Iranian protesters tried to break into a local government building in the southern Fars province on Wednesday, state media said, on the fourth day of demonstrations over the cost of living that have prompted an unusual offer of dialogue from the government.
Protests over high inflation and a slump in the value of the rial began among shopkeepers in Tehran on Sunday and by Tuesday had spread to several universities in Tehran.
“A few hours ago, an organised group tried to get into the governorate building in the city of Fasa. Their attack failed with the intervention of security forces,” state media said. “The leader of these rioters, a 28-year-old woman, was arrested.”
Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted a local official as saying four “attackers” were detained and three members of the security forces had been wounded during the incident. A video carried by state media showed a group of people trying to break open the gate of the building.
The governor of Fasa told state media that “the protests were caused by inflation and economic conditions. Individuals influenced by hostile channels and media participated in them … the situation is back to normal”.
“A portion of the provincial governors' office door and its glass were destroyed in an attack by a number of people,” Hamed Ostovar, the head of the judiciary in the city of Fasa, was quoted as having said by the Justice Ministry's Mizan agency.
Iranian authorities have responded to previous protests over issues including prices, drought, women's rights and political freedoms with forceful security measures and extensive arrests.
This time, the government said it would set up a “dialogue mechanism” with leaders of the demonstrations, the first major protests since Israeli and US strikes on Iran in June, which prompted widespread expressions of patriotic solidarity. It has not said how the mechanism would work.
Iran's chief prosecutor, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, had warned on Tuesday that any attempt to sow instability would be met with a “decisive response”, after students staged street protests in Tehran.
Iranian traders and shopkeepers began protesting on Sunday after the value of the country’s rial plummeted to 1.42 million to the dollar.
“Any attempt to turn economic protests into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property, or implementation of externally designed scenarios will inevitably be met with a legal, proportionate and decisive response,” Mr Movahedi Azad said.
Mr Movahedi Azad blamed international sanctions and media campaigns for the protests, Irna reported. He also warned against economic protests being turned into “a tool of insecurity”.
The US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz on Tuesday said the US supported those taking to the streets. “The people of Iran want freedom. They have suffered at the hands of the Ayatollahs for too long,” he said on X.
“We stand with Iranians in the streets of Tehran and across the country as they protest [against] a radical regime that has brought them nothing but economic downturn and war,” he added.
The student protests spread to about 10 universities across the country on Tuesday, including seven in Tehran, reported the Ilna news agency, which is associated with the country's labour movement.
Demonstrations also took place at the technology university in Isfahan, as well as institutions in Yazd and Zanjan, the state news agency Irna reported.
Iran's economy has been hit hard by Western sanctions and conflict. Many parts of Iran struggle to save energy during the cold weather at this time of year. The government has closed banks, schools and businesses during the past month in a bid to save energy – moves that have sparked anger.
President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has less authority than Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Tuesday met with labour leaders and issued proposals to tackle the economic crisis, the Mehr news agency reported.
Mr Pezeshkian announced earlier in the day that the Interior Minister, Eskandar Momeni, would hold talks with representatives of the protesters to hear their demands.
Iranian security services made widespread arrests and used violence to suppress previous protests. There were no reports of a police crackdown this time, although security was tight at demonstrations, witnesses said.
Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also called for “necessary measures focused on increasing people's purchasing power”, but warned against foreign agents and government opponents attempting to exploit the protests, state TV reported.
On Monday, the government announced that the central bank governor Mohammad Reza Farzin had been replaced with the former economy minister Abdolnaser Hemmati.
According to the state statistics centre, Iran's annual inflation rate rose to 42.2 per cent this month, 1.8 per cent higher than last month. Food prices rose by 72 per cent and the cost of health and medical items were 50 per cent higher compared with December last year. Many critics believe the pace of the price rises is a sign of approaching hyperinflation.
Reports in official Iranian media that the government plans to increase taxes in the Iranian new year, which begins on March 21, have heightened concerns.
In 2022, anger over the death of a young Kurdish woman, Mahsa Zhina Amini, in the custody of Iran's morality police mushroomed into vast anti-government protests. Iran was widely accused of abuse in quelling the unrest, which led to further sanctions.
The EU on Tuesday evening expressed concern over the widespread use of arbitrary detention in the country by authorities “to suppress critical voices within the country”.
“We call on the Iranian authorities to release all individuals unjustly detained for exercising their fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and assembly,” the statement read. It added that this should include the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who was arrested this month.
