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Iranian President urges government to listen to protesters’ legitimate demands | Business and Economy Updates
Masoud Pezeshkian has promised to take action to protect purchasing power of Iranians as currency plummets to record lows.
Published On 30 Dec 2025
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has called on his government to listen to protesters’ “legitimate demands” and pledged to protect their livelihoods following two days of demonstrations in Tehran against the plummeting national currency and dire economic conditions.
In comments on social media that were also reported by the government’s IRNA news agency on Tuesday, Pezeshkian acknowledged the concerns of the protesters, who have closed their shops and chanted in the streets in demonstrations in the capital since Sunday.
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“The livelihood of the people is my daily concern,” Pezeshkian posted on X.
“I have tasked the Minister of the Interior to hear the legitimate demands of the protesters through dialogue with their representatives, so that the government can act with all its might to resolve problems and respond responsibly.”
The government had “fundamental actions on the agenda to reform the monetary and banking system and preserve the purchasing power of the people”, he added.
Shopkeepers take to the streets
The protests in Tehran have broken out as the Iranian rial has plunged to new record lows against the US dollar.
The rial has been rapidly declining over recent weeks as the United States and its Western allies pile on their sanctions and diplomatic pressure, and the threat of another war with Israel lingers.
Shopkeepers near two main tech and mobile phone shopping centres in Tehran’s Jomhouri area, as well as in and around the Grand Bazaar, closed their businesses and took to the streets on Sunday, with further protests on Monday afternoon.
Footage on social media showed demonstrators chanting: “Don’t be afraid, we are together.”
Multiple videos showed antiriot forces in full gear deploying tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Multiple challenges
Iranian state media have reported on the protests, but have emphasised that they are motivated by the unchecked depreciation of the rial, rather than wider disenchantment with the theocratic establishment that has been ruling the country since the 1979 revolution.
The depreciating currency is not the only challenge facing the country. Inflation stands at about 50 percent, consistently one of the highest in the world for several years, while under a controversial budget bill, taxes are slated to increase by 62 percent.
Iran has been facing an exacerbating energy crisis, while most dams feeding Tehran and many other big cities remain at near-empty levels amid a severe water crisis.
Meanwhile, Iran also has one of the most restricted internet environments in the world.
The continuing decline of purchasing power for 90 million Iranians comes amid increasing pressure from the US, Israel and their European allies over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Israel and the US attacked Iran in June during a 12-day war that killed more than 1,000 people, including civilians, dozens of top-ranking military and intelligence commanders, and nuclear scientists.
Iran last saw nationwide protests in 2022 and 2023, with thousands pouring into the streets across the country after the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for alleged noncompliance with strict Islamic laws regarding headscarves.
Hundreds of people were killed, more than 20,000 were arrested, and several others were executed in connection with the protests.
Trump threatens to destroy Iran’s nuclear capabilities if they attempt to rebuild
President Donald Trump warned Iran against reconstituting its nuclear program Monday as he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his home in Florida for wide-ranging talks.
The warning comes after Trump has insisted that Tehran’s nuclear capabilities were “completely and fully obliterated” by U.S. strikes on key nuclear enrichment sites in June. But Israeli officials have been quoted in local media expressing concern about Iran rebuilding its supply of long-range missiles capable of striking Israel.
“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again,” Trump told reporters soon after Netanyahu arrived at his Mar-a-Lago estate. “And if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully that’s not happening.”
Trump’s warning to Iran comes as his administration has committed significant resources to targeting drug trafficking in South America and the president looks to create fresh momentum for the U.S.-brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire. The Gaza deal is in danger of stalling before reaching its complicated second phase that would involve naming an international governing body and rebuilding the devastated Palestinian territory.
Iran has insisted that it is no longer enriching uranium at any site in the country, trying to signal to the West that it remains open to potential negotiations over its atomic program. But Netanyahu was expected to discuss with Trump the need to potentially take new military action against Tehran just months after launching a 12-day war on Iran.
The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s warning.
Trump criticized Iran anew for not making a deal to completely disarm its nuclear program ahead of the U.S. and Israeli strikes earlier this year.
“They wish they made that deal,” Trump said.
Gaza ceasefire progress has slowed
Trump, with Netanyahu by his side, said he wants to get to the second phase of the Gaza deal “as quickly as we can.”
“But there has to be a disarming of Hamas,” Trump added.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that Trump championed has mostly held, but progress has slowed recently. Both sides accuse each other of violations, and divisions have emerged among the U.S., Israel and Arab countries about the path forward.
