Protests spread across Iran on Tuesday, with universities and commercial districts emerging as key hubs amid a widening strike by shopkeepers in Tehran and other cities.<\/p>\n
Human rights and student groups said at least 11 protesters were arrested near Tehran\u2019s Shoush Square.<\/p>\n
Five students were also detained at universities in the capital, four of whom were later released.<\/p>\n
Student outlets reported that one student at Tehran\u2019s Amirkabir University was severely injured during a campus crackdown after members of the Basij militia of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attacked their gathering. <\/p>\n
Videos circulating on social media showed students chanting anti-government slogans, dismantling signs linked to the office of the Supreme Leader\u2019s representatives and confronting security forces at campus gates.<\/p>\n
In some clips, officers appeared to retreat as crowds advanced; in others, security forces were seen firing tear gas and, in several locations, shooting toward demonstrators.<\/p>\n
The protests coincided with the government\u2019s announcement that public offices would close in nearly 25 provinces, including the capital on Wednesday – a move officials said was necessary to conserve energy amid a severe cold snap. However, online weather data showed no significant drop in temperatures.<\/p>\n
The unrest began Sunday after shopkeepers in several Tehran malls and later the Grand Bazaar launched a strike in response to the rial hitting a record low against the US dollar.<\/p>\n
Since then, videos verified by Iran International have documented protests in Tehran, Karaj, Qeshm Island, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Shiraz, Yazd, Kerman and several other cities.<\/p>\n
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani acknowledged widespread frustration, saying the protests reflected \u201cintense economic pressure\u201d and that peaceful assembly is recognized under Iran\u2019s constitution.<\/p>\n
President Masoud Pezeshkian said he instructed the interior minister to engage in dialogue with representatives of the demonstrators to hear their \u201clegitimate\u201d demands. He later attended a meeting with a handpicked group of trade officials on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Heavy security deployments were reported in Tehran, Mashhad, and Kermanshah, with residents describing checkpoints, constant patrols, and the presence of both uniformed and plainclothes officers.<\/p>\n
In Hamadan, footage appeared to show security forces opening fire toward protesters, while riot police in Tehran and the nearby city of Malard used tear gas to disperse crowds.<\/p>\n
Demonstrations were held on Tuesday night in several parts of Iran, and are expected to continue into a fourth day, with more Iranian businesses announcing on social media that they will close in solidarity with the movement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Protests spread across Iran on Tuesday, with universities and commercial districts emerging as key hubs amid a widening…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":483235,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[83,196617,196615,196614,3461,196616,5962,6111,196613,8441,99,3097,50,162383],"class_list":{"0":"post-483234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-iran","9":"tag-iran-and-china","10":"tag-iran-covid","11":"tag-iran-economy","12":"tag-iran-government","13":"tag-iran-media-iran-and-the-united-states","14":"tag-iran-news","15":"tag-iran-nuclear","16":"tag-iran-politics","17":"tag-iran-us","18":"tag-israel","19":"tag-middle-east","20":"tag-news","21":"tag-us-sanctions"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115816248509047282","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}