Protests of Investors of Rezaat Khodro in Front of Judiciary; Continued Strike of Gold Sellers in Several Cities

Economic protests in Iran continued on Tuesday, May 18, with gatherings of contractor workers at the Sar-Cheshmeh copper complex in Rafsanjan, truck drivers protesting in Doukohak Shiraz, and clashes involving investors of 'Rezaat Khodro' in front of the Judiciary building in Tehran. The strike of gold sellers also continued for the second week. According to reports received by Voice of America and shared on social media, a large number of investors of 'Rezaat Khodro Taravat Novin' gathered on Tuesday in front of the Judiciary building in Tehran. However, this gathering faced an attack from government forces. This protest, which has been repeated several times before, is in response to the loss of their assets following the activities of Mohammad Reza Ghafari, the detained owner and manager of Rezaat Khodro Taravat Novin. According to some government officials, including Hossein Rajabi, the prosecutor of Qazvin, and Mohammad Mehdi Alaei, the governor of this province, the owner of this company in this 'large case' attracted 'over 12 trillion tomans' from thousands of citizens between 2013 and 2019, delivering less than 'two thousand cars' to customers, with '50 thousand plaintiffs' in this case. On the other hand, the widespread strike of gold sellers in various cities continued on Tuesday after two weeks. This report shows the closure of gold shops in Boroujerd. Images have also been published of the strike of merchants and shopkeepers in the Tehran gold market for several consecutive days. Following the implementation of the tax law on gold sales, gold sellers widely closed their shops and went on strike in various cities in Iran. According to the newspaper Entekhab, they protested being forced to bear the 'cost of inflation' and stated that 'no one guarantees the security of declaring personal capital.' In response to the continuation of these protests, Nader Badrahshan, the head of the union of gold manufacturers and sellers in Tehran, told the Hamshahri newspaper that 'we do not confirm the closure of business units,' but 'officials should also consider that the ambiguities in the comprehensive trade system have not been resolved,' and 'instead of providing the necessary grounds to reduce the problems of the people and the gold sellers, hasty decisions have been made.' Furthermore, following the closure of several gold shops, the newspaper Entekhab reported that Youssef Taghizadegan, the head of the gold sellers' union in Mashhad, emphasized that 'these closures were not carried out by the union but directly by the governor of Mashhad,' and 'directly from Sunday, several shops were closed.' Simultaneously with the continued strike of gold sellers and the protests of Rezaat Khodro investors, on Tuesday, contractor workers at the Sar-Cheshmeh copper complex in Rafsanjan, Kerman province, stopped working in protest of the 'significant wage disparity' with other workers in this industrial and mining unit and gathered in front of the manager's office of this complex. News sources reported that at the same time, a group of truck drivers in Doukohak Shiraz, Fars province, went on strike. The protest of truck drivers and dump truck drivers in Shiraz was in response to the shortage of fuel quotas and illegal loading, and these protesters demanded the formation of a union for themselves. Economic protests in Iran have intensified in recent years alongside rising prices and inflation, as well as increasing gold and dollar rates. In recent days, Hassan Iradan, an inspector of the Tehran retirees' association, stated that the monthly income of retirees in Iran is less than 10 million tomans; that is, it does not even reach one-third of the poverty line, which is unfair. Citizens in Iran began the year 1403 with a new economic shock: an increase of over 3% in the price of the dollar; a trend that, although not new, puts additional pressure on the holiday expenses of Iranian families. Nevertheless, the leader and president of the Islamic Republic in their New Year messages paid little attention to the level of inflation and the dire economic situation, deeming the country's economic situation hopeful and naming the upcoming year as the year of production leap with public participation. However, exclusive conversations of Voice of America with citizens inside Iran show a significant gap from the slogans of the government.