The truce’s first phase began in October, days after the two-year anniversary of the initial Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people. All but one of the 251 hostages taken then have been released, alive or dead.
The Israeli leader, who also met separately with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has signaled he is in no rush to move forward with the next phase as long as the remains of Ran Gvili are still in Gaza.
Gvili’s parents met with Netanyahu as well as Rubio, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in Florida on Monday. The Gvilis are expected to meet with Trump later in the day, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that advocates for families of abductees of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
“They’re waiting for their son to come home,” Trump said of the family of the young police officer known affectionately as “Rani,”
Next phase is complex
The path ahead is certainly complicated.
If successful, the second phase would see the rebuilding of a demilitarized Gaza under international supervision by a group chaired by Trump and known as the Board of Peace. The Palestinians would form a “technocratic, apolitical” committee to run daily affairs in Gaza, under Board of Peace supervision.
It further calls for normalized relations between Israel and the Arab world and a possible pathway to Palestinian independence. Then there are thorny logistical and humanitarian questions, including rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza, disarming Hamas and creating a security apparatus called the International Stabilization Force.
Much remains unsettled
Two main challenges have complicated moving to the second phase, according to an official who was briefed on those meetings. Israeli officials have been taking a lot of time to vet and approve members of the Palestinian technocratic committee from a list given to them by the mediators, and Israel continues its military strikes.
Trump’s plan also calls for the stabilization force, proposed as a multinational body, to maintain security. But it, too, has yet to be formed. Whether details will be forthcoming after Monday’s meeting is unclear.
A Western diplomat said there is a “huge gulf” between the U.S.-Israeli understanding of the force’s mandate and that of other major countries in the region, as well as European governments.
All spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details that haven’t been made public.
The U.S. and Israel want the force to have a “commanding role” in security duties, including disarming Hamas and other militant groups. But countries being courted to contribute troops fear that mandate will make it an “occupation force,” the diplomat said.
Hamas has said it is ready to discuss “freezing or storing” its arsenal of weapons but insists it has a right to armed resistance as long as Israel occupies Palestinian territory. One U.S. official said a potential plan might be to offer cash incentives in exchange for weapons, echoing a “buyback” program Witkoff has previously floated.
Trump makes case once again for Netanyahu pardon
The two leaders, who have a long and close relationship, heaped praise on each other. Trump also tweaked the Israeli leader, who at moments during the war has raised Trump’s ire, for being “very difficult on occasion.”
Trump also renewed his call on Israeli President Isaac Herzog to grant Netanyahu, who is in the midst of a corruption trial, a pardon.
Netanyahu is the only sitting prime minister in Israeli history to stand trial, after being charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases accusing him of exchanging favors with wealthy political supporters.
Trump has previously written to Herzog to urge a pardon and advocated for one during his October speech before the Knesset. He said Monday that Herzog has told him “it’s on its way” without offering further details.
“He’s a wartime prime minister who’s a hero. How do you not give a pardon?” Trump said.
Herzog’s office said in a statement that the Israeli president and Trump have not spoken since the pardon request was submitted, but that Herzog has spoken with a Trump representative about the U.S. president’s letter advocating for Netanyahu’s pardon.
“During that conversation, an explanation was provided regarding the stage of the process in which the request currently stands, and that any decision on the matter will be made in accordance with the established procedures,” the Israeli president’s office. “This was conveyed to President Trump’s representative, exactly as President Herzog stated publicly in Israel.”
Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh’s First Female Prime Minister, Passes Away at the Age of 80
Bangladesh’s first female prime minister Khaleda Zia has died at the age of 80 after suffering from prolonged illness.
Zia became Bangladesh’s first female head of government in 1991 after leading her party to victory in the country’s first democratic election in 20 years.
Physicians had said on Monday said her condition was “extremely critical”. She was put on life support, but it was not possible to provide multiple treatments at the same time given her age and overall poor health, they said.
Despite her poor health, her party had earlier said that Zia would contest general elections expected in February, the first since a revolution which led to the ousting of Zia’s rival, Sheikh Hasina.
Bangladeshi politics had for decades been defined by the bitter feud between the two women, who alternated between government and opposition.
“Our favourite leader is no longer with us. She left us at 6am this morning,” Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) announced on Facebook on Tuesday.
Crowds gathered outside Evercare Hospital in Dhaka where Zia was warded after news of her death broke. Photographs show police officers trying to stop them from entering the hospital premises.
