اعتصاب بخش‌هایی از بازار شهرهای ایران در اعتراض به گرانی و رکود

Iranian Merchants Close Down Shops in Silent Strike against Hyperinflation

اعتصاب بخش‌هایی از بازار شهرهای ایران در اعتراض به گرانی و رکود

OCTOBER 10, 2018

Merchants and business owners went on strike in several Iranian cities on October 8, 2018, to protest against hyperinflation and economic instability.

Images and video footage posted on social media networks showed many shops closed that day in the cities of Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Sanandaj and Orumiyeh.

But Iran’s state television reported on October 8 that businesses were open to the public at the Grand Bazaar in Tehran.

“Even though it was said that the bazaar would be on strike today, the level of activities was the same as any other day and the merchants are busy as usual,” said a reporter for the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). “More and more customers are pouring into the Grand Bazaar, which indicates brisk business.”

After the US pulled out of the Iranian nuclear deal in May 2018, the threat of renewed US sanctions caused Iran’s domestic currency, the rial, to spiral downwards while the prices of goods and services rose sharply.