Iranian City Shops Shut after Strike Call, Judiciary Blames ‘Rioters’

Shops are closed following the recent riots and the call of protesters to close the markets, in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran November 16, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
Shops are closed following the recent riots and the call of protesters to close the markets, in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran November 16, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
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Iranian City Shops Shut after Strike Call, Judiciary Blames ‘Rioters’

Shops are closed following the recent riots and the call of protesters to close the markets, in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran November 16, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
Shops are closed following the recent riots and the call of protesters to close the markets, in Tehran Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran November 16, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)

Iranian shops shut their doors in several cities on Monday, following calls for a three-day nationwide strike from protesters seeking the fall of clerical rulers, while the head of the judiciary blamed what he called "rioters" for threatening shopkeepers. 

Iran has been rocked by nationwide unrest following the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, 22, on Sept. 16 in police custody, posing one of the strongest challenges to the republic since the 1979 revolution. 

Amini was arrested by Iran's morality police for flouting the strict hijab policy, which requires women to dress modestly and wear headscarves. Women have played a prominent role in the protests, many of them waving or burning their headscarves. 

The semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday that an amusement park at a Tehran shopping center was closed by the judiciary because its operators were not wearing the hijab properly. 

The reformist-leaning Hammihan newspaper said that morality police had increased their presence in cities outside Tehran, where the force has been less active over recent weeks. 

Iran's public prosecutor on Saturday was cited by the semi-official Iranian Labour News Agency as saying that the morality police had been disbanded. But there was no confirmation from the Interior Ministry and state media said the public prosecutor was not responsible for overseeing the force. 

Ali Khanmohammadi, spokesman for Iran's headquarters for Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice which oversees implementation of religious edicts, said on Monday the era of the morality police was over, but that there will be other methods to enforce Islamic dress code. 

"Decisions are being made to confront those violations of hijab by a small group of women... officials cannot remain indifferent towards these violations," Khanmohammadi said 

Last week, Vice President for Women's Affairs Ensieh Khazali said that the hijab was part of the country’s general law and that it guaranteed women's social movement and security. 

In the shop protests, 1500tasvir, a Twitter account with 380,000 followers focused on the protests, shared videos on Monday of shut stores in commercial areas such as Tehran's Bazaar, and other large cities such as Karaj, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, and Shiraz. 

Reuters could not immediately verify the footage. 

The head of Iran's judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, said that "rioters" were threatening shopkeepers to close their businesses and added they would be swiftly dealt with by the judiciary and security bodies. Ejei said protesters condemned to death would soon be executed. 

The Revolutionary Guards issued a statement praising the judiciary and calling on it to swiftly and decisively issue a judgement against "defendants accused of crimes against the security of the nation". 

Security forces would show no mercy towards "rioters, thugs, terrorists", the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the guards as saying. 

Witnesses speaking to Reuters said riot police and the Basij militia had been heavily deployed in central Tehran. 

The semi-official Fars news agency confirmed that a jewellery shop belonging to former Iranian footballer Ali Daei was sealed by authorities, following its decision to close down for the three days of the general strike. 

Similar footage by 1500tasvir and other activist accounts was shared of closed shops in smaller cities like Bojnourd, Kerman, Sabzevar, Ilam, Ardabil and Lahijan. 

Kurdish Iranian rights group Hengaw also reported that 19 cities had joined the strike movement in western Iran, where most of the country's Kurdish population live. 

Hundreds of people have been killed in the unrest since the death of Amini. 



Pope Francis, Trump Critic, Meets US VP Vance on Easter Morning

From left, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin meets with US Vice President JD Vance, his daughter Mirabel, his wife Usha, and their sons Ewan and Vivek at the Vatican, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, Handout)
From left, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin meets with US Vice President JD Vance, his daughter Mirabel, his wife Usha, and their sons Ewan and Vivek at the Vatican, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, Handout)
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Pope Francis, Trump Critic, Meets US VP Vance on Easter Morning

From left, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin meets with US Vice President JD Vance, his daughter Mirabel, his wife Usha, and their sons Ewan and Vivek at the Vatican, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, Handout)
From left, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin meets with US Vice President JD Vance, his daughter Mirabel, his wife Usha, and their sons Ewan and Vivek at the Vatican, Saturday, April 19, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, Handout)

Pope Francis held a private meeting at the Vatican on Sunday morning with US Vice President JD Vance, the Vatican said in a statement.

Vance, a Catholic who has clashed with the pontiff over the Trump administration's immigration policies, met Francis at his Vatican residence to exchange Easter greetings, the statement said.

"Pope Francis had a brief private encounter ... lasting a few minutes, in order to exchanges good wishes on Easter day," said the statement.

Vance, who has been visiting Italy with his family this weekend, met senior Vatican officials for more formal talks on Saturday. The pope, who is recovering from double pneumonia, did not take part in those discussions.

The pope and Vatican officials have criticized several of the policies of President Donald Trump's administration, including his plans to deport millions of migrants from the US and his widespread cuts to foreign aid and domestic welfare programs.

Francis has called the immigration crackdown a "disgrace". Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, has cited medieval-era Catholic teaching to justify the policy.

The pope rebutted the theological concept Vance used to defend the crackdown in an unusual open letter to the US Catholic bishops about the Trump administration in February, and called Trump's plan a "major crisis" for the United States.