Zia first came into public attention as the wife of Bangladesh’s former president Ziaur Rahman, seen as a reserved presence alongside her husband. Following his assassination in a 1981 military coup, Zia entered politics and later rose to lead the BNP.
Known as an “uncompromising leader” after refusing to take part in a controversial election under military ruler General Hussain Muhammad Ershad in the 1980s, Zia broke through a male-dominated political landscape and transformed into one of Bangladesh’s most formidable political leaders.
Her first term was widely praised for efforts to improve women’s education and social development, with her government bringing back parliamentary democracy by amending the constitution with bipartisan support.
Her second term in 1996, which lasted only weeks, drew criticism for staging a one-sided election despite opposition demands for a neutral caretaker authority—a measure parliament approved before dissolving.
Zia returned as prime minister in 2001, stepping down in October 2006 ahead of a general election. Her administration faced sharp criticism over allegations of corruption.
Over the past 16 years, under the Awami League government, Zia became the most prominent symbol of resistance to a rule many saw as increasingly autocratic.
She boycotted the 2014 election after her rival Hasina scrapped the caretaker government system—a provision meant to ensure neutrality during national polls. Later, Zia was convicted on corruption charges and jailed. She denied wrongdoing and said the charges were politically motivated.
She was released last year, shortly after mass anti-government protests in Bangladesh toppled Hasina, forcing her into exile. The BNP had said in November that Zia would campaign in the upcoming general elections.
The BNP is eyeing a return to power, and if that happens, Zia’s son Tarique Rahman is expected to become the country’s new leader.
Rahman, 60, had only returned to Bangladesh last week after 17 years in self-imposed exile in London.
Zia had been in hospital for the past month, receiving treatment for kidney damage, heart disease and pneumonia, among other conditions.
Despite being kept away from public life due to her health, Zia remained a figurehead for opposition forces.
During her final days, interim leader Muhammad Yunus had called for the country to pray for Zia, calling her a “source of utmost inspiration for the nation”.
In a statement on Tuesday, Yunus offered his condolences for the passing of Zia, whom he described as a “symbol of the democratic movement”.
“The nation has lost a great guardian… Her role in the struggle to establish democracy, a multi-party political culture, and the rights of the people in Bangladesh will be remembered forever,” he said in a statement.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he is “deeply saddened” by Zia’s passing and paid tribute to her contributions towards the development of Bangladesh, and its relations with India.
“We hope that her vision and legacy will continue to guide our partnership,” he wrote on X.
Zia’s family members, including Rahman, his wife and his daughter, were by her side in her last moments, BNP said.
“We pray for the forgiveness of her soul and request everyone to offer prayers for her departed soul,” the party said in its statement on Tuesday.
Client Challenge: Overcoming obstacles and finding solutions
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Floyd Mayweather declares one of the Four Kings as the greatest fighter of them all
Floyd Mayweather Jr has revealed who he thinks was the best out of the legendary ‘Four Kings’ that took the sport of boxing by storm in the 1980s.
Mayweather knows extremely well what it is like to be the biggest name in the sport, having been pound-for-pound number one throughout most of the 2000s and 2010s, becoming a pay-per-view and box office megastar in the process.
Prior to Mayweather’s rise to the top, there were four other boxing icons that were rightfully regarded as being some of the best around, and those are the ‘Four Kings’ which consisted of Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran and Thomas Hearns.
The quartet of fighters all faced each other in iconic battles, and there has often been a debate amongst boxing fans about who was the best out of the four men.
Mayweather named who he gives that honour to, telling the Fat Joe Podcast that he thinks Duran is the one who ranks above Leonard, Hearns and Duran.
“I’mma go Roberto Duran … Duran was arguably the greatest lightweight ever and became one of the ‘four kings’ at welterweight and middleweight.”
Duran was a four-weight world champion, winning gold at lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, whilst also becoming undisputed during his tenure at 135lbs.
His illustrious career lasted over 30 years, beginning in 1968 and ending in 2001, with Duran’s final record reading 103 wins from 119 fights, so it is understandable to see exactly why Mayweather believes the Panamanian superstar to be the best.
Toyota Leads Car Reliability Rankings Once More
We all love a little Consumer Reports scoop, don’t we? Last year, Subaru surpassed Toyota and Lexus to become the most reliable carmaker. This year, Toyota reclaims its crown. And there’s one damning stat: Four out of the top five most reliable car brands this year are Japanese.
Make that five out of the top six and six out of the top seven! Such is the dominance of Japanese players when it comes to reliability alone. And out of the top 10, you have a total of seven Asian brands.
