Unprecedented Expansion of Street Vendors in Iran

Just one day before the elections on March 7, a man named Amir set himself on fire in the Shanzelizeh shopping center in downtown Tehran after police warned him to remove his scarf stand. This incident followed a similar case in May 2015, where Hamid Farakhi, a 43-year-old Azerbaijani citizen, self-immolated in front of municipal officials in Tabriz after they confiscated his livelihood. In March 2015, another street vendor from Khorramshahr also set himself on fire after his goods were taken by the municipality. The aggressive and violent actions of police and municipal officers against street vendors, often instigated by shopkeepers and traders or public officials (like metro authorities), have become a pattern in dealing with vendors. The desperation of some citizens in making a living sometimes leads to self-immolation as a form of social protest. However, there have also been instances where vendors have assaulted municipal officers. The Tehran municipality is constantly relocating vendors from one street (15 Khordad) to another (around Vali Asr) and ultimately to a park (Daneshju) to minimize tensions between vendors and shopkeepers as the year-end approaches. With about half of the country’s graduates unable to find jobs and the number of unemployed increasing daily due to negative economic growth, the workforce is seeking any means to earn a little income, with street vending being one of these avenues. Reports indicate that the number of street vendors in some areas has tripled. The Tehran metro has effectively turned into a large market, with vendors visible on pedestrian bridges, squares, and intersections. At times, the number of vendors in central city areas increases to the point of filling parks. According to a member of the Ahvaz City Council, 40,000 households in that city rely on street vending for their livelihood. Child laborers are predominantly engaged in street vending. This issue is not limited to large cities but is also observed in smaller towns. However, shopkeepers have enough power to mobilize the municipality, city council, and police forces to expel vendors from the market. Over the past four decades, Iranian merchants have remained allied with clerics and the Revolutionary Guards to sell their goods in a non-competitive environment at any price and to suppress their opponents through force. Some merchants, even those without religious beliefs, pay clerics to ensure their interests are protected by coercive forces. Consequently, municipalities have acted with force in removing vendors from large market areas. Some shopkeepers, lacking the market power to expel vendors, have protested the expansion of this phenomenon by closing their shops. Many clothing sellers have partially or fully closed their shops in protest against the presence of street vendors. Arguments against street vending cite four main points regarding public responsibility, public rights, and consumer rights: 1. Shops pay taxes, fees, rent, utility costs, and trade association dues, while street vendors enjoy free rides in this regard. 2. Vendors obstruct pathways. 3. Goods purchased from vendors are often non-returnable and may include smuggled and low-quality items. 4. Vendors can operate in day or night markets established by the municipality and leave street sales to shopkeepers. Conversely, supporters of street vending argue based on free market competition, public and consumer rights, social harm reduction, and the government's dual approach: 1. Vendors offer goods at lower prices than shopkeepers; some are entrepreneurs who lack the capital, connections, and access to loans to organize their small businesses. They create productive work with minimal costs and provide goods at reasonable prices. 2. Shopkeepers often refuse to take back defective goods; smuggled and low-quality items are also sold in shops. Consumer rights are not upheld by all sellers in Iran. 3. Many vendors, especially those working in the metro, no longer spread their goods to avoid disturbing people; meanwhile, the construction sector frequently obstructs pathways in large cities more than vendors do. 4. Street vending is preferable for the unemployed over begging, theft, pickpocketing, extortion, and other illegal activities. Many workers and employees cannot live on their salaries and need additional income without resorting to illegal means. 5. The government tolerates major violations and crimes, such as unpaid bank debts or the offenses of powerful individuals, but seeks to enforce laws against street vending. The arguments from both sides indicate that Iranian buyers and consumers do not have sufficient reasons to reject one side of the issue and may choose either side based on circumstances, price, and opportunity. The public perception of merchants and shopkeepers, especially due to their enrichment during the Iran-Iraq war and their exploitation of subsidized goods to suddenly inflate prices, is not positive, although some segments view street vending as detrimental to urban order and aesthetics. Street vending is both an economic and a social phenomenon. It is not a social harm but reflects various social issues. Socially, street vending can indicate four fundamental dysfunctions in a society: 1. Job instability. Street vending is a seasonal job that thrives during specific times, such as before the New Year or the start of school. A society where a significant portion of jobs are seasonal and individuals feel economic instability cannot progress towards 'normalizing' business operations. 2. Marginalization. Various estimates suggest that about 15 to 18 million people live on the outskirts of cities in Iran. The labor force in this demographic is concentrated in the service sector without any specialization. Street vending employs the most individuals in this sector. 3. Public display of unemployment without social safety nets. Vendors silently communicate to society that they are unemployed and need work. A small portion of vendors may have jobs but do not receive adequate wages and turn to vending for supplemental income. Unemployment benefits in Iran are very short-term and minimal, insufficient to cover household expenses. After this brief period, individuals and their families are left to fend for themselves. 4. The transformation of millions of people into low-cost labor (without adequate wages, insurance, overtime, or even a workplace) for importers of consumer goods who can earn billions based on rent and privilege. Leftists often attempt to relate the issue of street vending to class conflict. However, at least Iranian society shows that the prevalence of this phenomenon is not due to class conflicts or the greed of the wealthy and large corporations but rather stems from economic structures based on rent and privilege of the ruling caste on one hand and the foreign (hostility towards the West, terrorism, militarism) and economic (statism, centralization, and nepotism) policies of the clerical and Revolutionary Guards' government on the other.