Iranian president urges government to heed economic protests |
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s president urged his government to listen to the “legitimate demands” of protesters, state media reported Tuesday, after demonstrations by shopkeepers in Tehran over economic hardship.
Storekeepers in the capital shut their stores on Monday, after Iran’s embattled currency hit new lows on the unofficial market.
Photos from the Fars news agency had shown tear gas being used to disperse protesters but by Tuesday most shops and cafes in the city center were open and antiriot police were keeping watch on the main squares, AFP reporters saw.
The US dollar was trading at around 1.42 million rials when the shutdown began on Sunday — compared to 820,000 rials a year ago — and the rial strengthened only slightly by Tuesday.
According to the Etemad newspaper, one trader who did not give his name complained that officials had offered no support to storekeepers battling soaring import costs.
“They didn’t even follow up on how the dollar price affected our lives,” he complained.
“We had to decide to show our protest. With this dollar price, we can’t even sell a phone case, and the officials don’t care at all that our lives are run by selling mobile phones and accessories.”
It was into this atmosphere that........