demonstrations
Activists: More protests in Iran
People go about their business in the Tajrish Bazaar in northern Tehran. photo
© Vahid Salemi/AP/dpa
The demonstrations against the political leadership in Iran continue. It remains to be seen whether and to what extent companies and tradespeople will join the protests.
According to activists and eyewitnesses, protests against the country’s political leadership continued on Tuesday. On the streets of the capital Tehran, the demonstrators shouted “Death to the dictator” and “We don’t want an Islamic Republic (anymore)”. There were initially no reports of violent clashes between security forces and demonstrators.
Demonstrations against the country’s political elite have been taking place in Iran since mid-September. For Monday to Wednesday of this week, activists had called for the so-called 14-15-16 protests – the numbers are the date in the Persian calendar month of Azar. In the course of this, companies should also join the protests. The aim is to paralyze the country’s economy.
There was conflicting information about how strongly business people followed the call. According to activists, many traders had ceased trading on Monday. State media, in turn, reported that markets were “normal” and published pictures of open shops. Eyewitnesses in Tehran said “some shops were open and some were closed”.
The trigger for the mass protests was the death of the Iranian Kurd Jina Mahsa Amini. She died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly violating Islamic dress codes. According to estimates by human rights activists, at least 470 demonstrators have been killed and around 18,000 people arrested since then.