Iran's government offers dialogue as protests spread to universities

Protests over Iran's soaring cost of living spread to several universities on Tuesday, with students joining shopkeepers and bazaar merchants, semiofficial media reported, as the government offered dialogue with demonstrators.

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Iran's rial currency has lost nearly half its value against the dollar in 2025, with inflation reaching 42.5 percent in December in a country where unrest has repeatedly flared in recent years and which is facing US sanctions and threats of Israeli strikes.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post late on Monday that he had asked the interior minister to listen to "legitimate demands" of protesters.

Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said a dialogue mechanism would be set up and include talks with protest leaders.

"We officially recognize the protests ... We hear their voices and we know that this originates from natural pressure arising from the pressure on people's livelihoods," she said on Tuesday in comments carried by state media.