"Aliasghar Shafieian, media adviser to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, said on Wednesday that the government is taking steps to address protesters' demands, while noting that the demonstrations have 'not been very widespread.' "Yesterday, the President, during a meeting with guilds who had objections, made some promises. Those promises could be impactful," Shafieian said during an interview in Tehran. "For example, when he [Pezeshkian] says we will collect taxes differently, he means collecting less or delaying the government's plan by a year can also have an impact. When Mr Pezeshkian promised some reforms in next year's budget to the parliament, that too will affect prices," he explained. The advisor attributed the current economic crisis and the depreciation of the Iranian rial to both Tehran's conflict with Israel since March 2024 and internal challenges, particularly in the energy sector. He also highlighted that a gap between the government and the public 'existed before' the protests erupted. "[Protestors] will naturally voice their objection using any pretext. Although the recent events were triggered by economic issues, and other people have joined these protests as well, it has not been very widespread so far," he emphasised. This week, Tehran witnessed several days of protests by merchants expressing frustration over living conditions and the recent fluctuations in the currency market, with the Iranian rial losing value against the US dollar."