Protests in Iran have swelled into the country’s largest demonstrations since 2009 over unpaid wages, inflation and failed promises from the nuclear deal, and the Iranian economy continues to stumble amid concerns over a return of crippling sanctions if President Donald Trump carries out his threat to exit the accord, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Teachers, steelworkers, hospital staff, railway employees and bus drivers have all gone on strike or protested this year, and unemployment has reached 12 percent. The prices of eggs, meat and bread are rising more than 10 percent a year, according to the Journal, and the Iranian rial has hit a new low – the country’s currency collapsed over the first three months of 2018, with the dollar gaining 37 percent against it. Oil prices have also risen.
The removal of sanctions in the 2015 nuclear deal orchestrated by the Obama administration helped Iran’s economy. It lifted international sanctions on Iran’s economy, including oil, trade and banking sectors. In exchange, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities.
Trump has called the deal terrible, and has repeatedly threatened to abandon the agreement. He will make a decision on May 12 on whether to reintroduce the sanctions.
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