Overview
- The rial hit a record low of about 1.42 million per US dollar on the unofficial market before edging to roughly 1.38 million, disrupting pricing and trade.
- Shopkeepers shut stores and rallied in Tehran’s commercial hubs, with similar actions reported in Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad as security forces used tear gas to disperse crowds.
- Official data show December inflation at about 42.2% year over year, with food prices up around 72% and health items near 50%, while planned tax hikes and fuel price changes have heightened anxiety.
- President Masoud Pezeshkian accepted Mohammad Reza Farzin’s resignation and named Abdolnaser Hemmati to lead the Central Bank, while instructing the interior minister to hear protesters’ demands.
- State outlets acknowledged the unrest as exchange houses curtailed operations, and reporting linked the currency shock to reimposed UN sanctions and fallout from June’s military escalation.