Iran Uprising – No. 144
On Saturday, April 21, the strike of merchants and shopkeepers in the provinces of Kurdistan, Kermanshah and West Azarbaijan continued for the seventh consecutive day. The merchants of Sar-e-Pol-e Zahab and Mahabad also had joined the protest on Friday. Meanwhile, repressive forces have arrested a number of strikers in recent days to prevent the spread of these protests.
On Saturday, Sardasht merchants protested in front of the governorate building against rising customs duties.
In Baneh, a poor young man was arrested because he had protested in front of Saeed Jalili, Khamenei’s representative, against the killings of border porters, the hunger of the people in the area, and stoppage of their business on Wednesday, April 18. Jalili’s visit to Baneh, which was aimed at deceiving the protesters and forcing them to end the strike, failed ignominiously.
In Piranshahr, regime mercenaries set fire at one of the cars of the strikers in the Kani Shinkah area in order to intimidate them.
In the border town of Bazargan (West Azarbaijan), people protested against the closure of border routes, which has been their only way of earning money and making their living, by blocking the main street of the city.
In yet another development in Sanandaj, workers from the Mohammadi manufacturing company stopped working in protest against the expulsion of one of their colleagues. Following a visit by a representative of Khamenei and the governor, one of the workers objected to the severe exploitation of the workers and the low level of wages. The employer immediately fired the worker, which provoked a strong protest by the workers.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 21, 2018
