Iranians’ anger nears boiling point as president’s anniversary approaches

Street protests in several Iranian provinces have simmered in recent days over a cut in state subsidies for food nearly a year after President Ebrahim Raisi took office.

The Iranian government has sharply increased the price of some basic goods, such as cooking oil and flour-based staples. In some cases, people outside Tehran have been left scrambling to snatch any loaves of bread they can find on shop shelves before the price goes up.

This follows months of protests by teachers demanding education reform, as well as better pay and working conditions.

The latest protests come amid a severe economic crisis and stalled negotiations with major world powers over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Social media posts and footage showed protesters shouting slogans against Mr Raisi and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.

In some videos circulating on Twitter, dozens of demonstrators were seen burning pictures of regime figures.

The National has verified the authenticity of footage and photographs that emerged from several locations including Shahr-e Kord, the capital of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, south-west of Isfahan in central Iran. The province is the scene of most of the recent protests.

Activists say the authorities have used a heavy-handed approach to prevent the protests from spreading. Reports that four protesters were killed are unconfirmed.

Independent media outlets have published four photographs of what they claimed were demonstrators killed by police gunfire.

The National could not independently verify such claims.

On Sunday night, dozens of protesters stopped traffic on a street in Shahr-e Kord and chanted anti-regime slogans.

There are reports of internet access being cut and of communications disrupted in an attempt to quell protests, a tactic that became routine during previous protests against Iran’s government.

However, as technology develops, Iranian activists have found ways to circumvent the online shutdown.

Iranian state news agency Irna said shops were “set on fire in some cities”, prompting police to arrest scores of “provocateurs”.

State-affiliated media have quoted government sources accusing anti-regime agents of sparking the unrest.

The price of wheat continued to soar on international markets on Friday after India banned the export of the cereal. Global food prices hit a record high after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Iran’s government said its economic policy was aimed at achieving a fair redistribution of subsidies to people on lower incomes, and blamed US sanctions for the economic crisis.

Semi-official news agencies and newspapers reported that people were protesting to draw government attention to the “unfair conditions” because of the poor distribution of resources and subsidies.

Citing the figure of 10 per cent of the population – more than eight million citizens – as the number of people missing out on food and fuel subsidies, they echoed Mr Raisi’s statements that the new measures were designed to make sure that state assistance would be delivered only to those who deserve it.

In 2018, former US president Donald Trump toughened American sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme after he withdrew from a 2015 international agreement with the Iranian government.

Negotiations to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action under the administration of US President Joe Biden have come to a standstill, with each side blaming the other for the impasse.

This has increased pressure on Iran’s poorer households and the country’s middle class.

The value of the local currency has been slashed and purchasing power greatly diminished, which has driven more Iranians into poverty.

Restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic have made matters worse.

Iranian political and human rights activists have also claimed that poor government is playing a central role in the deterioration of living conditions.

The National was unable to obtain credible official figures on poverty rates in the country, the population of which is about 84 million.

Anti-government protests are not new in Iran. In the oil-rich province of Khuzestan, regular widespread demonstrations over economic hardships and water scarcity have been held.

In July last year, mass protests were held in the south-western region against severe water shortages.

Khuzestan demonstrators accused the central government of diverting water sources to drill for oil.

Although it admitted the water scarcity problem, Iran’s government denied it was because of drilling in the province. It blamed sanctions, which it said had caused imports of vital water pumps to cease. It also said heat and climate change were factors.

There were several strikes by oil workers in dozens of companies last year over low salaries and perceived poor work conditions.

And in 2019, what began as scattered protests over a shock increase in fuel prices quickly spread into one of the biggest rallies in the 43-year history of the Iranian republic.

Activists say the authorities have used a heavy-handed approach to prevent the protests from spreading