Merchant strikes in the main bazaar of Tehran have entered a second week. The strikes over taxes have continued despite government efforts to reach a compromise with merchants by lowering planned tax increases to 30 percent last week and to 15 percent on Monday. Shops have also begun to shut their doors in other major cities, like Tabriz and Isfahan.

Several citizen journalists reported this event by publishing videos, photos (Tabriz bazaar above) and comments while official media keeps silent and tries to ignore one of the most important strikes in last 30 years in Iran.

Strike in Tehran Bazaar Wednesday 14th of July

Lesson to Learn

Change Iranwrites [fa] a post and asks “greens” join the strike. The blogger writes:

Let's join the merchants and not lose the opportunity. If we do not support them, they are not going back us tomorrow. Even informing others about strikes is a sign of solidarity with them.

Stabris writes [fa] that the bazaar in Tabriz entered its third day of strike and more shops outside of bazaar have also joined.

Dolat says [fa] that merchants are setting an example for others to strike. The blogger acknowledges that going on strike when you are a merchant is much more difficult than when you are an employee, because usually merchants are more vulnerable and have less solidarity.