Shops in Tehran’s horic Grand Bazaar close as popular football players back Iran protests

Iranian shops in Tehran’s horic 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 authorities. However, this round of demonstrations after the September death of a 22-year-old woman earlier detained the country’s morality police have continued despite activs 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, storefronts 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.

November 15 – Javanrud, western #IranScenes of locals establishing roadblocks and continuing the nationwide protests against the regime on the 61st day of the uprising.#IranRevolution2022#مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبر pic.twitter.com/QeGR8uToD7
— People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) November 16, 2022
Videos taken earlier Tuesday showed crowds gathered outside of the closed shops, some shouting: “This year is a year of blood; Seyyed Ali will be toppled!” The chant, heard in other protests, refuses to use the title ayatollah to refer to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. An ayatollah is a high-ranking Shiite cleric and such calls targeting Khamenei can bring a death sentence in Iran’s closed-door Revolutionary Courts.
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 activs 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 its enemies as opposed to an outpouring of public frustration.
Popular footballers Ali Daei and Javad Nekounam both said they’ve declined a FIFA invitation to attend the World Cup in Qatar. (Photos via Twitter)
Already, US officials have said they received information from Saudi Arabia saying an attack Iran on the kingdom may happen. 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 rebels have repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia with ballic 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 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 hard-liners shows Iran’s team heading into a match, apparently supported 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 goal scorer 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.