Spreading unrest in Iran raises the prospect of broader antigovernment protests as the political leadership in Tehran faces mounting pressure from a Trump administration effort to cut the country’s oil sales. Hundreds of people took to the streets in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr over the weekend in a demonstration prompted by anger at dirty drinking water that turned into an expression of broader grievances against the government in Tehran. The upheaval came after thousands of people swarmed Tehran’s Grand Bazaar last week, as the government of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani struggles to deal with soaring unemployment, a collapsing currency and other economic woes. Businesses in the bazaar shut down for days. In Khorramshahr, a video shared Friday on social media showed large crowds chanting “Death to Rouhani.” Other videos that purported to capture the events of the weekend showed people clashing with security forces and setting fires in the street. What appeared to be gunfire could be heard in the background of some. The videos couldn’t be independently verified. An Iranian interior ministry official said 10 police officers were injured in clashes on Saturday. Iranian authorities said no one had died. Economic problems and political complaints led to a wave of public protests in late December and early January in more than 100 Iranian cities, in what amounted to the biggest public rebuke of Iran’s rulers in nearly a decade. A crackdown by security forces largely curbed those demonstrations. On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed his support for the Tehran bazaar protesters, tweeting that Iranians “are tired of the corruption, injustice & incompetence of their leaders. The world hears their voice.” The U.S. recently warned buyers of Iranian crude they could face U.S. sanctions if they don’t cut commercial ties by November 4, as Washington seeks to increase pressure on Tehran to further limit its nuclear programs, missile development and regional military activities. President Donald Trump in May withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, which gave the Islamic Republic relief from international sanctions in exchange for curbs on its disputed nuclear program. The deal between six world powers and Iran was a priority of former President Barack Obama’s administration. In Khorramshahr, the governor, Valiollah Hayati, said Sunday that order had been re-established after the clashes, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. Related Video With the U.S out of the Iran nuclear agreement, the Trump administration is stamping down on the Iranian regime. The Wall Street Journal's Gerald F. Seib explains the sources of pressure. Photo: Reuters “In street protests, some get worked up and some abuse the opportunity and carry out actions that disrupt order,” Iran’s Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli said Sunday, according to IRNA. “In this case, the police are obliged to fulfill their duty or there will be no order.” The recent protests have occurred against a backdrop of rising unemployment and inflation. Heightening the pain for investors and importers, the Iranian rial has lost around half its value against the dollar since the beginning of the year at unregulated exchanges. The bazaar protests were particularly notable because members of Tehran’s conservative merchant class have long been seen as important supporters of the ruling system. While smaller in scale than the winter protests, the more recent actions have highlighted the daunting challenges Iran’s rulers face as they grapple with a bid by the U.S. and regional rival Saudi Arabia to curtail the country’s oil income, something that could seriously destabilize the already precarious economy. While the problems underlying recent protests predated the Trump administration, analysts say new U.S. pressure has helped accentuate existing strains. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, shown above in May, expressed his support for Tehran protesters last week. Photo: YANG CHENGLIN/XINHUA/ZUMA PRESS “The Trump administration’s strategy is to subject Iran to enormous pressure in order to bring about one of two outcomes: Regime capitulation or regime implosion,” said Karim Sadjadpour, a senior analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “It is equally possible, however, that this strategy serves to strengthen Iran’s hard-line security forces or leads to military conflict.” Mr. Rouhani responded to renewed U.S. pressure in a speech broadcast on state television Wednesday, pledging to “bring the U.S. to its knees,” but offering little in the way of a plan to address the troubles weighing on Iran’s economy. In recent days, Mr. Rouhani has told the government to slash spending and taken measures attempting to supervise currency markets and stem the rial’s fall. Following the bazaar protests and strikes, almost two-thirds of Iran’s parliament members sent Mr. Rouhani a letter asking that he overhaul his economic team. Mr. Rouhani said Wednesday that his government wasn’t going to resign. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blamed the U.S. for the unrest and called Wednesday for the judicial system to deal with anyone who disrupts Iran’s economic order. On Saturday, he said the U.S. and its regional allies—a reference to Gulf Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia—were teaming up in an effort to turn the Iranian people against their government. That effort would fail, he said. From the Archives President Trump announced in May that the U.S. would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and reinstate sanctions on Tehran. He called the deal “defective” and said it didn't do enough to stop the country from developing nuclear weapons. Photo: Getty Images Some Iranian officials said the Khorramshahr protests, and unrest on June 23 in nearby Abadan that was also over water, shouldn’t have been a surprise. A video posted on Twitter on Saturday by the Center for Human Rights in Iran, a U.S.