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Iran Protests Fueled by Sickly Economy

(New York Times) Vivian Yee - The tens of thousands of Iranians taking part in nationwide protests against the government in the past two weeks have plenty of grievances to choose from: soaring prices, high unemployment, corruption, political repression, and the law requiring women to dress modestly and cover their hair. But the sorry state of Iran's economy is one of the main forces spurring Iranians into the streets to demand change. Protesters have called for an end to Iran's inflexible clerical leadership and the Islamic Republic it built. Decades of mismanagement and corruption, compounded by suffocating U.S.-led sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear and missile programs, along with a pandemic, have frozen Iran's economy at pre-2012 levels or worse. Iranians who have spent the past several years cutting meat out of their budgets, scrounging for work and delaying marriage and children are angry with their leaders, whom they see as being responsible for the mismanagement of the economy. The Iranian rial lost so much value that Iran introduced the toman, essentially to slash four zeros off the currency. Iranians now pay about 75% more for food than they did a year ago.
2022-10-03 00:00:00
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