Iranian authorities offered conciliatory gestures in a bid to stem growing protests over the country’s collapsing economy.
Demonstrations initiated by Tehran shopkeepers angry over the plummeting value of Iran’s currency have now spread to several cities and universities, with some protesters even chanting “death to the dictator,” a sign of increasing anger towards the regime itself.
Iran’s government is facing economic pressure resulting from long-running sanctions over its nuclear program. It is also grappling with the long-term fallout of successive crackdowns on dissent, from repression following a 2009 election widely seen as neither free nor fair, through to 2022 protests over the death in police custody of a woman detained for improperly wearing her headscarf.
