In Iran, a wave of protests is challenging the government’s grip as citizens express their frustration over a dire cost of living crisis. The national currency’s dramatic devaluation has exacerbated economic woes, with the exchange rate now standing at an astonishing 1.4 million Iranian rials for just one U.S. dollar.

Initially concentrated in urban centers, the protests have rapidly spread into rural regions, where the economic downturn has hit residents hardest. In these areas, the impact of Iran’s financial instability is palpable, fueling widespread discontent among the populace.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has acknowledged the severity of the situation, expressing a readiness to engage in dialogue with demonstrators. However, he also conceded the challenges posed by the rial’s historic depreciation, which has left the government with limited options to stabilize the economy swiftly.

The unrest gained momentum in Tehran, where both consumers and shopkeepers took to the streets to voice their grievances against governmental mismanagement. As the protests extended into Thursday, they underscored a growing national impatience with the current economic policies.

For months, economists and journalists have been sounding alarms about the impending crisis. Notably, Iran International reported in November on the steep rise in staple goods prices, such as the beloved Tarom Hashemi rice, which soared to 4 million rials per kilogram, equivalent to $3.56 per pound. Such stark examples highlight the financial strain facing ordinary Iranians, further fueling the protests that now engulf the nation.

That price represented a 230% surge from the same time last year, with similar increases afflicting other popular goods as consumer price inflation rate soars to 48.6%.

“[Ayatollah] Ali Khamenei has spent over four decades chasing war, missiles and chanting, ‘Death to this or that.’ Now we can’t even afford rice,” one shopper in Karaj told Iran International.

Even cheap gasoline, which Iranians view as a birthright, had seen a spike in December that triggered outrage and forced the government to implement new subsidies to calm the masses.

The protests — which are centered on the all-important bazaars where most local buy their daily goods — have now shut down businesses, universities, and government offices across the country, with people turning Khamenei’s chants against him with shouts of, “Death to the dictator.”

While the demonstrations in Tehran have slowed, they have gained momentum in other parts of the country and turned violent, with officials reporting three deaths in the recent clashes between protesters and security forces.

A 21-year-old volunteer officer with the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force was killed during a protest Wednesday night, according to the state-run IRNA news agency, which blamed demonstrators.

The Guard member “was martyred … at the hands of rioters during protests in this city in defense of public order,” said Saeed Pourali, a deputy governor in Iran’s Lorestan province.

“The protests that have occurred are due to economic pressures, inflation and currency fluctuations, and are an expression of livelihood concerns,” he added. “The voices of citizens must be heard carefully and tactfully, but people must not allow their demands to be strained by profit-seeking individuals.”

The Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran identified the two other deaths as protesters killed at a demonstration in the city of Lordegan.

Rather than directly tackle the economic woes facing the nation, Pezeshkian claimed that foreign interference was the cause of the civil unrest, Al Jazeera reported.

“Right now, the enemy has placed most of its hopes on knocking us down through economic pressure. You cannot conquer a nation with bombs, fighter jets, or missiles,” he said at a business forum in Tehran.

“And if they were to confront this nation on the ground, if we remain determined, united, and committed to working together to make our country proud, it would be impossible for them to bring Iran to its knees,” he added.

With Post Wires