Protests over Iran’s soaring cost of living have spread to several universities, with students joining shopkeepers and bazaar merchants, semi-official media reported, as the government offered to engage in dialogue with demonstrators.
Iran’s rial currency has lost nearly half its value against the dollar in 2025, with inflation reaching 42.5 per cent in December in a country where unrest has repeatedly flared in recent years and which is facing the United States sanctions and threats of Israeli strikes.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post late on Monday he had asked the interior minister to listen to “legitimate demands” of protesters. Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said a dialogue mechanism would be set up, including talks with protest leaders.

“We officially recognize the protests… We hear their voices and understand that this stems from genuine pressures affecting people’s livelihoods,” stated Mohajerani, as reported by state media.

The semi-official Fars News Agency noted that on Tuesday, hundreds of students gathered in protest across four universities in Tehran. These demonstrations reflect growing unrest among the population.

Video of protests, verified by Reuters news agency as taking place in Tehran, showed scores of people marching along a street chanting “Rest in peace Reza Shah”, a reference to the founder of the royal dynasty ousted in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Footage aired on Iranian state television showed people gathered in central Tehran chanting slogans.

During a meeting with trade unions and market activists on the same day, Pezeshkian assured them that the government is committed to resolving their concerns and addressing their apprehensions, according to state media reports.

On social media, some Iranians voiced support for the protests, with one, Soroosh Dadkhah, saying high prices and corruption had led people “to the point of explosion”, and another, Masoud Ghasemi, warning of protests spreading across the country.
Iranian authorities have quashed previous bouts of unrest that have flared over issues ranging from the economy to drought, women’s rights and political freedoms, with violent security actions and widespread arrests.
The government has not said what form dialogue will take with the leaders of this week’s demonstrations, the first major protests since Israeli and US strikes on Iran in June, which prompted widespread expressions of patriotic solidarity.

The economic divide between everyday Iranians and the ruling clerical and security elites, compounded by economic mismanagement and state corruption, has intensified dissatisfaction throughout the country. This unrest comes at a time when inflation is driving many prices beyond the reach of the average citizen.

In 2022, the nation experienced widespread protests due to price hikes, including increases in the cost of bread, a critical staple for many families.

Iran’s economy has been in deep trouble for years after US sanctions were reimposed in 2018 when US President Donald Trump ended an international deal over the country’s nuclear program during his first term in office.
United Nations sanctions on the country were reimposed in September and Reuters reported in October that several high-level meetings had been held on how to avert economic collapse, circumvent sanctions and manage public anger.

Economic disparities between ordinary Iranians and the clerical and security elite, along with economic mismanagement and state corruption — reported even by state media — have fanned discontent at a time when inflation is pushing many prices beyond the means of most people.

The currency slid to 1.4 million rials to the US dollar on Tuesday, according to private exchange platforms, a record low after starting the year at 817,500 rials to the dollar.
Monthly annualised inflation figures have not dropped below 36.4 per cent since the Iranian new year started in late March, according to official figures.
On Monday, the central bank chief resigned, with Iranian media saying the government’s recent economic liberalisation policies had put pressure on the open-rate rial market, where ordinary Iranians buy foreign currency. Most businesses use official currency exchanges that support the rial price.

In 2022, Iran was rocked by protests across the country over price hikes, including for bread, a major staple.

Iran remains under intense international pressure, with Trump saying on Monday he might back another round of Israeli airstrikes if Iran resumed work on ballistic missiles or any nuclear weapons program.
The US and Israel carried out 12 days of airstrikes on Iran’s military and its nuclear installations in June aimed at stopping what they believe were efforts to develop the means to build an atomic weapon.
Iran says its nuclear energy program is entirely peaceful and that it has not tried to build a nuclear bomb.

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