The business owners are protesting the situation, and that is entirely reasonable, the country's supreme leader said in a speech.
The Ayatollah adds that while authorities can talk to the protesters, it is “pointless to have a dialogue with rioters.”
They should be put in place, he says.
One person was killed when a grenade detonated in the city of Qom on Saturday night, according to state media. Unverified images coming out of the city show fires in the streets.
In the city of Harsin, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's so-called Basij forces was reportedly attacked and killed at a gathering of "armed rioters."
US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to intervene if Iran “shoots and kills peaceful protesters.” Trump wrote on social media that the US was “ready” to do this, but did not elaborate.
Iran accuses the US and arch-enemy Israel of orchestrating the protests.
Demonstrations began about a week ago. They have become the largest in Iran since the nationwide protests that took off in the fall of 2022, following the high-profile death in custody of 22-year-old woman Mahsa Amini.
Iranian exile organizations have reported that demonstrations have taken place in more than 100 locations in the country. They are attributed, among other things, to Iran's difficult economic conditions. The Iranian currency, the rial, has plummeted in value; one US dollar is currently worth approximately 1.4 million rials.
