Iranian President Orders Talks With Striking Shopkeepers Amid Economic Crisis
Pezeshkian urges dialogue as economy spirals into crisis.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issued an urgent directive on Tuesday, instructing his government—particularly the Interior Minister—to actively engage in constructive dialogue with representatives of protesting shopkeepers in order to comprehensively address and respond to their legitimate demands stemming from deepening economic hardships across the nation.
Shopkeepers in Tehran maintained their strike for the second straight day on Monday, closing stores in a powerful display of frustration as the Iranian rial continued its drastic depreciation, reaching record lows with the US dollar trading at around 1.42 million rials—nearly double its value from a year ago—and the euro approaching 1.7 million rials on informal exchange markets.
Demonstrators articulated clear expectations for immediate governmental action to curb volatile exchange-rate fluctuations and to articulate a coherent long-term economic strategy, with the ongoing uncertainty severely disrupting trade in imported goods as both merchants and consumers adopt a wait-and-see approach amid unpredictable pricing.
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Visual reports from conservative media depicted large crowds of protesters occupying key commercial arteries in central Tehran, accompanied by accounts of limited physical confrontations with security personnel and the deployment of tear gas for crowd dispersal, alongside cautions that sustained unrest could precipitate broader societal instability.
In parallel measures, the administration announced the appointment of veteran economist Abdolnasser Hemmati as the new central bank governor, submitted a fresh budget proposal focused on tackling persistent high inflation—officially at 52 percent in December—and navigated intensified pressures from reinstated international sanctions tied to Iran's nuclear activities.
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