-based nonprofit, showed brown water flowing from a tap into a drain, underlining the daily struggle people in Khorramshahr face. “It’s been a year and a half that I have been warning about today’s Abadan and Khorramshahr situation to all types of officials, but no one took it seriously,” Gholamreza Sharafi, a parliament member from Abadan, told the semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency. He said people wouldn’t get violent if they had water and security. —Aresu Eqbali contributed to this article. Write to Asa Fitch at asa.fitch@wsj.com<doc-sep>Iran’s regime is struggling to restore calm in the capital, after three days of protests rocked central and symbolic areas, including the Bazaar and near the parliament. The protests have focused on the economic crisis in Iran and the feeling that the leadership is disconnected from the concerns of average Iranians.The protests come after six months of unrest in Iran that began in December 2017 and have included sporadic protests about a variety of issues, from the economy to women’s rights and foreign policy.As the initial protesters were gathering on Sunday, Iran’s leadership put on a positive face. Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi predicted that European states would put forward economic support against US sanctions within ten days and help preserve the Iran Deal (officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action).Foreign Minister Javad Zarif boasted, “We are all in one ship in Iran: principalists, reformists, non-partisans and opponents of the Islamic Republic.”But by mid-day Abas Aslani, a journalist and visiting scholar at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, said that Iranians were criticizing President Hassan Rouhani for traveling to the Tochal resort “while Iranian currency is depreciating day by day.” Even as the government was banning 1,339 imports, he was accused of wearing US brands.On Sunday afternoon, some protesters were chanting slogans in the historic Bazaar in Tehran while others gathered at parliament. Zarif accused foreign media, including Reuters, of spreading “false” stories about the Iranian economy. The protesters targeted Iranian involvement in Syria.By Monday, the police in Tehran had taken control of the Bazaar and many shops remained closed. Clashes also erupted with protesters near parliament. But social media showed continuing support for the demonstrations.One showed a truck emptying bricks for the crowds to use, apparently against the police. Despite the protests, Iranians paused Monday to cheer their team playing against Portugal. Even though its World Cup hopes came to an end that day, it was a momentary distraction from the bleak economic woes in the country.On Tuesday, Rouhani blamed foreign enemies, with the regime portraying the recent protests as part of an “economic war” being waged against the country. Rouhani had made similar comments in January and March against unrest in Iran, claiming that it is always the result of a foreign conspiracy with the US at its head.A senior US official said on Tuesday that countries buying oil from Iran should prepare to halt all imports of it starting in November or face punishment.Despite the protests, the Iranian regime continued to stress its regional accomplishments. Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khameini, claimed in a speech to Iraqi intellectuals in Tehran on Tuesday that Iran and Iraq would continue to stand up to America, the “common enemy of both the Iranian and Iraqi nations.”Meanwhile, Khameini’s military advisor Yahya Rahim Safavi said on Sunday that “our capabilities will reach the Mediterranean shores.”The emphasis on rebuilding Iraq and fighting far away conflicts among Khameini’s inner circle seems to have fueled the protesters, who shouted slogans against involvement throughout the region, wondering why Tehran was wasting money on Iraqis, Syrians, Palestinians, Lebanese and others while ignoring locals.The demonstrations in Tehran capped six months of unrest that began in December. According to columnist Amir Taheri, the parliament’s security committee was holding a session to examine the recent protests.Reuters contributed to this report.•<doc-sep>LONDON (Reuters) - President Hassan Rouhani promised Iranians on Tuesday the government would be able to handle the economic pressure of new U.S. sanctions amid a second day of demonstrations in protest at financial hardship and a weakening rial. FILE PHOTO - Iran's President Hassan Rouhani speaks during an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul, Turkey May 18, 2018. Arif Hudaverdi Yaman/Pool via Reuters Parts of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar were on strike for the second day running, state media reported, after traders massed outside parliament on Monday to complain about a sharp fall in the value of the national currency. Video footage posted on social media showed protesters setting fire to garbage dumpsters in Tehran streets to block riot police from attacking them. