Iranian Shopkeepers Strike To Mark 40 Days Since Zahedan Massacre

By RFE/RL's Radio Farda November 09, 2022

Shopkeepers have gone on strike in several Iranian cities to mark 40 days -- the official end of the mourning period -- since the "Bloody Friday" massacre in the southeastern city of Zahedan that saw almost 100 people killed and hundreds injured in protests sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman while in custody with the morality police and the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by a local police commander.

Videos posted on social media showed shops closed in the cities of Sanandaj, Baneh, and Saqez in the western Iranian province of Kurdistan on November 9, with anti-government protests also blocking some streets.

#اعتصاب بازاریان در سنندج؛ اعتراض‌ها بعد از کشته شدن #مهسا_امینی تاکنون به شیوه‌های مختلف ادامه داشته است. اعتصاب‌های اصناف مختلف از جمله این شیوه‌ها بوده است. pic.twitter.com/F1LKDzMtkc
— RadioFarda‌|‌راديو فردا (@RadioFarda_) November 9, 2022

Reports also indicate that shopkeepers in Tehran's Valiasr market have gone on strike and closed their shops in solidarity with the protestors in Zahedan, the site of the deadly September 30 clashes where rioters attacked police stations and security forces retaliated by opening fire on worshipers holding Friday Prayers at a mosque.

این اعتصاب کاسب‌های بازار مبل شهرک ولیعصر تهران همزمان با چهلم کشته‌های جمعه خونین #زاهدان. تو چند تا شهر کردستان از جمله سنندج و سقز هم بازاری‌ها اعتصاب کردند #مهسا_امینی pic.twitter.com/MasGhL0hrJ
— Maryam Moqaddam مریم مقدم (@MaryamMoqaddam) November 9, 2022

At least 96 protesters were reported killed in the violence, with more than 300 others injured.

Earlier this month, top Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdulhamid said senior officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were "responsible" for the killings in Zahedan and called for an immediate referendum with the presence of international observers to "change policies based on the wishes of the people."

Since then, the police commander of Sistan and Baluchistan Province, where Zahedan is located, has resigned.

Anger over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16 has prompted thousands of Iranians to take to the streets to demand more freedoms and women's rights in the biggest threat to the Islamic government since the 1979 revolution.

The alleged rape of a 15-year-old Baluchi girl by a local police official on September 30 further fueled the animosity as protesters demanded accountability.

Amnesty International has called the police reaction to the deadly clashes part of an "alarming escalation in the use of force and firearms" in dealing with protesters.

Since Amini's death, more than 300 people have been killed in the police crackdown, according to rights groups. Several thousand more have been arrested, including many protesters, as well as journalists, lawyers, activists, digital rights defenders, and others.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-shopkeepers-strike- zahedan-massacre-amini-protests/32122845.html

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