Merchants bring down shutters in Tehran bazaar after clashes

DUBAI (Reuters) - Shops in Tehran's Grand Bazaar stayed shut and police patrolled the area on Thursday as authorities struggled to restore normalcy a day after security forces clashed with anti-government protesters angered by the collapse of the currency.

Traders from the bazaar, whose merchants supported Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, told Reuters by telephone that most stores were closed because their owners had stayed away for safety reasons.

On Wednesday, riot police scuffled with demonstrators and arrested money changers in the area during protests triggered by the plunge of the Iranian rial, which has lost about a third of its value against the dollar over the past 10 days.

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