NCRI – A strike by gold sellers in Iran has spread throughout the country and entered its third straight week on Wednesday with merchants declaring that they will back down the fulfillment of their demands.
Fort the past fourteen days, Iranian gold and jewelry merchants have launched a strike to protest a proposed plan by the regime to raise taxes.
The clerical regime has in turn resorted to threats and intimidations, in one case sending its agents to the gold merchant union to frighten sellers into ending the strike, and in other cases by plastering notices on walls around the Tehran Bazaar calling for the opening of the stores.
The merchants have said that they will not end their strike unless the regime backs down from plans to raise the value-added tax by three percent.
According to obtained reports, the grand bazaar at Tehran’s Sabzeh Meydan remained closed on Tuesday with merchants resisting the regime’s intimidation tactics.
Other reports indicate that the gold bazaar in Kermanshah is also shut down. On Tuesday, at around 4 PM local time, plainclothes agents violently attacked gold merchants at the western city’s grand bazaar, breaking shutters to force an end to the strike.
But, according to these reports, gold sellers resisted the attack and clashed with the regime’s agents. Several young gold sellers are said to have been arrested.
People at the scene also helped gold sellers in Kermanshah to ward off the plainclothes agents’ attack, who were forced to retreat and flee the scene amid loud jeers.