Iran suspends official work in 21 provinces as protests enter third day
Shafaq News– Tehran
Protests across Iran continued for the third consecutive day, with authorities suspending official working hours on Wednesday across 21 of the country’s 31 provinces.
State media said the decision covered the capital Tehran and the provinces of Hamedan, Qom, Alborz, Markazi, Yazd, Lorestan, North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Ardabil, Zanjan, Ilam, Kerman, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Fars, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, East Azerbaijan, Mazandaran, and Gilan.
The closures came as demonstrations over deteriorating economic conditions continued for a third day, with large participation by university students and market traders in several cities. Iran’s currency weakened further this week, with the US dollar climbing to a record above 141,000 tomans.
In Tehran, students at Amirkabir University of Technology held a mass rally, chanting slogans hostile to the authorities, including “Death to the tyrant,” in reference to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and slogans accusing the Basij—affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—of repression. Video footage circulated online showed security forces retreating from Jomhouri Street after clashes with protesters.
Similar gatherings were reported at Sharif University of Technology and Shahid Beheshti University, where students voiced political demands and direct criticism of the ruling system. At Isfahan University of Technology, demonstrators chanted slogans denouncing clerical rule and past political factions.
In the markets, traders at Shoush Bazaar in Tehran closed their shops and joined protest marches. Notable participation was also reported in the bazaars of Kermanshah and Shiraz, where crowds raised slogans supportive of the protests, including chants praising the legacy of monarch Reza Shah Pahlavi, the country’s ruler from 1925 to 1941.
Protests were also reported in Qeshm, where demonstrators called for freedom and national dignity in response to economic and social policies.
The unrest follows a broader wave of sit-ins and strikes that began on Sunday, driven by rising prices and mounting pressure on household incomes—particularly among low-income groups and the middle class.
According to circulating reports and footage, demonstrations have extended beyond campuses and markets into public streets, where clashes erupted with security forces. Some protesters responded to tear gas with stone-throwing, forcing security units to pull back.
