mercredi 28 mai 2014

Iran: Gold retailers strike, protest rallies continue in Tehran, Isfahan, Saveh and Jiroft

                    Scenes of Isfahan bazaar in Iran

In conditions where more and more cases of plundering and looting by senior Iranian regime officials are revealed on a daily basis due to increasing internal disputes amongst the regime’s factions, the mullahs’ regime refuses to provide the most basic necessities of people from all walks of life, especially laborers and the poor. This is increasing daily pressures, poverty and unemployment on most of the Iranian people and has led to a spike in their protest rallies:
- For the ninth consecutive day Tabriz gold retailers went on strike on Sunday, May 25th, protesting the regime’s tax extortion. In Isfahan gold retailers of the ‘Honar’ and ‘Majlesi’ bazaars – being two of the largest gold bazaars in Isfahan – are continuing their strike. Gold and jewelry retailers in Isfahan, Najaf AbadUrumieh and Tabriz went on strike starting May 17th following tax extortions and the method used to calculate taxes on added values in this sector of the bazaar. Gold retailers viewed this measure as a recession and a reduction for the gold bazaar, along with gold losing its value as an asset.
In Tehran a number of metal stores in the Shah Abad bazaar went on strike on Sunday, May 25th, protesting increasing taxes. They refused to open their stores.
The day before a number of Tehran’s chocolate bazaar merchants protested State Security Forces’ repressive measures, tax collection methods and the police rounding up their goods. In response they closed their stores and went on strike, going on to hold a protest gathering in the bazaar.
Storeowners in Tehran’s Aladdin passage went on strike on May 21st protesting an increase in the price of monthly rents for their stores. According to one of the protesters, in just one month their rent prices increased 50 million rials (around $2,000) and currently the rent for a store at ground level in this passage has reached 350 million rials (around $14,315) each month. This is while there is a serious recession in this bazaar.
In Jiroft, workers of stone breaking factories rallied for the second consecutive day on Sunday, May 25th outside the regime’s governor office in this city. Workers protested their low wages and pensions، and the lack of any insurance.
In Isfahan on May 23rd hundreds of people rallied at the dried Zayande River and held a protest gathering. Anti-riot units of the regime attacked the protesters with batons and pepper gas. In this vicious raid a number of people were severely beaten and injured. Many of them were arrested with injured bodies.
In the city of Sove, located southwest of Tehran, workers of metal factories went on strike for not receiving their wages for the past 5 months. The striking workers said: “New Year bonuses have not been paid (after more than two months).” Around 200 workers of the Sove metal factory held a protest gathering representing more than 1,200 other workers of this production unit. They also said the workers’ wages have been decreased by 50% and regime authorities do not pay the workers that work on holidays.

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