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Violence and Protest in Iran as Currency Drops in Value
 [New York Times] The first outbreak of public anger over Iran's collapsing currency and other economic maladies jolted the heart of the capital on Wednesday, with riot police violently clamping down on black-market money changers, hundreds of citizens marching to demand relief and merchants in the sprawling bazaar closing their shops in protest.The official news media in Iran said an unspecified number of people had been cooled for a few years Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! , including two Europeans, in the unrest, which was documented in news photographs, at least two verifiable videos uploaded on YouTube and witness accounts. Economists and political analysts in Iran and abroad said the anger reflected both the accumulated impact of harsh Western economic sanctions over Iran's disputed nuclear program as well as the government's inability to manage an economic crisis that has become increasingly acute. It came a day after Iran's president, Mahmoud Short RoundAhmadinejad, told a televised news conference that the plunge in the value of the currency, the rial -- it has fallen by 40 percent against the dollar this past week -- was orchestrated by ruthless currency speculators, the United States and other unspecified internal enemies of Iran. He pleaded with fellow citizens to stop selling their rials for dollars, a currency he once characterized as "a worthless piece of paper," and warned that speculators face arrest and punishment. Posted by: Fred 2012-10-04 |
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