Consumer Reports’ (CR) rankings are based on info gathered from the owners of over 380,000 cars, which includes models from 2000 to 2025, and some models from early 2026. Twenty possible problem areas (including engine, gearbox, EV battery, charging, body hardware, paint and trim, etc.) are taken into account, after which a reliability score is given on a 100-point scale.
Apart from some shuffling around, there aren’t any surprises in the top three: Toyota grabs the first spot (with an average reliability rating of 66 out of 100), with Subaru dropping to second (63), and Toyota-owned Lexus (60) coming in third.
Consumer Reports
Toyota had a few cars that had lower reliability ratings in last year’s report (like the Camry, Tacoma, and Tundra), but turned things around by addressing serious problems to improve the overall reliability. All of these models now feature better ratings than last year’s, which undoubtedly helped Toyota’s overall reliability ranking.
Hot on the heels of the top three are Honda (59) at fourth and BMW (58) at fifth – the only European brand in the top 10. From there, you have Nissan (57) in sixth, Acura (57) in seventh, Buick (51) in eighth, Tesla (50) in ninth, and Kia (49) in tenth positions. That makes Buick and Tesla the only American brands in the top 10.
Interestingly, Tesla was the most improved carmaker in this year’s report, climbing eight spots from seventeenth to the ninth spot. Most of this good work can be attributed to the Model 3, which has been crowned the most reliable electric car, according to Consumer Reports. The Model Y also helped improve Tesla’s rankings, being deemed the most reliable electric SUV and the most reliable electric vehicle overall in this year’s CR survey.
Consumer Reports
Meanwhile, Mazda saw the biggest drop in CR’s new car reliability ratings, falling eight spots – from sixth last year to fourteenth this year. This dip was largely attributed to the carmaker launching several redesigns for its models.
Previously reliable cars like CX-70 and CX-90 were released with a new engine and transmissions, while also being available as Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). Owing to PHEV’s dismal track record of poor reliability concerns, the carmaker’s overall ranking took a big hit.
CR’s report suggests that pure hybrids (gas engine + small battery; no plugging in) are much more reliable than pure electric vehicles (EV) and PHEVs. Why? Most automakers have been producing them for so long that the reliability of their hybrid models is frequently on par with their ICE (internal combustion engine) counterparts.
Rivian
On the lower end of the reliability spectrum, we have four US automakers – GMC (31), Jeep (28), Ram (26), and Rivian (24), meaning Rivian continues its dismal track record as the least reliable carmaker. For reference, these same brands also had the most unreliable vehicles in last year’s report – Jeep (33), GMC (33), Cadillac (27), and Rivian (14) . So only the order at the bottom has changed.
CR does state that it doesn’t include any models from brands like Alfa Romeo, Dodge, Fiat, Infiniti, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lucid, Maserati, MINI, Mitsubishi, Polestar, and Porsche. This is because “Consumer Reports either has insufficient data or the manufacturer has too few models for them to rank.”
Toyota
And there you have it. Is it surprising to anyone that Japanese carmakers dominate in reliability? Probably not, particularly when you look at Consumer Reports’ most reliable individual car models, where the data reveals just how far ahead Japanese cars really are: All of the top 10 car models are from Japanese brands!
Source: Consumer Reports
Several Dead in Mexico Following Train Derailment
new video loaded: Train Derailment in Mexico Leaves Several Dead
More than a dozen people were killed when a passenger train derailed on Sunday in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, according to the authorities. An investigation into the cause has been opened.
By Nader Ibrahim and Jiawei Wang
December 29, 2025
OrbiMed Advisors divests Sionna Therapeutics [SION] shares for $1.48 million
OrbiMed Advisors sells Sionna Therapeutics [SION] shares for $1.48m
Five important lessons learned from the Trump-Netanyahu summit in Florida | Updates on Israel-Palestine conflict
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have presented a united front and heaped praise on each other as they held another meeting to discuss the tensions in the Middle East.
On Monday, Netanyahu paid his fifth visit to the United States since Trump’s inauguration in January, meeting the president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
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Their mutual flattery turned into geopolitical alignment as the two leaders addressed the most pressing issues in the Middle East: Gaza and Iran.
Trump claimed that Israel is helping the people of Gaza and dismissed the near-daily Israeli ceasefire violations.
Here are the key takeaways from Monday’s meeting.
Trump stresses Hamas must disarm
Before and after his meeting with Netanyahu, Trump stressed that Hamas must disarm, issuing a stern threat to the Palestinian group.
