Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, in his first official reaction to ongoing protests over economic woes, said on Monday he had ordered his interior minister to engage in dialogue with the representatives of protesters.
“I have tasked the interior minister with listening to the legitimate demands of protesters through dialogue with their representatives, so that the government can act with full capacity to resolve problems and respond responsibly," he said.
"People’s livelihoods are my daily concern. We have placed fundamental measures to reform the monetary and banking system and to protect people’s purchasing power on the agenda."
Strikes and protests in Iran spread nationwide on Monday, turning violent in several cities as nighttime crowds chanted against the ruling state and bazaar merchants vowed to continue their shutdowns and demonstrations into Tuesday.
Strikes and protests in Iran spread nationwide on Monday, turning violent in several cities as nighttime crowds chanted against the ruling state and bazaar merchants vowed to continue their shutdowns and demonstrations into Tuesday.
"Iranians would rather die than accept humiliation," protesters in Kerman, southeastern Iran, chanted on Monday night, videos shared on social media show.
The US State Department's Persian page, referring to the spread of protests in Iran to cities including Hamedan, Mashhad, Isfahan, Zanjan, and Mallard, wrote: "This presence is the result of the remarkable courage of Iranians who are tired of the problems created by the failed policies and economic mismanagement of the Islamic Republic regime."
The statement said: "The United States applauds their courage and stands with all those who seek dignity and a better future."
Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, wrote in response to the Iranian protests in X: "The Iranian people demand freedom and have suffered for years under the rule of the 'Ayatollahs.' We stand with the people on the streets of Tehran and across the country in support of the protesters against a regime that has brought them nothing but economic stagnation and war."
Protests over Iran's soaring cost of living spread to several universities, with students joining shopkeepers and bazaar merchants, semi-official media reported, as the government offered dialogue with demonstrators
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