Iran's Rouhani Calls for Unity in Face of Economic Woes

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called on Tuesday for national unity to preserve "confidence" and "hope" in the face of unrest over the Islamic republic's mounting economic woes.

Rouhani's remarks came as vendors in Tehran's Grand Bazaar, a traditional area of support for Iran's leadership, continued a rare strike that began Monday over the collapse of the rial on foreign exchange markets.

"The media, the scholars, the preachers, the (Shiite) seminaries, all those with a public voice, the parliament, the judicial system... we must all join hands," Rouhani said in a long televised address during an annual conference organised by the judiciary.

"I assure you that if we can safeguard these two assets—hope and trust (of the people)—we can overcome all problems," Rouhani said.

"Why should people worry? Today, this anxiety is created by the media of the enemies. They are doing their job... but we expect more (support) from our friends," the president said. 

A moderate conservative elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2017 with backing from reformers, Rouhani has been under attack in recent weeks from Iran's ultra-conservative camp—be it editorials in the press or sermons from imams in cities across the country. 

Critics accuse the government of neglecting the most vulnerable segments of the population from inflation and price hikes, and instead focusing on reforms they deem non-essential like the admission of women into football stadiums.

Iran's currency has plunged almost 50 percent in value in the past six months, with the US dollar now buying around 85,000 rials on the black market.

Tehran has faced mounting economic woes since the United States in May pulled out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers that lifted international sanctions in exchange for a scaling back of the Islamic republic's atomic program.

Apart from the rial's collapse, the Iranian private sector has long been starved of investment, its banking system is crippled by bad loans and record levels of unemployment mean a third of under 30-year-olds are out of work.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Tehran's Grand Bazaar Strikes in Protest at Rial Collapse

Traders in the Iranian capital's Grand Bazaar held a rare protest strike Monday against the collapse of the rial on the foreign exchange market as demonstrators also took to the streets.

At a crossroads in central Tehran, police fired tear gas at dozens of youths shouting slogans and throwing stones, an AFP photographer said.

"The demands of bazaar traders are legitimate. They want the situation on the foreign exchange market to be clarified once and for all," Abdollah Esfiandari, head of the historical covered market's administrative board, told ISNA news agency.

He said the protest was against "the high exchange rate, foreign currency fluctuations... goods being blocked at customs, and the lack of clear criteria for duties".

Shops had their metal shutters down throughout the market, said 45-year-old carpet trader who grew up in the area. "It's the first time in my life that I have seen this."

Iran's currency has plunged almost 50 percent in value in the past six months, with the US dollar now buying around 85,000 rials on the open market.

"Anti-riot police intervened" to disperse a protest in the Grand Bazaar, making two arrests, according to another carpet merchant.

Iran has faced mounting economic woes since the United States in May pulled out of a 2015 nuclear accord between Tehran and world powers that lifted international sanctions in exchange for a scaling back of the Islamic  republic's atomic program.

Photo Credit: Omid Vahabzadeh, Fars News