Ordinary Iranians ‘crushed’ amid rial’s fall, dissident rapper says

A group of shopkeepers in Tehran gathered on Sunday to protest poor economic conditions and the rial’s historic fall, chanting “Dishonorable, dishonorable” at officials, a video sent to Iran International showed.

Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi’s press office revived a year-old message calling for strikes as Tehran shopkeepers protested amid a sharp fall in the rial.

In the message dated December 30, 2024, Pahlavi had called on Iranians to support one another beyond sectoral demands, saying on X: “Strikes and civil disobedience, alongside street protests, are an effective way to bring this regime to its knees… It is through solidarity and unity among all segments of the Iranian people that the greater goal of freedom and the salvation of Iran can be achieved.”

Shopkeepers in Lalehzar, a central Tehran commercial district known for lighting and electrical goods, have called for a strike on Monday to protest the rial’s fall and what they described as economic injustice and mismanagement by authorities, according to a statement shared with Iran International.

“The time has now come to stand together, show unity, and defend our rights. We, the owners of guilds, shopkeepers, and bazaar traders in New Lalehzar and South Lalehzar, raise our voices as one against economic injustice and the mismanagement of officials: as long as the situation does not change, the nationwide strike will continue,” the statement said.

“The bazaar is united, and no power can silence our voice. (Join the) strike,” the statement added.

Mobile phone traders gathered outside the Iran Mobile Center and the Alaeddin Mobile Shopping Center on Hafez Street in central Tehran, according to eyewitness accounts and videos sent Iran International.

An eyewitness said the chants began with shopkeepers, with passersby later joining in on Jomhouri Street near the Hafez underpass on Sunday.

Mobile phone traders gathered outside the Iran Mobile Center and the Alaeddin Mobile Shopping Center on Hafez Street in central Tehran, according to eyewitness accounts and videos sent Iran International.

An eyewitness said the chants began with shopkeepers, with passersby later joining in on Jomhouri Street near the Hafez underpass on Sunday.

Reports also circulated on social media of protests at Tehran’s Charsou mall.

Separately, iron market traders in Tehran stopped work on Sunday morning, closing their shops to protest the rial’s decline, according to reports on social media.

The protests come as Iran’s rial weakened to new historic lows on Sunday, falling to about 1,445,000 per dollar, 1,700,000 per euro and 1,950,000 per pound, according to Tehran's open market rates.

A day earlier, the rial was trading at about 1,370,000 to the dollar. About a month earlier, it was valued at around 1,140,000 per dollar on the open market.

In recent months, runaway inflation and the rial's declining value have added to concerns over worsening economic conditions in Iran.

Over the past year, prices of food items in Iran have risen by an average of more than 66 percent, according to official data.

Iran’s Statistics Center said on Saturday that year-on-year, or point-to-point, inflation rose to 52.6 percent.