Hordes of protesters have occupied streets in Tehran to vent their anger at soaring inflation and a weak currency that sank by over seven per cent in one day, crashing to 1.4 million rials to the dollar.
Amid the protests, which began on Sunday and continued on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned he would back Israeli strikes on Iran if the Islamic nation continued its missile infrastructure programme.
An irate mob, no longer able to bear the economic burden, besieged the streets to air its grievances.
The protest forced the resignation of Iran’s central bank chief, but that did not assuage the demonstrators who marched, chanting “shut it down”, “death to the dictator”, and “Seyyed Ali (Khamenei) will be toppled this year”.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has appointed Abdolnaser Hemmati as the new central bank governor to douse tensions, but citizens remain defiant.
Entrepreneurs bewailed the rial’s free-fall, stressing it had become nearly impossible to keep their businesses afloat.
Shops and stores were closed even as citizens vowed to return to the streets on Tuesday (today).
Students at prestigious institutions such as Shahid Beheshti University and Amirkabir University said they would join the protests on Tuesday.