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the footage. Other videos showed riot police breaking windows of closed shops, and striking parked motorcycles with batons. The police has accused protesters in recent days of causing damage to public property. Metro stations near the bazaar were closed for hours as the result of protests, state media reported. Pictures also showed shopkeepers were on strike in other cities including Arak, Shiraz, Tabriz and Kermanshah. On Monday, police patrolled the bazaar following clashes with protesters angered by the rial’s collapse, which is disrupting business by driving up the cost of imports. Defending his economic record, Rouhani said the government’s income had not been affected in recent months, and the fall in the rial was the result of “foreign media propaganda”. “Even in the worst case, I promise that the basic needs of Iranians will be provided. We have enough sugar, wheat, and cooking oil. We have enough foreign currency to inject into the market,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on state television. Washington is to start reimposing economic penalties on Tehran in coming months after U.S. President Donald Trump quit an agreement between major world powers and Iran in which sanctions were lifted in return for curbs on its nuclear program. This may cut Iran’s hard currency earnings from oil exports, and the prospect is triggering a panicked flight of Iranians’ savings from the rial into dollars. A senior U.S. official said on Tuesday that countries buying oil from Iran should prepare to halt all imports of it starting in November or face punishment. The International Monetary Fund estimated in March that the government held $112 billion of foreign assets and reserves, and that Iran was running a current account surplus. These figures suggested Iran might withstand the sanctions without an external payments crisis. “SEVERE PUNISHMENT” Iran’s judiciary chief warned on Tuesday that the “economic saboteurs”, who he said were behind the fall of rial, would face severe punishment, including execution or 20 years in jail. “The enemy is now trying to disrupt our economy through a psychological operation. In recent days some tried to shut down the Bazaar, but their plot was thwarted by the police,” Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani was quoted as saying by Fars news agency. Tehran’s prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi said some protesters near the bazaar were arrested on Monday and would not be released before going to trial. The Iranian government is implementing new plans to control rising prices, including banning imports of over 1,300 products, preparing its economy to resist threatened U.S. sanctions. Rouhani, who is under pressure to change his economic team, said the fresh U.S. sanctions were part of a “psychological, economic and political war”, adding that Washington would pay a high price for its actions. “Withdrawal was the worst decision he (Trump) could make. It was appalling. It hurt America’s global reputation,” he said. In late December, demonstrations which began over economic hardship spread to more than 80 Iranian cities and towns. At least 25 people died in the ensuing unrest, the biggest expression of public discontent in almost a decade. Demonstrators initially vented their anger over high prices and alleged corruption, but the protests took on a rare political dimension, with a growing number of people calling on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down.<doc-sep>Online videos appear to show Iranian security forces shooting at protesters early Sunday amid demonstrations over water scarcity in the country’s south, though authorities said only one person was wounded in the clashes. The protests around Khorramshahr, some 400 miles southwest of Tehran, come as residents of the predominantly Arab city near the border with Iraq complain of salty, muddy water coming out of their taps amid a years-long drought. The unrest there only compounds the wider unease felt across Iran as it faces an economic crisis sparked by President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Protests began in Khorramshahr, Abadan and other areas of Iran’s oil-rich Khuzestan province on Friday. The demonstrations initially were peaceful, with protesters chanting in both Arabic and Farsi. But late Saturday and into early Sunday morning, protesters began throwing stones and confronting security forces in Khorramshahr, according to widely shared online videos. Heavy rifle and machine gun fire rang out, with one video showing demonstrators dragging away a man who couldn’t walk. Another video appeared to show a man carrying a Kalashnikov assault rifle on the back of a motorcycle near protesters. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency later reported that protesters threw stones and debris at police, who responded with tear gas. It did not mention the gunfire. Iranian state television reported Sunday afternoon that “peace had returned” to Khorramshahr and an unspecified number of protesters had been arrested. It also said some demonstrators carried firearms during the unrest. It’s unclear what sparked the violence. However, Khorramshahr and the wider Khuzestan province have seen pipeline bombings by Arab separatists in the past. Tens of thousands of civilians and soldiers were killed in the province during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war. Exacerbating that unrest is the drought. The Iran Meteorological Organization estimates 97 percent of the country faced some form of drought. Analysts also blame government mismanagement for diverting water away from some farmers in favor of others. “Although Iran has a history of drought, over the last decade, Iran has experienced its most prolonged, extensive and severe drought in over 30 years,” said a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, a United Nations agency. The protests