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Iran has appointed a new central bank governor and declared a public holiday as authorities sought to contain days of protests by businesses and university students over the high cost of living and plummeting currency.
Abdolnaser Hemmati was confirmed as the new governor on Wednesday in the wake of the country’s biggest demonstrations in several years. The protests began on Sunday when shop owners in Tehran’s business district closed stores, with others in the historic Grand Bazaar following suit.
Iran’s currency, the rial, has plunged to historic lows against the US dollar and inflation has surged above 40 per cent, provoking anger over a collapse in living standards and piling pressure on the government to take action.
Hemmati promised to restore “economic stability”, adding that “the main responsibility of the central bank is to curb inflation and control the banks, and to dismantle the multi-tier exchange rate system which causes corruption”.
Hemmati was handed the top job at the central bank after being dismissed as economy minister in March following steep declines in the rial. He replaced Mohammad Reza Farzin, who resigned on Monday.
Fatemeh Mohajerani, a government spokesperson, said Hemmati’s appointment had been endorsed by banking experts and had “the government’s vote of confidence”.
Demonstrations have spread to other cities and social media footage showed students chanting slogans such as “Death to the dictator”, with unconfirmed media reports suggesting some protesters were briefly detained. Regime supporters also held rival rallies in several cities.
Local media reported on Wednesday that a crowd converged on the governor’s office in Fasa, a southwestern city, with social media footage purporting to show security forces deployed to disperse protesters after some tried to break down the gate. Later reports suggested calm had been restored in the city.
The government announced it would close state-run offices and educational centres in almost all provinces on Wednesday, declaring an additional day off ahead of a long weekend and in effect shutting the country for four days.
While the government justified the closures on the need to limit energy consumption as temperatures fell across Iran, some Iranians said the move was designed in part to curb the demonstrations.
The higher education ministry said university classes would be held online during the last week of the current semester “due to cold weather and energy shortages and to ensure the welfare of students ahead of final exams”.
Mohajerani said the government recognised people’s right to protest and, in an apparent effort to assuage public anger, authorities have sought to acknowledge the economic hardships.
President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday met representatives of guilds, trade unions and the Grand Bazaar’s board of trustees, during which he promised to address their concerns based “on their own recommendations”, and asked them to “collaborate to reduce public anxieties”.
Mohammad Jafar Ghaempanah, vice-president, issued a rare “apology to the people for the 40 per cent inflation”. He said the government was making every effort to resolve it but added that the problems could not be fixed overnight.
The US’s 2018 withdrawal from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and its expansive sanctions regime have throttled the Islamic republic’s economy, reducing oil trade, cutting it off from global banks and shrinking foreign-exchange revenues.
A 12-day war with Israel and the US in June placed further economic strain on Iran. US President Donald Trump raised the possibility of fresh strikes against Iran’s nuclear programme after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida this week.
The rial, which has lost 40 per cent of its value since the June war, rose slightly over news of the central bank’s change in leadership.
Mohajerani said the government would “patiently listen to voices of protest” from the Iranian people, who, according to her, were “very patient” and would “not raise their voices unless they are under heavy pressure”.
