Strikes in western Iranian provinces: What you need to know
Prepared by a PMOI/MEK reporter
Iran, April 26, 2018 - On April 26, shops remained closed in many areas of Baneh, Kurdistan, for the 15th day, marking the beginning of the third week of a widespread strike by merchants and shop owners in Iran’s western border provinces. As the tension builds up, the stakes are rising for the Iranian regime, which is still reeling in the aftermath of nationwide protest that erupted at the turn of the year. Here’s what you need to know about the extended standoff between the Iranian regime and the merchants of the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah and Western Azarbaijan.
What’s at stake
In early April, the Iranian regime increased restrictions on business that rely on cross-border interactions, closing several border crossings and raising levies on import of goods. This move will destroy the jobs of more than 80 thousand border porters, whose meager earnings are tied to moving goods across the border. The restrictions will also affect millions of merchants and shop owners whose businesses rely on imports by porters.
The Iranian regime is constantly depriving porters from their most basic rights and often arrests or kills them on grounds of fighting with smuggling. Meanwhile, institutions with ties to the state and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) are constantly involved in large-scale smuggling and shady business practices.
How have the people responded
In response to the restrictions imposed by the regime, the merchants and shop-owners of Baneh, Kurdistan, and Javanroud, Kermanshah, went on strike and closed down their shops. The strikes quickly propagated to other cities, including Piranshahr, Marivan, Saqqez and Mahabad.
The strikes gradually turned into protests and demonstrations. In Sardasht, Kurdistan, the merchants gathered in protest in front of the governor’s office in protest to the regulations. In other cities, merchants and shop owners staged protests in front of their closed stores.
The strikes and protests by merchants was well-received by other classes of the society. In Marivan, the students of Payam-e-Nour University declared their solidarity with the merchants in a recorded video. In Baneh, the people of the city joined a group of merchants who were marching toward the governor’s office.
How the regime has responded
Fearing the strikes will further exacerbate tensions between the people and the state, the Iranian regime has resorted to several measures to quell the strikes and protests. Agents of the regime have tried to intimidate the merchants and protesters by burning their belongings or summoning them to law enforcement institutions.
But unfazed by the regime’s threats, the merchants Baneh and other cities in the western reaches of Iran continue their protests. Incapable of answering to the demands of the merchants, the Iranian regime has no real solution to deal with this new crisis that is adding up to the multitude of problems it is facing across the country.
#تهران #قیام_دیماه#اعتصاب #تظاهرات_سراسری #قیام سراسری #اتحاد #آزادی#ما براندازیم #آ#ايران
هیچ نظری موجود نیست:
ارسال یک نظر