Businesses shut down as Iran protests enter third month
Iranian shops are closing up in waves amid the continuing nationwide protests.
Iran was hit with widespread business strikes on Thursday in support of anti-government protests that were entering a third month.
Over the past week, and despite severe internet disruptions and rigorous controls, campaigners have urged civil disobedience on the anniversary of the November 2019 protests, when authorities ordered security forces to shoot to kill hundreds to crush demonstrations over fuel price hikes.
The shutdowns are a far-reaching act of solidarity from businesses to the protesters, who are mostly of a generation born more than two decades after the 1979 inception of the Islamic Republic theocracy.
Footage posted by the activist collective 1500 Tasvir showed rows of closed shops in the capital Tehran’s main business hub, the Grand Bazaar. “This year is the year of blood. Ali will be overthrown,” protesters chanted against Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
