Iran: mass strike starts amid mixed messages about abolishing morality police – By Patrick Wintour and Maryam Foumani (The Guardian) / Dec 5, 2022
Shopkeepers and lorry drivers from almost 40 cities are participating in mass walkouts
Iranian shopkeepers and lorry drivers staged a walkout in nearly 40 cities and towns on Monday after calls for a three-day nationwide general strike from protesters as the government declined to confirm a claim by a senior official that the morality police had been abolished.
Iranian newspapers instead reported an increase in patrols, especially in religious cities, requiring women to wear the hijab, and shop managers being directed by the police to reinforce hijab restrictions.
The confusion may be partly due to mixed messages being sent out by a divided regime as it seeks to quell the protests.
Iran has been rocked by 11 weeks of unrest since a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, died in police custody after being arrested by the morality police.
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