Iranian president seeks talks with protesters amid escalation fears

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday responded to demonstrations at the country’s economic crisis by calling for dialogue with the protesters, while the security forces warned of possible widespread unrest.

“I have instructed the interior minister to engage in dialogue with representatives of the protest movement and consider their demands,” Pezeshkian wrote on X.

He promised to pursue reforms to the monetary and banking systems, as well as measures to preserve people’s purchasing power.

However, what began as protests in the capital Tehran against the poor economic situation quickly turned political, with chants such as “Death to the dictator” directed against the Islamic system, and spread to other cities.

The demonstrators even called for the restoration of a monarchy with chants of “Long live the king.”

Anti-riot police were deployed and used tear gas to disperse crowds, eyewitnesses reported.

According to eyewitnesses, protests have also broken out in other cities, with demonstrations in major cities such as Isfahan and Kerman.

Security officials warned that the protests could be hijacked by subversive elements and fanned into violence, the state-affiliated news agency Fars reported.

“Anti-Revolutionary forces intend to steer civil protests towards unrest and instability in order to achieve the goals of Iran’s enemies,” Fars quoted one unnamed official as saying.

The official also expressed hope that the public would not take the claims of “foreign-controlled critics of the system” seriously.

Nevertheless, the news agency, which is close to Islamic hardliners and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), confirmed that the protests had spread to several universities in Tehran.

According to the report, hundreds of students took part in the protests, but student groups said there were thousands of participants at almost all universities in the city.

The university newspaper Amir-Kabir reported that Tehran University had been surrounded by security forces and that the protesting students have been locked in the central campus.

Meanwhile, the Tehran city administration declared Wednesday a public holiday at short notice, “due to an impending cold spell and to save energy.”

However, as no change in the weather is expected in the capital, observers assume that the measure has other objectives.

In their assessment, the public holiday is intended to enable police and security units to better control the protests. New Year’s Eve is not celebrated in Iran, as the country follows its own calendar.

Media representatives in various parts of Tehran were also prevented from reporting on the protests or taking pictures.

In particular, the media were not allowed to report on slogans critical of the regime. According to his wife, the editor-in-chief of the reform-oriented daily newspaper Etemad has been missing for more than 24 hours.

Mehdi Bejk wanted to write a report on the protests in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar on Monday and has not returned since. His mobile phone is also switched off, his wife Zahra Bejk wrote on X.