DUBAI, United Arab Emirates(National Times)- Protesters angry over Iran\u2019s ailing economy conducted a sit-in Tuesday at Tehran\u2019s Grand Bazaar, witnesses said, with security forces ultimately firing tear gas and dispersing demonstrators as the rest of the market shut . The protest at the Grand Bazaar, the beating heart for centuries of both Iran\u2019s economic and political life, represents the latest signal that the demonstrations likely are to continue as the country\u2019s rial currency fell to a record low Tuesday. Already, violence surrounding the protests has killed at least 35 people with authorities detaining more than 1,200 others, activists abroad say. Meanwhile, the situation is likely to worsen as Iran\u2019s Central Bank drastically reduced the subsidized exchange rates for dollars it offers to importers and producers in the country. That likely will see merchants pass on price hikes in the coming days for goods directly onto consumers, whose life savings already have dwindled over years of international sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic. Iran\u2019s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, while ordering a government investigation into one incident involving the protests, otherwise signaled Tuesday the crisis may be rapidly moving beyond the control of officials. \u201cWe should not expect the government to handle all of this alone,\u201d Pezeshkian said in a televised speech. \u201cThe government simply does not have that capacity.\u201d In the Grand Bazaar, a labyrinth-like warren of covered passages and alleyways, demonstrators sat down in one passage in front of security forces as other shops nearby shut down on Tuesday, online videos showed and witnesses said. Other demonstrations similarly have seen people sit down in front of police after a photo circulated earlier of a man seen sitting alone in front of security forces. Authorities later fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Iranian state-run media did not immediately acknowledge the incident, which has been common in the days since the demonstrations began on Dec. 28. Iran has faced rounds of nationwide protests in recent years. As sanctions tightened and Iran struggled after a 12-day war with Israel in June, its rial currency collapsed in December, reaching 1.4 million to $1. Protests began soon after, with demonstrators chanting against Iran\u2019s theocracy. On Tuesday, $1 traded at 1.46 million rials, a new low, with no signs of slowing. Prior to Iran\u2019s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the rial was broadly stable, trading at around 70 to $1. At the time of Iran\u2019s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, $1 traded for 32,000 rials. More pain may be coming for Iranian consumers. Iran\u2019s Central Bank in recent days greatly reduced a preferential, subsidized dollar-rial exchange rate. Iran\u2019s government offer that rate to importers and producers to try to ensure the flow of food, medicine and other essential goods despite international sanctions over its nuclear program and other issues. However, many of those firms took advantage of the difference in rates, pocketing ever-greater profits as normal Iranians watched their savings rapidly lose value against the dollar. That\u2019s led to the Central Bank drastically reducing that rate. The currency and rate depreciation has directly impacted what\u2019s available in stores \u2014 and at what price. The average bottle of cooking oil just doubled in price, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Many have complained about shelves being empty in stores, likely as suppliers and merchants fear selling cooking oil at a loss. Cheese and chicken prices also spiked, while imported rice hasn\u2019t been available in some shops. Pezeshkian in his speech blamed inflation, sanctions and other woes for causing the depreciation \u2014 and warned tougher times may be coming. \u201cIf we do not make realistic decisions, we ourselves will push the country toward crisis and then complain about the consequences,\u201d he warned. Late Monday, Pezeshkian assigned the interior ministry to form a special team for a \u201cfull-fledged investigation\u201d of what had been happening in Ilam province. Protesters in Malekshahi County in Iran\u2019s Ilam province, some 515 kilometers (320 miles) southwest of Iran\u2019s capital, Tehran, were killed as online videos purported to show security forces firing on civilians. The presidency also acknowledged an \u201cincident in a hospital in the city of Ilam.\u201d Online video showed security forces wearing riot gear raiding a hospital, where activists said they were seeking demonstrators. The hospital assault drew criticism from the U.S. State Department, which in Iran\u2019s Farsi language called the incident \u201ca crime.\u201d \u201cStorming the wards, beating medical staff and attacking the wounded with tear gas and ammunition is an clear crime against humanity,\u201d a post on the social platform X read. \u201cHospitals are not battlefields.\u201dA report by the semiofficial Fars news agency earlier alleged without offering evidence that demonstrators carried firearms and grenades. Ilam province is mainly home to the country\u2019s Kurdish and Lur ethnic groups and faces severe economic hardship. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency offered the latest death toll of 35 for the demonstrations. It said 29 protesters, four children and two members of Iran\u2019s security forces have been killed. Demonstrations have reached over 250 locations in 27 of Iran\u2019s 31 provinces, The group, which relies on an activist network inside of Iran for its reporting, has been accurate in past unrest. Fars, believed close to Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, reported late Monday that some 250 police officers and 45 members of the Guard\u2019s all-volunteer Basij force have been hurt in the demonstrations. The growing death toll carries with it the chance of American intervention. U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran on Friday that if Tehran \u201cviolently kills peaceful protesters,\u201d the United States \u201cwill come to their rescue.\u201d Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said \u201crioters must be put in their place.\u201d While it remains unclear how and if Trump will intervene, his comments sparked an immediate, angry response, with officials within the theocracy threatening to target American troops in the Mideast. The comments took on new importance after the U.S. military on Saturday captured Venezuelan President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, a longtime ally of Tehran.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates(National Times)- Protesters angry over Iran\u2019s ailing economy conducted a sit-in Tuesday at Tehran\u2019s Grand Bazaar, witnesses said, with security forces ultimately firing tear gas and dispersing demonstrators as the rest of the market shut . The protest at the Grand Bazaar, the beating heart for centuries of both Iran\u2019s economic and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":118806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n