Iran in ‘economic fight’ with US, says Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday said his country is in a “fight” with the US, a day after protesters angered by Iran’s tanking economy confronted police in front of parliament.

In a televised speech, Rouhani blamed the US for Iran’s woes and said the US is trying to damage the country by creating “an economic war.”

“The US cannot defeat our nation, our enemies are not able to get us to their knees,” he said.

Rouhani’s comments came after protesters angered by Iran’s tanking economy confronted police in front of parliament yesterday. It was the first such confrontation since similar demonstrations rocked the country at the start of the year.

The demonstration signalled widespread unease in the wake of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers and restore sanctions on the country.

It wasn’t immediately clear who led yesterday’s protests. Iran’s semi-official news agencies, Fars, ISNA and Tasnim, described the protests at the Grand Bazaar as erupting after the Iranian rial dropped to 90,000 to the dollar on the country’s black market, despite government attempts to control the currency rate.

Videos posted to social media showed protesters at the bazaar heckling shopkeepers who refused to close.

A short time later, about 2 kilometres from the Grand Bazaar, videos shared by Iranians on social media appeared to show a crowd confronting police at parliament. Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported today that authorities detained many of the rioters.