Central Bank chief resigns as Iran sees biggest unrest in three years VIDEO

Iran was shaken by its most significant wave of protests in three years after the national currency collapsed to a historic low against the US dollar, fueling public anger over surging prices and prompting the resignation of the country’s central bank governor.

State television reported that Mohammad Reza Farzin, head of Iran’s Central Bank, stepped down as demonstrators gathered in parts of Tehran and other major cities. Traders and shopkeepers rallied along Saadi Street in central Tehran and in the Shush district near the capital’s main Grand Bazaar—a location long regarded as a powerful symbol of political change, having played a key role during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Iranian state-run media confirmed the protests, while witnesses said similar demonstrations erupted in Isfahan, Shiraz, and Mashhad. In several areas of Tehran, police used tear gas to disperse crowds.

The December 29 unrest marked the largest protests since 2022, when nationwide demonstrations followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini in police custody. Amini had been detained by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating hijab regulations, sparking months of widespread unrest.

Witnesses said that many traders closed their shops in protest and urged others to do the same. Iranian media reported a sharp slowdown in business activity, even though some shops remained open. A day earlier, protests had been confined to two mobile markets in downtown Tehran, where demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans.

The demonstrations were triggered by a dramatic plunge in the rial, which fell to 1.42 million per dollar on December 28 before recovering slightly to around 1.38 million on December 29. When Farzin assumed office in 2022, the currency was trading at approximately 430,000 rials to the dollar.

The rapid depreciation has intensified inflationary pressures, sharply increasing the cost of food and basic necessities and placing heavy strain on household budgets. According to Iran’s state statistics center, inflation reached 42.2 percent in December, higher than both a year earlier and the previous month. Food prices surged 72 percent year-on-year, while health and medical expenses rose by 50 percent—figures that critics warn could signal the onset of hyperinflation.

Iran’s economic crisis remains closely linked to international sanctions. The rial traded at around 32,000 to the dollar following the 2015 nuclear deal, which eased restrictions in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear program. That agreement collapsed after US President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, triggering renewed economic pressure.

Market uncertainty has also deepened following June’s 12-day conflict involving Iran and Israel, raising fears of a broader regional war that could draw in the United States. In September, the United Nations reinstated nuclear-related sanctions on Iran through the “snapback” mechanism, freezing overseas assets, halting arms transactions, and imposing penalties linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program.

By Vafa Guliyeva