Overview
- Demonstrations led by shopkeepers in Tehran spread to cities including Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad, with closures around the Grand Bazaar and reports of tear gas in parts of the capital.
- Students joined the unrest, with protests reported at multiple Tehran universities and at institutions in Isfahan, Yazd and Zanjan, according to semi-official media.
- President Masoud Pezeshkian told the interior minister to hear protesters’ “legitimate demands,” and officials said a mechanism for talks with representatives would be set up.
- Central Bank Governor Mohammad-Reza Farzin resigned and was replaced by former economy minister Abdolnaser Hemmati, state media reported.
- The open-market exchange rate hovered near 1.4 million rials per US dollar as December inflation reached roughly 42% and food prices rose about 72%, pressures deepened by renewed UN sanctions and fallout from June strikes involving Israel.