Shops in Iran, Including Grand Bazaar, Close over Protests

Closed shops are seen at Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (AP)
Closed shops are seen at Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (AP)
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Shops in Iran, Including Grand Bazaar, Close over Protests

Closed shops are seen at Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (AP)
Closed shops are seen at Tehran's Grand Bazaar, Iran, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022. (AP)

Iranian shops in Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar and elsewhere across the country closed their doors Tuesday amid protests gripping the nation, as two prominent football stars also announced they would not be attending the upcoming World Cup over the demonstrations.

The shop closures came amid calls for a three-day national strike to mark earlier protests in 2019 against Iran's theocracy that ended in a violent crackdown by authorities. However, this round of demonstrations after the September death of a 22-year-old woman earlier detained by the country's morality police have continued despite activists recording at least 344 deaths and 15,820 arrests so far.

The protests have seen prominent former players Ali Daei and Javad Nekounam both say they've declined a FIFA invitation to attend the World Cup in Qatar, where Iran will play.

Shuttered storefronts could be seen across Tehran, Iran's capital, on Tuesday. Several shops did remain open, however, as a heavy security presence could be seen on the streets.

In the Grand Bazaar, the beating heart of Tehran for hundreds of years that long has served as a political bellwether for Persian dynasties, store fronts were closed as a lone woman and a man pushing a cart walked among its narrow alleyways. A stray cat nibbled at trash down one of its silent warrens.

Videos taken earlier Tuesday showed crowds gathered outside of the closed shops, some shouting: “This year is a year of blood.”

Other online videos purported to show shops closed elsewhere in the country as well, with some scattered demonstrations taking place.

Like the other protests after the Sept. 16 death of Mahsa Amini, the demonstrations appeared largely leaderless. A call on social media had gone out demanding a national strike not to buy or sell anything to mark the 2019 protests in Iran that followed a hike in government-subsidized gasoline prices that activists say saw at least 321 people killed in a subsequent crackdown.

Strikes may increasingly put pressure on the Iranian government, which so far has dismissed the demonstrators' demands as a foreign plot by its enemies as opposed to an outpouring of public frustration.

The US Navy said Tuesday it intercepted 70 tons of a missile fuel component on a ship heading from Iran to Yemen, where the country's Houthi militias have repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia with ballistic missile fire.

Widening the demonstrations into strikes and boycotts could further raise pressure on Iran's government, which already has seen its economy suffer under international sanctions after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers. So far though, it has yet to affect production in its crucial oil and natural gas industry.

The UN human rights office separately called on Iran’s government to immediately release thousands of people who have been detained for participating in peaceful protests.

Iran's theocracy has been trying to solidify its support amid the demonstrations, holding rallies to mark the Nov. 4, 1979, takeover and subsequent hostage crisis at the US Embassy in Tehran.

It's also focused on Iran's upcoming appearance at the World Cup in Qatar. A prominent billboard in Tehran's Vali Asr Square typically used by hard-liners shows Iran's team heading into a match, apparently supported by warriors of its Persian past.

But two prominent former stars have said they won't go to the matches in Qatar. Ali Daei, a top international goalscorer and Iranian team captain, said he declined to go when his country was “grief-stricken.”

“I want to be with my compatriots and express sympathy with all those who have lost loved ones,” the former center-forward said.

Javad Nekounam, another star, similarly has declined to go to the World Cup, Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.



Over 100 Inmates Escape from a Pakistan Prison After an Earthquake Evacuation in Karachi 

Police officer stand guard as members of media film inside the premises of the district Malir prison from where more than 100 inmates escaped overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
Police officer stand guard as members of media film inside the premises of the district Malir prison from where more than 100 inmates escaped overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
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Over 100 Inmates Escape from a Pakistan Prison After an Earthquake Evacuation in Karachi 

Police officer stand guard as members of media film inside the premises of the district Malir prison from where more than 100 inmates escaped overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)
Police officer stand guard as members of media film inside the premises of the district Malir prison from where more than 100 inmates escaped overnight, in Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (AP)

More than 100 inmates escaped from a prison and at least one was killed in a shootout in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi overnight after they were temporarily moved out of their cells following mild earthquake tremors, officials said Tuesday.

Kashif Abbasi, a senior police official, said 216 inmates fled the prison in the capital of Sindh province before dawn. Of those, 78 had been recaptured. No one convicted or facing trial as a militant is among those who fled, he said.

One prisoner was killed and three security officials were wounded in the ensuing shootout, but the situation has been brought under control, Abbasi said, adding that police are conducting raids to capture the remaining escapees.

Ziaul Hassan, the home minister of Sindh province, said the jailbreak occurred after prisoners were evacuated from their cells for safety during the earthquake. The inmates were still outside of the cells when a group suddenly attacked guards, seized their weapons, opened fire and fled.

Though prisoners have escaped while being transported to court for trial, prison beaks are not common in Pakistan, where authorities have enhanced security since 2013 when the Pakistani Taliban freed more than 200 inmates in an attack on a prison in the northwestern district of Dera Ismail Khan.

Karachi has experienced several mild and shallow earthquakes in the past 24 hours, ranging from 2.6 to 3.4 in magnitude, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Center.