Tehran's traders go on strike in protest against economic situation

Traders in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar protest against the deteriorating economic situation, Monday.

The Iranian Fars News Agency described this protest as peaceful though several sources stated that Iranian police forces were deployed.

Some traders, particularly wholesale merchants, asserted fluctuations in the exchange rate had greatly affected them in terms of values of both imported and domestically manufactured goods.

Ali Fadli, the head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, said that the situation in the Tehran Bazaar is calm and has since it returned to its normal.

The Iranian Tasnim News Agency website quoted Fadli saying that the supervisors of the concerned unions are monitoring the developments and that those who try to illegally exploit these demands will be dealt with strictly.

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Iranian MPs sent a letter to the Parliament’s Speaker Ali Larijani requesting an emergency meeting between the heads of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities and the formation of a special committee on the issue of economic problems.

Iranian websites reported that the decision, which was issued after holding a government meeting on Sunday that President Hassan Rouhani attended, had a positive impact on the exchange rate. The government decided to form a secondary market for hard currency within a week, in which the dollar will be traded at an agreed-upon price.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iran, Valiollah Seif, announced that there will be an agreement on fixed prices for most of the imported non-core goods. This may positively influence the market and stop the invocation of fluctuation and change in the exchange rate.