CBC News – Protesters angry over Iran’s ailing economy conducted a sit-in Tuesday at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, witnesses said, with security forces ultimately firing tear gas and dispersing demonstrators as the rest of the market shut down.
The protest at the Grand Bazaar, the beating heart for centuries of both Iran’s economic and political life, represented the latest signal that the demonstrations likely are to continue as the rial currency fell to a record low Tuesday.
At least 25 people have been killed in Iran during the first nine days of protests, which started at the bazaar, over the plunging value of the currency and soaring inflation, according to rights groups, and the number could be as high as 35.
The protests have spread to some cities in western and southern Iran but do not match the scale of unrest that swept the nation in 2022-23Â over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
Hengaw, a Kurdish Iranian rights group, put the death toll at 25, including four people under 18. It said more than 1,000 people had been arrested. HRANA, a network of rights activists, said at least 35 had been killed, including two law enforcement agents, in addition to 1,203 arrests, as of Tuesday.
Reuters has not been able to independently verify the numbers.
However, even though smaller, these protests have quickly expanded from an economic focus to broader frustrations, with some protesters chanting against the country’s clerical rulers.
More price hikes expected
The situation was likely to worsen as Iran’s Central Bank drastically reduced the subsidized exchange rates for dollars it offers to importers and producers. That likely will see merchants pass price hikes directly to consumers, whose life savings already have dwindled over years of sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, while ordering a government investigation into one incident involving the protests, otherwise signalled Tuesday that the crisis may be rapidly moving beyond the control of officials.
“We should not expect the government to handle all of this alone,” Pezeshkian said in a televised speech. “The government simply does not have that capacity.”
Iran remains under international pressure, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening on Friday to come to the aid of protesters in Iran if security forces fired on them. In response, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to “yield to the enemy.”
Shops shut down
In the Grand Bazaar, a labyrinth-like warren of covered passages and alleyways, demonstrators sat down in one passage in front of security forces as other shops nearby shut down Tuesday, online videos showed and witnesses said. Other demonstrations similarly have seen people sit down in front of police after a photo circulated earlier of a man seen sitting alone in front of security forces.
Authorities later fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Iranian state-run media did not immediately acknowledge the incident, which has been common in the days since the demonstrations began on Dec. 28. Later footage purportedly showed tear gas at a hospital and a metro station in Tehran.
The country’s clerical establishment is still coming to terms with the 2025 Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear and military targets. The attacks, which killed top Revolutionary Guard commanders and nuclear scientists, were launched just a day before a planned sixth round of talks with Washington over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
Trump’s warning came a day before U.S. special forces seized Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife on January 3 and whisked them off to New York to face a criminal indictment.
Iran, which has for years allied itself with fellow oil producer Venezuela, which has also suffered under years of U.S. sanctions, has condemned Washington’s action in Caracas.
Iran condemns ‘rioters’
Iranian authorities have not given a death toll for protesters, but have said at least two members of the security services have died and more than a dozen have been injured in the unrest.
“While drawing a distinction between protesters and rioters, law enforcement has dealt with strength against rioters by arresting them on the scene or later following identification by intelligence units,” Iran’s police chief Ahmadreza Radan was quoted by state media on Tuesday as saying.
“I pledge that we will deal with the last of these rioters. It is still time for those who were deceived by foreign services to identify themselves and draw on the Islamic Republic’s greatness.”
HRANA said that during the protests, slogans have gone beyond economic demands and included criticism of governance and calls for justice. Protests have so far occurred in 27 provinces out of 31 and expanded to smaller cities, it said.
Authorities have acknowledged economic hardships but accused networks linked to foreign powers of “pushing economic protests toward chaos and disorder,” with the judiciary chief pledging to have no mercy toward “rioters.”
Pezeshkian has pushed for a dialogue and promised reforms to stabilize the monetary and banking systems and protect purchasing power.
The government has announced a subsidy reform, removing preferential currency exchange rates for importers in favor of direct transfers to Iranians to boost their purchasing power for essential goods. The measure will come into force on January 10.
The central bank chief was also replaced on December 29.
The rial fell further on Tuesday, representing a four per cent fall in value since the protests started.