The Islamic Republic News Agency reported unauthorized rallies in the city of Shiraz, capital of the southern Iranian province of Fars. The news outlet also said that there were a few clashes between the protesters and the police but the city streets were calm at the moment.
The Tasnim News Agency said that protests were also held in the city of Mashhad in the north-east of the country, while other media reported protests in the cities of Isfahan, about 250 miles south of the country's capital and the city of Karaj just outside Tehran.
#IranProtests Day 2 in Isfahan's Shahpur District, ppl urged to join in. Similar protests rocked Shiraz & Karaj last night w/ chants against Khamenei. @Maryam_Rajavi called it the voice of Iran's oppressed ppl that foils rgm’s conspiracies & heralds dawn of freedom. #FreeIran2018 pic.twitter.com/mOBJtFtoje
— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) August 1, 2018
Iran already saw a wave of mass protests against high unemployment rates and poverty in late December 2017 — early 2018 when tens of thousands of people took part in rallies across the country with at least 20 of them killed.
#Protests continuing for a third day in #Iran against rising prices, the collapsing currency. Videos suggest the demonstrations are spreading to more cities, including #Mashhad and #Shiraz. They are chanting: "The #US is not the enemy, our enemy is right here"… pic.twitter.com/UMWXpiNw4n
— Rana Rahimpour (@ranarahimpour) August 2, 2018
In late June, a group of Iranian lawmakers addressed a letter to the president calling for the dismissal of three ministers, including the economy minister, who they believed were responsible for the poor state of the economy.
The drought-ridden Iranian cities of Shiraz & Isfahan saw protests today, including chants of “I give my life for Iran, not Gaza, not Lebanon" (Shiraz). The ppl demand that @HassanRouhani focus government funds on domestic issues rather than foreign policies. #IranProtests pic.twitter.com/MkzPqqh7Nj
— IranHumanRights.org (@ICHRI) August 2, 2018
Over the last few months, the black market value of Iran's national currency, the rial, plunged to its record low of over 100,000 rials to the US dollar, according to media reports, while in March the exchange rate did not exceed 50,000 rials for the US dollar. This came in the wake of US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and reimpose economic sanctions both on Iran and countries that continue to do business with Tehran.
#BREAKING NOW #IRAN
— پیکِ خالی 🏳️ (@Peykkhali) August 2, 2018
The start of protests in Shiraz, August 2. #IranProtests #چالش_دعوت_به_تظاهرات
pic.twitter.com/hxwG4Gt2S3