Similar to the current protests, the Tehran bazaar strike of 1979, which was nicknamed the pulse of the Iranian economy, was one of the main factors in the fall of the Shah’s rule at the time, and contributed greatly to his departure from the country. Iran's semi-official news agencies Fars, ISNA and Tasnim described the protests as erupting after the Iranian rial dropped to 90,000 to the 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!”

Iran’s latest economic troubles come against the backdrop of international firms pulling away from the country after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw America from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
Tehran's Grand Bazaar starts a large strike after Iranian rial plunged to a record low against the US dollar on the market.