Iran businesses on strike despite legal threats
Business owners appeared to have defied the judiciary chief's threats of prosecution as a fresh wave of strikes gathered steam amid Iran's months-long anti-government unrest.
TEHRAN — Activists reported sweeping strikes in two-thirds of Iranian provinces on Tuesday, the second day of a civil disobedience campaign against the ruling Islamic Republic establishment.
Markets at several locations in the capital Tehran, and in other large cities including Tabriz, Isfahan and Shiraz, witnessed widespread closures.
The most sweeping strikes were reported in Kurdish areas, which have borne the brunt of the government crackdown on the unrest that began in mid-September, when 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in custody of morality police after being arrested over her alleged failure to abide by Iran's strict headscarf rules.
The Paris-based Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported those strikes across at least 16 Kurdish cities. Sources also confirmed to Al-Monitor that in the town of Paveh as many as 95% of shop owners rolled down the shutters, while authorities toured the market in person to "seal" some striking shops with a special tag, meaning the shop owners would not be allowed to run their businesses until further notice.
