Hundreds protested in the Iranian capital on Monday while merchants in the city’s oldest bazaar shut their shops to protest economic woes and a collapsing currency as the U.S. restores sanctions. The protests were a fresh challenge to President Hassan Rouhani’s government just months after widespread street demonstrations roiled the Islamic Republic. The government has struggled to tackle persistent double-digit inflation and unemployment. The Iranian rial has tumbled against the U.S. dollar in recent months over economic concerns that were aggravated by the Trump administration’s exit from the 2015 nuclear deal in May and its move to restore economic penalties. A weak and sharply fluctuating currency has increased the cost of imports and disrupted trade. Among the victims are the merchant families in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar—popularly known as Bazaaris—who wield significant economic and political influence. “Bazaar merchants are worried about their future livelihood,” Abdollah Esfandiari, head of the […]