Minab Merchants Protest Against Police Seizure of Their Foreign Goods

Reports from Minab in Hormozgan province indicate a strike and sit-in by merchants in the city protesting the seizure of their property by the police. According to Fars News Agency, about 400 merchants and shopkeepers in Minab staged a strike and gathered in front of the city governor's office in protest against what they described as recent police actions against them. As reported by Fars and Pana news agencies, the police entered the Zeytoon commercial complex in Minab at midnight on Friday, April 27, to collect what they termed smuggled goods, breaking the locks of shops and seizing foreign products. Reports indicate that the merchants' protests began on April 28, and on April 29, they blocked the street leading to the Minab governor's office. According to Pana, the merchants protested why the police broke the locks of their shops at night without their presence and took everything away. A resident of Minab mentioned in an interview with Radio Farda that the protests are ongoing and shops remained closed until Tuesday. Reports indicate that the police action was carried out under the orders of the Minab prosecutor. Ibrahim Mohammadi, the Minab prosecutor, confirmed this and called for the reopening of shops, stating that his stance is about enforcing the law and that shopkeepers must comply with it. Ahmad Alavi, an economist and university professor in Sweden, commented on Radio Farda regarding the proper approach to combating smuggling, stating, 'The actions taken in Iran to combat smuggling are ineffective due to the inefficiency of institutions and policies, and also because these actions occur after incidents, incurring high costs such as public dissatisfaction.' He emphasized that 'policies should be designed to keep the market active so that price multiplicity does not exist, and therefore, with a long-term economic policy that prevents price multiplicity on both sides of the border, smuggling can be curbed.' Alavi added, 'It should be noted that the volume of smuggling in Iran is very high, and some individuals are involved in it, and the usual practice is to combat smuggling at lower levels.' According to this economist, the most appropriate way to deal with smuggling is to ensure that if the Iranian market has reasonable prices, the goods that are smuggled from abroad can be produced domestically or offered appropriately, thus making smuggling unprofitable and limited. He also pointed out that due to the economic recession, especially in remote areas of Iran that are less developed, it is natural for individuals to seek to earn more income, and one way is through illegal means. If there is stable employment with adequate income, the phenomenon of smuggling, given its risks, will not attract many individuals. Meanwhile, according to Fars, Alireza Pakdaman, the governor of Minab, stated at the merchants' protest gathering that he was unaware of the police's actions and the nighttime seizure and relocation of goods in the Zeytoon market. According to Pana, the governor also stated that any inappropriate treatment of merchants would be addressed. In this context, Nematollah Haghighi, head of the Minab Chamber of Commerce, told Fars that the police seized goods without any documentation. He pointed out that people's livelihoods largely depend on the buying and selling of foreign goods, adding that if the police take action, it should be at the borders and not extend to commercial units. Meanwhile, according to Mehr News Agency, Hossein Mo'tamedi Far, the Friday prayer leader of Minab, urged the police to use proper methods for effectively combating smuggling. He criticized the police's treatment of merchants and shopkeepers in collecting goods from warehouses and shops, stating they should not be treated like smugglers. On the other hand, according to the public relations and international affairs office of Hormozgan governorate, Jassem Jaderi, the Hormozgan governor, said that border cooperatives should be activated to reduce smuggling so that trade and border exchanges can be conducted through this means, benefiting residents of border areas. So far, there has been no news regarding the reaction of senior officials of the judiciary or the government of Hassan Rouhani or the Iranian police to the protests and sit-in in Minab.