IRAN
Merchants close shops as they oppose sales tax
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Merchants in Tehran’s main market have closed their shops in protest of a new sales tax despite the government’s announcement that it would suspend the measure for two months.
Gold, carpet and textile merchants participated in Sunday’s strike against the 3 percent value-added tax that was imposed in September.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered his government to suspend the new tax for two months Thursday, a day after a rare strike by merchants worried about how the new measure would affect their business.
Merchant strikes have been rare in Iran over the last three decades. A series of merchant strikes helped lead to the 1979 Islamic revolution, with store owners joining clerics to help topple Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
