is just mounting by the day.” Memarian is a prominent critic of the Iranian government and previously worked at the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.
The protests initially gained momentum among shopkeepers and traders in Tehran, with state media reporting widespread closures around the Grand Bazaar on Monday as hundreds gathered. Traders dealing in imported goods have been particularly affected by the currency’s dramatic drop and fluctuating prices.
President Pezeshkian acknowledged the nation’s severe economic challenges in a message posted to X on Monday. He announced that he had instructed the interior minister to meet with protest representatives to address their concerns and seek solutions.
“People’s concerns and protests about livelihood problems must be addressed responsibly,” Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf stated on Tuesday, as reported by state television. “Immediate decisions are necessary to maintain people’s purchasing power and assure people that wrong economic practices are changing and improving.” Qalibaf also accused Iran’s adversaries of attempting to exploit the protests.
Authorities have announced a shutdown in Tehran and several other provinces for Wednesday, citing cold weather and the need to conserve energy supplies.
These demonstrations appear to be the largest in the Islamic Republic since the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests of 2022 and 2023. Those protests posed a significant challenge to the Iranian government and only subsided after a harsh crackdown by security forces, which resulted in approximately 500 deaths and thousands of arrests.
“While these protests have a different trigger than the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising – sparked by the murder of Mahsa Jina Amini at the hands of the so-called morality police-the core grievances remain the same: systemic mismanagement, corruption, and repression,” explained Holly Dagres, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, in a text message response. “For Iranians, as long as the Islamic Republic remains in power, their problems cannot be solved.”
Iran’s economy has been severely impacted by years of sanctions and a 12-day conflict with Israel last June, during which U.S. military forces also attacked the country’s nuclear facilities, leaving the nation in a state of turmoil.
“After the war, there was a sense that there would be a huge opening up, but you’re seeing actually the leadership of Iran has become even more hard line and people don’t see any path toward getting out of the ditch that they are in now,” Memarian added.