Tehran residents share economic concerns fuelling Iranian unrest, with 450 arrested in capital in three days
Many feel the nation has not been rewarded for enduring decades of hardship – the tumult of the 1979 revolution, eight years of brutal war with Iraq in the 1980s and recent US sanctions
Although initial reports about the unrest sweeping Iran focused on riots and violent clashes in the country’s provinces, 450 people have reportedly been arrested in Tehran, the capital city, in the past three days.
The ILNA news agency on Tuesday quoted Ali Asghar Nasserbakht, a security deputy governor of Tehran, offering the figure. He said 200 protesters were arrested on Saturday, 150 on Sunday and 100 were arrested on Monday.
The protests began on Thursday over economic issues and expanded to several cities, although the number of arrests indicates residents of Tehran have also been affected.
“Life is really difficult. The high prices really put me under pressure,” said Farzaneh Mirzaie, 42, a Tehran resident and mother of two. “My husband is a government worker but his salary is no way enough for us to make ends meet.”
She said much of her family worked in a carpet factory in Kashan, a town 250km south of the capital, but they have all recently lost their jobs.
Life is really difficult. The high prices really put me under pressure