• Tehran shopkeepers keep stores shut amid currency plunge.
• Protesters demand intervention on exchange-rate volatility.
• Central bank governor replaced as crisis deepens.

TEHRAN: Iran’s president urged his government to listen to the “legitimate demands” of protesters, state media reported on Tuesday, after several days of demonstrations by shopkeepers in Tehran over economic hardships.

Shopkeepers in the capital had shut their stores for the second day in a row on Monday, after Iran’s embattled currency hit new lows on the unofficial market.

The US dollar was trading at around 1.42 million rials on Sunday — compared to 820,000 rials a year ago — and the euro nearing 1.7 million rials, according to price monitoring websites.

“I have asked the interior minister to listen to the legitimate demands of the protesters by engaging in dialogue with their representatives so that the government can do everything in its power to resolve the problems and act responsibly,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Protesters “are demanding immediate government intervention to rein in exchange-rate fluctuations and set out a clear economic strategy”, the pro-labour news agency ILNA reported Monday.

Price fluctuations are paralysing the sales of some imported goods, with both sellers and buyers preferring to postpone transactions until the outlook becomes clearer, AFP correspondents noted.

“Continuing to do business under these conditions has become impossible,” ILNA quoted protesters as saying.

The conservative-aligned Fars news agency released images showing a crowd of demonstrators occupying a major thoroughfare in central Tehran, known for its many shops.

Another photograph appeared to show tear gas being used to disperse protesters.

“Minor physical clashes were reported… between some protesters and the security forces,” Fars said, warning that such gatherings could lead to instability.

Battered economy

Iranian Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei called for “the swift punishment of those responsible for currency fluctuations”, the justice ministry’s Mizan agency reported Monday.

The government has also announced the replacement of the central bank governor.

“By decision of the president, Abdolnasser Hemmati will be appointed governor of the Central Bank,” presidency communications official Mehdi Tabatabaei posted on X.

Hemmati is a former economy and finance minister who was dismissed by parliament in March because of the sharp depreciation of the rial.

Pezeshkian delivered on Sunday the budget for the next Persian year to parliament, vowing to fight inflation and the high cost of living.

In December, inflation stood at 52% year-on-year, according to official statistics. But this figure still falls far short of many price increases, especially for basic necessities.

The country’s economy, already battered by decades of Western sanctions, was further strained after the United Nations in late September reinstated international sanctions linked to the country’s nuclear programme that were lifted 10 years ago.

Western powers and Israel accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

The world’s largest accounting body is pulling back from online examinations, citing growing concerns that advances in artificial intelligence have made remote assessments too easy to exploit, The Guardian reported.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) said students will largely be required to sit exams in person from March, bringing to an end a practice introduced during the Covid pandemic. Remote exams will only be permitted in limited and exceptional cases.

The decision follows what the ACCA describes as an escalating challenge in maintaining exam integrity. According to its chief executive, Helen Brand, the methods used to cheat have become increasingly sophisticated, overtaking the effectiveness of existing monitoring systems.

Online testing was originally adopted to ensure continuity during lockdowns, allowing students to progress towards qualification when exam centres were closed. Since then, however, regulators and professional bodies have raised repeated warnings about misconduct in high-stakes professional exams.

In 2022, the Financial Reporting Council, the UK’s audit and accounting watchdog, described cheating as an active concern across major firms, including top-tier auditors such as the Big Four. That year also saw EY fined $100m (£74m) by US regulators after employees were found to have cheated on ethics exams and the firm was accused of misleading investigators.

The ACCA, which has nearly 260,000 members globally, said it has invested significant effort in tackling dishonest behaviour but acknowledged that those intent on cheating are adapting rapidly, driven in part by easy access to AI tools.

Other professional bodies have reported similar pressures. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales said last year that reports of cheating continued to rise, although it still allows some exams to be taken online.

Brand said the wider trend across professional qualifications is clear, with fewer high-stakes exams relying on remote invigilation as concerns about credibility and trust grow.

• Attackers Sajid and Naveed Akram travelled to Philippines.
• No evidence of directions to carry out attacks, say police.
• Shooters not part of any wider terrorist cell: Krissy Barrett

SYDNEY: A father and son accused of a mass shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach “acted alone” and were not part of a wider terrorist cell, police said on Tuesday.

Sajid Akram and his son Naveed allegedly killed 15 people in a Daesh-inspired attack targeting a Jewish festival on December 14.

The pair travelled to the southern Philippines in the weeks before shooting, fuelling suspicions they may be linked to extremists in a region with a history of extremist insurgencies.

Australian Federal Police commissioner Krissy Barrett said so far, this did not appear to be the case.

“These individuals are alleged to have acted alone,” she told reporters.

“There is no evidence to suggest these alleged offenders were part of a broader terrorist cell, or were directed by others to carry out the attack.”

Barrett said police would continue to probe why the pair travelled to the city of Davao, where CCTV showed they barely left their budget hotel.

“I want to be clear. I am not suggesting they were there for tourism,” she said.

Police believe the duo “meticulously planned” the attack for months, and have released pictures showing them training with shotguns in the Australian countryside.

They also recorded a video in October railing against “Zionists” while sitting in front of a flag of Daesh, police have said.

Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.

Crackdown on guns

His 24-year-old son, Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in custody charged with 15 murders and a litany of other serious offences.

New Year’s Eve parties across Sydney will pause at 11pm on Wednesday for a minute of silence in memory of the victims.

Crowds will be watched over by squads of police carrying high-powered firearms, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns said on Tuesday.

“That is a clear and deliberate message from the police that safety is the number one priority,” he told reporters.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a nationwide crackdown on gun ownership and hate speech in the wake of the attack, promising stricter laws and harsher penalties.

He has announced a sweeping buyback scheme to “get guns off our streets”.

It is the largest gun buyback since 1996, when Australia tightened firearms laws in the wake of a mass shooting that killed 35 people at Port Arthur.

Albanese has also ordered a review of police and intelligence services.