TEHRAN: Protests over Iran’s soaring cost of living spread to several universities on Tuesday, with students joining shopkeepers and bazaar merchants, semi-official media reported, as the government offered dialogue with demonstrators.
Iran’s rial currency has lost nearly half its value against the dollar in 2025, with inflation reaching 42.5 percent in December in a country where unrest has repeatedly flared in recent years and which is facing US sanctions and threats of Israeli strikes.
• The leadership acknowledges protests stem from economic pressure, promises monetary reforms.
• Iranian rial hits record low under the impact of Western sanctions.
President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post late that he had asked the interior minister to listen to “legitimate demands” of protesters.
