Tehran , Iran ( CNN ) -- Tehran 's main bazaar reopened for its first full day of activity after demonstrations this week over the country 's plummeting currency . The bazaar was open Saturday , as were money exchange shops . `` The price of the dollar on the open market today dropped to ( between ) 28,500 and 29,000 rials , but the price of all foreign currencies , including the dollar , is still fluctuating and only a few transactions took place today , '' Mohammad Kashtiarai , head of the National Gold and Jewel Association , told the semi-official Mehr News Agency . Sixteen people were arrested Thursday , a day after police dispersed a crowd at the bazaar , where protesters were blaming President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the high price of the dollar and goods in general . Demonstrators chanted slogans opposing firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and decrying the skyrocketing cost of basic goods . The rial 's plummet to historic lows is the result of international sanctions , imposed largely by the United States and the European Union in an effort to pressure Iran to sit down for talks on its nuclear program . Ahmadinejad has insisted that sanctions hurt the people , not the government , and that the country 's economy `` has become a tool for psychological warfare . '' The rial 's value was cut in half from September of last year through last month , the Congressional Research Service said in a report . It has fallen even further since , including a sharp nosedive this week , reaching historic lows against the value of the dollar . But protesters in Tehran blamed Ahmadinejad , chanting slogans against his regime and complaining about high prices . Those arrested `` were the main players in the recent fluctuations in the foreign currency market , '' the Tehran Judiciary said in a statement .
Tehran 's main bazaar reopened for its first full day of business after protests . Sixteen people were arrested after the demonstrations . They were protesting the country 's currency crisis .