Iran’s Traders, Frustrated by Economic Losses, Turn Against Clerics

People walk past closed shops following protests over a plunge in the currency’s value, in the Tehran Grand Bazaar, Tehran, Iran, Dec. 30, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran’s bazaar merchants, the trader class who were the financial backbone of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, have turned against the clerics they helped bring to power, fulling unrest over an economy that has morphed into full-blown anti-government protests.

Frustration among bazaar merchants...