Qom cleric links protests to corruption networks

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday that President Masoud Pezeshkian’s letter to parliament seeking talks with lawmakers over changes to the government’s proposed 1405 budget amounts to a withdrawal and revision of the bill and the submission of a new budget plan.

Ghalibaf’s comments came after parliament’s presiding board read out a letter from Pezeshkian addressed to the speaker, in which the president said his government was ready to engage with lawmakers and the powerful joint budget committee to amend the draft budget while observing inflation constraints and the overall spending ceiling.

In the letter, Pezeshkian said the government was open to revising the bill to raise salaries and benefits for state employees and pensioners, adjust effective tax rates to ease pressure on businesses, recalibrate tax exemptions to favor lower-income earners, modify planned value-added tax increases so proceeds fund food voucher schemes, and pursue broader changes aimed at expanding subsidies to support household livelihoods.

The move follows Monday’s decision by the joint parliamentary committee to reject the budget’s general framework by a wide margin, citing concerns over inflationary pressures, falling purchasing power and doubts over the government’s revenue projections.

Parliament’s budget committee said it rejected the bill chiefly because the government’s proposed 20% pay raise for state employees and pensioners would lag inflation and cut real purchasing power, with lawmakers warning of a further squeeze on household living standards.

The committee also flagged the inflationary impact of the government’s plan to raise value-added tax by two percentage points (to 12%), saying it was unclear how the resulting price pressures would be offset for lower-income groups, including via promised subsidies such as food vouchers.

In addition, lawmakers cited ambiguities over revenue assumptions, including the transparency and reliability of oil income and foreign-currency inflows, as well as uncertainties around how subsidized exchange-rate allocations and other subsidies – such as bread support – would reach end consumers rather than being lost to inefficiency or rent-seeking.

Shopkeepers in Tehran’s Shoush and Molavi districts closed their stores on Tuesday for a third consecutive day of protests, with reports also pointing to protest gatherings in parts of the capital’s main bazaar.

Reports received by Iran International said merchants in the two southern Tehran commercial areas kept shops shut, extending strike action linked to economic grievances.

Social media posts and eyewitness accounts also pointed to the formation of protest gatherings in sections of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, though the size of the crowds could not be independently verified.

The Grand Bazaar has been a focal point of recent demonstrations, with traders protesting the sharp fall of the rial, rising prices and uncertainty over daily transactions.

• Shoush and Molavi markets
• The Shoush and Molavi areas are major wholesale and retail hubs in southern Tehran, supplying goods to smaller markets across the city. Strikes in these districts can quickly affect supply chains and prices.

Security measures were intensified at Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology in Tehran on Tuesday, with reports of tighter controls on student entry a day after students said they would join protests.

Students and local sources reported increased checks at campus entrances, with security personnel monitoring access and movement inside the university.

The measures followed a statement issued by students on Monday announcing their intention to take part in protests linked to economic conditions.

Universities in Tehran have played a visible role in recent protest movements, and campuses have often faced heightened security when demonstrations are expected.

Iran’s government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said on Tuesday that widespread protests over livelihoods reflect intense economic pressure on households, adding that the administration recognizes the right to peaceful assembly.

Speaking in response to the demonstrations, Mohajerani described public reaction as a natural response to economic strain.

“A natural reaction to economic and livelihood pressure is what we are seeing across society,” she said.

She said the government recognizes protests and emphasized peaceful gatherings. “We recognize people’s protests and stress peaceful assemblies, which are also recognized in our constitution,” Mohajerani said.

Mohajerani said the government would listen even to harsh criticism. “Even if there are sharp voices, the government will listen patiently, because when people raise their voices it shows the high level of pressure they are under,” she said.

Iran’s judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir said on Tuesday that Iranians support the Islamic Republic and would not allow economic problems to be used against what he called the nation’s revolutionary values.

Speaking at a news conference, Jahangir pointed to what he described as public behavior at “historical junctures” as evidence of loyalty to both Iran and the 1979 revolution.

“Popular presence at critical moments has shown that people love their revolution and their Iran,” he said.

He added that citizens would not permit existing problems to become “a pretext for the enemy’s attack on the ideals and values of the nation.”