Death toll tied to protests in Iran rises to at least 36

Protesters angry over Iran’s ailing economy conducted a sit-in Tuesday at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, witnesses said, with security forces ultimately firing tear gas and dispersing demonstrators as the rest of the market shut down.

- By Jon GAMBRELL

The protest at the Grand Bazaar, the beating heart for centuries of both Iran’s economic and political life, represented the latest signal that the demonstrations are likely to continue as the country’s currency fell to a record low Tuesday. Already, violence surrounding the protests has killed at least 36 people with authorities detaining more than 1,200 others, activists abroad say.

Meanwhile, the situation was likely to worsen as Iran’s Central Bank drastically reduced the subsidized exchange rates for dollars it offers to importers and producers in the country. That probably will see merchants pass on price hikes in the coming days for goods directly on to consumers, whose life savings already have dwindled over years of international sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic.

Iran's reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, while ordering a government investigation into one incident involving the protests, otherwise signaled Tuesday that the crisis may be rapidly moving beyond the control of officials.

“We should not expect the government to handle all of this alone,” Pezeshkian said in a televised speech. “The government simply does not have that capacity.”

In the Grand Bazaar, a warren of covered passages and alleyways, demonstrators sat down in one passage in front of security forces as other shops nearby shut down on Tuesday, online videos showed and witnesses said. Other demonstrations similarly have seen people sit down in front of police after a photo circulated earlier of a single man doing so in front of security forces.

Authorities later fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Iranian state-run media did not immediately acknowledge the incident, which has been common in the days since the demonstrations began Dec. 28. Later video purportedly showed tear gas being used at a hospital and a metro station in Tehran.