Response to Protests at Friday Prayers: 'Do Not Stand Against the Regime for the Sake of Your Empty Stomach'

Several Friday prayer leaders called for an end to protest gatherings in Iran, with the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad criticizing protesters, stating, 'You should not stand against the regime for the sake of your empty stomach.' According to Tasnim News Agency, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, said in his sermon on August 12 that the government must provide short-term plans to solve economic problems, questioning, 'What benefit is there in a plan that aims to solve economic problems in the long term?' Alamolhoda also referred to a report from the World Gold Council, stating that the U.S. analyzes the situation and claims that gold and currency have become the focus of Iran's commodity basket, suggesting that the sick economy is now vulnerable to attack and that the country is willing to accept anything at its weak point. The World Gold Council reported on August 11 that since the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, demand for gold coins and bullion in Iran has doubled. The Friday prayer leader of Mashhad also urged people to come 'to the scene' to solve economic problems and called for distributing goods at lower prices among the 'vulnerable underprivileged class.' He added, 'When the government and parliament are spectators, you people must come to the scene, but not in the way that American spies want to call people to the scene and stand against the regime. This regime has been established at the cost of your children's blood. You should not stand against the regime for the sake of your empty stomach.' Following significant turmoil in Iran's currency market, groups of protesters have gathered in several cities, including Isfahan, Shiraz, and Arak, in recent days. On Friday, Youssef Tabatabai, the Friday prayer leader of Isfahan, also stated, 'To those who are marching, I say you have legitimate grievances, but taking to the streets for these issues makes no sense because the higher-ups are aware of these matters.' Lotfollah Dehghani, the Friday prayer leader of Shiraz, also indirectly referred to these protests, saying, 'In this world, all issues for humans, such as hunger, insecurity, inflation, war, injustice, etc., are tests from God, and this problem has not been new to humanity yesterday, nor is it something we are not dealing with today, and we must seek solutions.' Iranian judiciary officials attribute the main cause of the currency and gold market situation to the misuse by certain individuals and have announced actions against some major currency and gold sellers, whom they refer to as 'market disruptors.' Meanwhile, the Friday prayer leader of Tehran stated that the country is in a state of 'economic war' and that 'those who commit corruption are committing treason in wartime and are judged as corrupt on earth. Their punishment should be commensurate with wartime conditions.' Friday prayer leaders in most major cities of Iran also emphasized that 'negotiating with the Trump administration is absolutely impossible.' While Hassan Rouhani has yet to comment on Donald Trump's offer for unconditional negotiations, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has rejected this proposal, and the commander of the Revolutionary Guards stated that Donald Trump and future U.S. presidents 'will never see such a day' and 'the people of Iran will not allow a meeting with the Great Satan.'