Asked what would happen if Hamas refused to give up its weapons, Trump said: “It would be horrible for them, horrible. It’s going to be really, really bad for them.”
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Washington’s top priority was to move to the second phase of the ceasefire, which would see the establishment of a technocratic Palestinian administration and the deployment of an international police force.
But on Monday, Trump kept the focus on Hamas, reiterating the claim that other countries have offered to “wipe them out” if the group refuses to give up its weapons.
Israel has killed 414 Palestinians in Gaza since the start of the ceasefire in October, and it continues to restrict the flow of international aid into the territory, including temporary shelter provisions, despite people suffering deadly weather conditions in makeshift tents.
Trump, however, said that Israel is fully living up to its commitments under the deal – “100 percent”.
“I’m not concerned about anything that Israel is doing,” he told reporters.
US threatens Iran
Trump suggested that Washington would carry out further military action against Iran if Tehran rebuilds its nuclear programme or missile capacity.
The president kept returning to the oft-cited argument that the US air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities in June are what paved the way for the ceasefire in Gaza.
“Now I hear that Iran is trying to build up again, and if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down,” Trump said.
“We’ll knock them down. We’ll knock the hell out of them. But, hopefully, that’s not happening.”
In recent weeks, Israeli officials and their US allies have shifted the focus to Iran’s missile programme, arguing it should be dealt with before it poses a threat to Israel.
When asked whether the US would back an Israeli attack targeting Iran’s missile programme, Trump said, “If they will continue with the missiles, yes. The nuclear? Fast. OK? One will be: Yes, absolutely. The other is: We’ll do it immediately.”
Iran has ruled out negotiating over its missile programme, and it has denied seeking to build a nuclear weapon.
Israel, meanwhile, is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal.
Bromance festival
Since the early days of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, US media reports have suggested that the US president, first Joe Biden, then Trump, was angry or frustrated at Netanyahu.
But the US military and diplomatic support for Israel has never been interrupted.
Ahead of Netanyahu’s visit, similar reports emerged about a potential rift between him and Trump.
Nonetheless, the two leaders put on a show of brotherly romance on Monday.
Trump called Netanyahu a “hero”, stressing that Israel may not have existed without his wartime leadership.
“We’re with you, and we’ll continue to be with you, and a lot of good things are happening in the Middle East,” Trump told Netanyahu.
“We have peace in the Middle East, and we’re going to try and keep it that way. I think we will be very successful in keeping it that way. And you’ve been a great friend.”
The US president also highlighted his efforts to secure a presidential pardon for Netanyahu, who is facing corruption charges in Israel.
The Israeli prime minister announced that the US president will be awarded the Israel Prize, which is normally given to Israeli citizens.
“I have to say that this reflects the overwhelming sentiment of Israelis across the spectrum,” Netanyahu said.
“They appreciate what you’ve done to help Israel, and to help our common battle against the terrorists and those who would destroy our civilisation.”
Netanyahu has notably not been pardoned.
Trump calls for Israel-Syria rapprochement
One area where Trump appeared to press Netanyahu was Syria.
Trump said Netanyahu is “going to get along” with Syria, lauding Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad last year, Israel has expanded its occupation of southern Syria beyond the Golan Heights, seizing large areas in Jabal al-Sheikh. The Israeli military has also been carrying out raids, reportedly abducting and disappearing people in the country.
The new Syrian authorities have stressed that they do not seek conflict with Israel, but talks to reach a security agreement between the two countries have stalled.
“We do have an understanding regarding Syria,” Trump said. “Now, with Syria, you have a new president. I respect him. He’s a very strong guy, and that’s what you need in Syria.”
Netanyahu was non-committal on Israel’s approach to Syria.
“Our interest is to have a peaceful border with Syria,” he said. “We want to make sure that the border area right next to our border is safe — we don’t have terrorists, we don’t have attacks.”
On renewed war in Lebanon: ‘We’ll see about it.’
Since the start of the truce in Gaza, Israel has intensified its attacks in Lebanon, leading to fears that it may re-launch its full-scale war against the country.
Earlier this year, the Lebanese government issued a decree to disarm Hezbollah, but the group pledged to hold onto its weapons to defend the country against Israel.
On Monday, Trump did not rule out renewing the conflict in Lebanon.
“We’ll see about it,” the president said when asked whether he would support more Israeli strikes in Lebanon.
“The Lebanese government is at a little bit of a disadvantage, if you think of it, with Hezbollah. But Hezbollah has been behaving badly, so we’ll see what happens.”