Pezeshkian says Iran will hear protesters, blames unrest on foreign-backed “rioters”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has pledged to address mounting economic grievances, saying his government is “ready to listen” to protesters while warning against what he described as “rioters” and “terrorist elements” exploiting the unrest.

Speaking in an interview broadcast on state television on Sunday, Pezeshkian addressed demonstrations that began when merchants at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar shut their shops over the sharp depreciation of the Iranian rial. The protests have now entered a third week and have spread well beyond their original economic trigger.

Pezeshkian told the IRIB broadcaster that Israel and the United States were behind efforts to destabilise the country, arguing that “the same people that struck this country” during Israel’s 12-day war in June were now “trying to escalate these unrests with regard to the economic discussion”.

“They have trained some people inside and outside the country; they have bought in some terrorists from outside,” he said, alleging that attackers had targeted a bazaar in the northern city of Rasht and set “mosques on fire”.

At the same time, the president acknowledged public anger and said the government had heard the concerns of shopkeepers and others hit by the economic crisis.

“We hear the protesters and have made every effort to solve their problems,” Pezeshkian said, adding that authorities would resolve the shopkeepers’ issues “by any means necessary”. But he urged the public not to allow unrest to spiral. “Rioters are not protesting people,” he said.

The demonstrations are the largest Iran has seen since the 2022–2023 protest movement sparked by the custodial death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman detained for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. What began as anger over prices and inflation has since broadened into open opposition to the government.

State media reported that 109 members of the security forces have been killed during the unrest. Opposition activists based outside Iran say the overall death toll is higher and includes hundreds of protesters. Those figures cannot be independently verified.

Authorities on Sunday declared three days of national mourning “in honour of martyrs killed in resistance against the United States and the Zionist regime”, according to state media. The attorney general warned that participants in the unrest could face capital punishment, while the Interior Ministry claimed the situation was beginning to stabilise.

A nationwide internet blackout has persisted for more than 72 hours, according to monitoring groups, further limiting independent reporting from inside the country.

Antonio Guterres said he was “shocked” by reports of violence against protesters and urged Iranian authorities to show restraint.

“The rights to freedom of expression, association & peaceful assembly must be fully respected & protected,” he wrote on X.

Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi, reporting from Tehran, said officials have spent days drawing a sharp line between what they describe as legitimate protesters and foreign-backed agitators. Senior figures, he added, have also conceded that public anger is rooted in real hardship, pointing to soaring prices, high inflation and the rapid collapse of the currency.

The unrest is unfolding as tensions with Washington intensify. US President Donald Trump has threatened to “hit Iran where it hurts” if protesters are killed and is weighing options ranging from new sanctions to military action, according to US officials and media reports.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf issued a stark warning in response.

“In the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories [Israel] as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” he told lawmakers.

Iranian authorities have also called for nationwide rallies on Monday to denounce what they describe as “terrorist actions led by the United States and Israel”. Pezeshkian urged participation in what state television has framed as a “national resistance march”.