Iranian Official Issues Warning to Profiteers, Currency Smugglers

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said those taking advantage of the recent turbulence in Iran’s market to make big profits or earn illegitimate interests are under intelligence surveillance.

The intelligence monitoring of profiteering groups, currency smugglers and those seeking to take advantage of the economic chaos has been on the agenda of the organizations in charge, Shamkhani said in comments on Tuesday.

Condemning hostile attempts to mount economic pressure with the purpose of creating instability and insecurity in Iran, Shamkhani stressed that profiteers will not be allowed to fulfill their illegitimate interests through media campaign or psychological tactics.

It came after protesters in Tehran swarmed the grand bazaar on Monday and forced shopkeepers to close their stalls, months after similar demonstrations rocked the country.

The protests erupted after the Iranian rial dropped to around 100,000 to the US dollar on the country’s black market, despite government attempts to control the currency rate.

The prosecutor general of Tehran said on Tuesday that a number of people who incited turmoil in downtown Tehran and forced the closure of the grand bazaar have been arrested.