As demonstrations sparked by a plunging currency and dire economic conditions spread from Tehran to several other cities, Iran’s government has promised to “listen patiently” to the concerns of demonstrators.
Students took to the streets in the capital on Tuesday, while protests also broke out at universities and institutions in the cities of Isfahan, Yazd and Zanjan, Iran’s official IRNA news agency said.
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Iranian labor movement-related news agency Irnar News Agency reported that protests were held at 10 universities across the country, including seven in the capital.
Shopkeepers near Tehran’s Jomhouri district and two major high-tech and mobile phone shopping centers near the Grand Bazaar closed their doors on Sunday in response to the rial falling to record lows, marking the third consecutive day of protests in Iran since taking to the streets, forcing import prices to rise and hurting retailers.
The rial has fallen sharply in recent weeks as the United States and its Western allies ramp up sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and was trading at about 1.42 million rials to the dollar when Sunday’s protests erupted, compared with 820,000 rials a year ago.
The country’s economy, battered by decades of Western sanctions, has come under further strain since late September, when the United Nations reinstated international sanctions lifted a decade ago over the country’s nuclear program.
Government promises to listen
In response to the growing protests, a government spokesperson said the government would listen to the concerns of demonstrators.
“Even if there are harsh voices, the government will listen patiently, because we believe that the people are patient enough. When the voices of the people are raised, the pressure on the people increases,” Fatemeh Mohajerani told a news conference in Tehran.
“Government’s job is to hear voices and help create common understanding to solve the problems that exist in society.”
She said the government recognizes the right to peacefully assemble.
“We see, hear and publicly recognize every protest, hardship and crisis.”
The comments came as President Massoud Pezeshkian met with labor leaders on Tuesday and laid out proposals to address the economic crisis, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.
Pezeshkian said he had instructed government officials to listen to the “legitimate demands” of protesters and promised to protect their livelihoods, calling it his “daily concern.”
Public trust in the government is low
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible State Policy, said Iranians do not trust the government’s ability to deal with economic problems.
“The president himself came out about a week ago and said he can’t do anything about these issues,” he told Al Jazeera.
“Much of the lack of confidence in the government’s ability to deal with these issues is actually due to the government’s own statements.”
He said the big question now is whether the protests will gain momentum and turn into broader public anger over issues other than the country’s economic problems.
“Protests sometimes start based on economic grievances, and as in this case, quickly turn into other demands,” he said, adding that the situation in Iran is “very bad both politically and economically.”
multiple challenges
Iran’s economic problems are severe, with inflation reaching around 50% and the currency depreciating.
But these are not the only challenges facing the country, amid a severe water crisis, with most dams supplying water to Tehran and many other large cities still at near-empty levels, while the country is also grappling with a worsening energy crisis.
The country also has one of the most restricted internet environments in the world.
Iranian state media reporting on the protests emphasize that they are motivated by the unchecked devaluation of the rial, rather than widespread disillusionment with the theocratic regime that has ruled the country since the 1979 revolution.
Iran’s last nationwide protests were in 2022 and 2023, when thousands of people poured into the streets across the country after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in police custody for allegedly violating strict Islamic law regarding headscarves.
Hundreds of people have been killed, more than 20,000 arrested and several executed in connection with the protests.