overnight come after three days of demonstrations last week in Tehran, including protesters confronting police outside parliament and officers firing tear gas at the demonstrators. The rallies led to the temporary closure of the city’s Grand Bazaar. The anger is fueled by the Iranian rial plunging to 90,000 to the dollar — double the government rate of 42,000 — as people watch their savings dwindle and shopkeepers hold onto some goods, uncertain of their true value. Similar economic protests roiled Iran and spread to some 75 cities and towns at the end of last year, becoming the largest demonstrations in the country since the months-long rallies following the 2009 disputed presidential election. At least 25 people were killed and nearly 5,000 arrested during the protests in late December and early January, which took place largely in Iran’s provinces rather than the capital. The economic crisis has been fueled by Trump’s May 8 decision to pull the U.S. out of the 2015 nuclear deal and restore sanctions. International firms that made billion-dollar deals with Iran largely have pulled out of them, while the U.S. now is demanding its allies stop buying Iranian oil. Iran’s first Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri on Sunday mocked the U.S. for “begging the Saudis” to increase oil production to drive down rising global oil prices. Trump claimed Saturday that Saudi Arabia might increase its production by some 2 million barrels of oil a day after a call with King Salman. Saudi Arabia later acknowledged the call, but did not mention Trump’s 2-million-barrel claim. “If any country attempts to take Iran’s place in the oil market in this battle, we will consider it a big treachery to the Iranian nation and the world community and they will surely pay for this betrayal someday,” Jahangiri said, without elaborating.<doc-sep>
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Protesters angered by Iran's cratering economy confronted police in front of Parliament on Monday, with security forces firing tear gas, according to online videos, the first such confrontation after similar demonstrations rocked the country at the start of the year. The unplanned demonstration came a day after protests forced two major shopping centers for mobile phones and electonics to close in Tehran and after demonstrators earlier closed its Grand Bazaar. It signaled widespread unease in the wake of President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers and to restore sanctions on the country. It wasn't immediately clear who led the protests. Iran's semi-official news agencies, Fars, ISNA and Tasnim, described the protests at the Grand Bazaar as having erupted after the Iranian rial dropped to 90,000 to the U.S. dollar on the country's black market, despite government attempts to control the currency rate. Videos posted to social media showed protesters at the bazaar heckling shopkeepers who refused to close, shouting in Farsi: "Coward!" A short time later, videos shared by Iranians on social media appeared to show a crowd confronting police at Parliament, about a mile from the Grand Bazaar. The videos show what appears to be tear gas in the air and protesters screaming, "They attacked us with tear gas!" Another man is heard shouting: "Come back!" Other videos appeared to show police charging into the crowd. State media in Iran didn't immediately report the Grand Bazaar demonstration. Only Fars reported on the Parliament protest, which it described only as an incident in which shopkeepers asked lawmakers to "stop rising prices." Tasnim later quoted the head of Iran's Chamber of Guilds, Ali Fazeli, as saying the situation at the bazaar was calm. "Their demands are delivered through the chamber to the government, and these are being pursued by us," he said. Tehran's sprawling Grand Bazaar has long been a center of conservatism in Iranian politics, and it remains an economic force within the country — despite the construction of massive malls around the city. Bazaar families opposed the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and supported the 1979 Islamic Revolution that replaced him with a Shiite theocracy and elected officials. At the end of last year, similar economic protests roiled Iran and spread to about 75 cities and towns, becoming the largest demonstrations in the country since its 009 disputed presidential election. At least 25 people were killed and nearly 5,000 others were arrested in the protests in late December and early January. However, those protests largely struck Iran's provinces, as opposed to Tehran itself. Analysts said hard-liners likely encouraged the first protest, which took place in Mashhad, to try to weaken President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate. The protests then spiraled out of control, with people openly criticizing Rouhani and Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Some hard-liners have called for new elections or for a military-led government to replace Rouhani's government. The Fars news agency, which is believed to be close to Iran's hard-line paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, made a point Monday of publishing an article from the daily newspaper Sobh-e No describing the government as being ready to "bow down to foreign threats and sit at the negotiation table." Eshaq Jahangiri, Iran's first vice president, was quoted Monday as saying "we're on the verge of an economic war by an economic terrorist," referring to the United States. "Conditions will get worse in future," Jahangiri said, according to the pro-reform daily newspaper Etemad. "Even our friends and neighbors, like Russia, China and Europeans, can't help us today."