Protests spread across Iran for third day after currency hits record low

Protests and strikes against inflation and currency devaluation in Iran spread from the capital Tehran to many other cities on the third day of unrest.

The protests began on Sunday after shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar went on strike after the Iranian rial fell to a record low against the US dollar in the open market.

Since then, videos verified by BBC Persian show demonstrations in the cities of Karaj, Hamedan, Qeshm, Malard, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Shiraz and Yazd. It was also seen that the police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

The Iranian government said it “accepts the protests” and will “listen patiently even if faced with harsh voices.”

President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on

He also accepted the resignation of Iran’s central bank governor, Mohammad Reza Farzin, and appointed former economy and finance minister Abdolnasser Hemmati as his replacement.

University students also joined the protests, chanting anti-government slogans such as “Death to the dictator”, a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds ultimate power in Iran.

Some protesters were also heard chanting slogans, including “Long Live the Shah” for the son of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In response, Reza Pahlavi, living in exile in the USA, wrote to X: “I am with you. Victory is ours, because our cause is just and we are united.”

“As long as this regime remains in power, the country’s economic situation will continue to deteriorate,” he added.

The US state department’s Persian account on X also expressed support for the protests.

He stated that the United States “praised their courage” and stood with those seeking “dignity and a better future” after years of failed policies and economic mismanagement.

It has been reported that Iran will be high on the agenda of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida on Monday.

At a joint press conference afterwards, Trump refused to say whether he supported regime change in Iran, but said: “They have a lot of problems: massive inflation, their economy is down, their economy is not good, and I know the people are not that happy.”

The president also said Israel could support a series of air strikes against Iran if the country rebuilds its ballistic missile or nuclear programs.

“If they continue with the missiles, yes. Nuclear, fast, okay? One will be a definite yes. The other one, we’ll do it immediately.”

During the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, the United States carried out air strikes on Iran’s important uranium enrichment sites. Iran insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.

President Pezeshkian vowed on Tuesday that Iran’s response to “any act of repressive aggression” would be “firm and remorseful.”

Iran’s supreme leader has repeatedly said that the Israeli government hopes that mass protests will break out in Iran during the war and overthrow the regime.

“They wanted to cause discord in the streets… But the people were absolutely not impressed by what the enemy wanted,” Khamenei said in September.