Iranians go on strike as Mahsa Amini protests enter sixth week
- Shopkeepers and factory employees refused to work on Saturday in support of the nationwide protests, despite crackdown that has killed at least 122 people
- The death of Amini, after her arrest for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict dress code for women, fuelled the biggest protests in the Islamic republic for years
Shopkeepers and factory workers went on strike in Iran on Saturday as women-led nationwide protests sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini entered a sixth week, activists said.
The death of 22-year-old Amini, after her arrest for allegedly breaching Iran’s strict dress code for women, has fuelled the biggest protests seen in the Islamic republic for years.
Young women have led the charge, removing their headscarves, chanting anti-government slogans and confronting the security forces, despite a crackdown that human rights groups say has killed at least 122 people.
Activists issued a call for fresh demonstrations as the Iranian working week got under way on Saturday, but it was difficult to gauge the turnout due to curbs on internet access.
“On Saturday … We will be together for freedom,” activist Atena Daemi said in a Twitter post that bore an image of a bareheaded woman raising her fist.
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Iranian climber who competed without hijab back in Tehran
The 1500tasvir social media channel said there were “strikes in a couple of cities including Sanandaj, Bukan and Saqez”, while adding it was difficult to see evidence of them online as “the internet connection is too slow”.