Iran: Businesses go on strike amid regime crackdown

Iranian shops closed in several cities on Monday following calls from activists for a three-day strike.

What do we know so far about the strike? 

Kurdish Iranian rights group Hengaw reported that 20 cities in western Iran had joined the general strike movement.

The protest actions are set to last from Monday to Wednesday.

The head of Iran's judiciary, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, said that "rioters" were threatening shopkeepers, and that they would soon be dealt with by law enforcement.

Mohseni-Ejei also said that the Supreme Court had already confirmed sentences for a number of protesters, which will be "carried out swiftly."

On Telegram, messages circulated that called for people to target paramilitary units on motorbikes. These units have been instrumental in suppressing protests.

In recent weeks, protesters have dumped oil on roads or set up barriers to hamper the movement of security forces.

The Revolutionary Guards issued a statement calling on the judiciary to issue judgement against "defendants accused of crimes against the security of the nation and Islam," and said that security forces would show no mercy towards "rioters, thugs [and] terrorists."

Protesters' sentences to be 'carried out soon'

Mohseni-Ejei said that several sentences of protesters had been confirmed by the Supreme Court, the Etemad news portal reported on Monday.

The sentences will be "carried out soon," he said.

Some protesters were convicted of "waging war against God," which can carry the death penalty.

According to rights organizations, at least 18,000 people have been arrested in Iran since unrest began in mid-September.

The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) told the AFP news agency that at least 504 people had been executed by Iranian authorities this year, far more than were put to death in 2021.

The count includes four people who were executed on Sunday after they were accused of working with Israeli intelligence.

"These individuals were sentenced to death without due process or a fair trial behind the closed doors of the Revolutionary Court," IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said. "Their sentences lacked all legal validity."

Activists, US, Germany express skepticism on abolition of morality police

Also on Monday, activists and the US State Department expressed skepticism on reports that the Iranian "morality police" could be abolished.

The "morality police" implements the Islamic Republic's restrictive dress code.

Roya Boroumand, co-founder of the US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center rights group, told AFP that dissolving the "morality police" would simply leave enforcement of Iran's strict laws on appropriate attire to other state bodies.

"Unless they remove all legal restrictions on women's dress and the laws controlling citizens' private lives, this is just a PR move," Boroumand said, adding that "nothing prevents other law enforcement" bodies from enforcing the dress code.

Meanwhile, the US State Department said that "nothing suggests" that Iranian authorities are improving their treatment of women.

"We have seen the reports but will not comment on ambiguous or vague claims by Iranian officials," a State Department spokesperson said. "Sadly, nothing we have seen suggests Iran's leadership is improving its treatment of women and girls or ceasing the violence it inflicts on peaceful protesters."

A spokeswoman for the German Foreign Ministry said that dissolving the "morality police" "won't change" protesters' fundamental demands.

"Iranians are taking to the street for their fundamental rights. They want to live freely and in self-determination and such a measure (abolishing the 'morality police'), if it is implemented, won't change that," she said.

sdi/wd (Reuters, AFP, dpa)