Iranian traders and shopkeepers staged a second day of protests Monday after the countrys currency plummeted to a new record low against the US dollar.
Videos on social media showed hundreds taking part in rallies in Saadi Street in downtown Tehran as well as in the Shush neighborhood near Tehran's main Grand Bazaar, which played a crucial role in the 1979Islamic Revolutionthat ousted themonarchyand brought Islamists to power.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that traders shut their shops and asked others to do the same. The semiofficial ILNA news agency said many businesses and merchants stopped trading even though some kept their shops open.
There was no reports of police raids though security was tight at the protests, according to witnesses.
On Sunday, protest gatherings were limited to two major mobile market in downtown Tehran, where the demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans.
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Iran's rial on Sunday plunged to 1.42 million to the dollar. On Monday, it traded at 1.38 million rials to the dollar.
The rapid depreciation is compounding inflationary pressure, pushing up prices of food and other daily necessities and further straining household budgets, a trend that could worsen by a gasoline price change introduced in recent days.
According to the state statistics center, inflation rate in December rose to 42.2% from the same period last year, and is 1.8% higher than in November. Foodstuff prices rose 72% and health and medical items were up 50% from December last year, according to the statistics centre. Many critics see the rate a sign of an approaching hyperinflation.
Reports in official Iranian media said that the government plans to increase taxes in the Iranian new year that begins March 21 have caused more concern.
Irans currency was trading at 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of the 2015 nuclear accord that lifted international sanctions in exchange for tight controls on Irans nuclear programme. That deal unraveled after US PresidentDonald Trumpunilaterally withdrew the United States from it in 2018.
There is also uncertainty over the risk of renewed conflict following Junes 12-day war involving Iran andIsrael. Many Iranians also fear the possibility of a broader confrontation that could draw in the United States, adding to market anxiety.
In September, the United Nations reimposed nuclear-related sanctions on Iran through what diplomats described as the snapback mechanism. Those measures once again froze Iranian assets abroad, halted arms transactions with Tehran and imposed penalties tied to Irans ballistic missile programme.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
Originally published on France24
