Overview
- Shopkeepers shut stores for a second day across central Tehran after a phone-market walkout spread, with images showing tear gas and reports of minor scuffles.
- The rial’s informal rate slid past 1,400,000 per US dollar before a slight rebound, fueling day-to-day price swings that led many merchants to halt transactions.
- Protesters called for immediate government action to stabilize exchange rates and for a clear economic strategy, according to local reporting.
- President Massoud Pezeshkian instructed the interior minister to meet representatives of the demonstrators and presented a budget that raises salaries by 20%.
- Authorities moved to replace the central bank chief with Abdolnasser Hemmati and the judiciary ordered swift penalties for alleged currency manipulators, as officials point to longstanding sanctions and UN measures for the strain.