Iran shuts down private businesses after protests as economy slumps

Many of the businesses had either observed strikes or expressed support online for the nationwide protests.

Iranian authorities have shut down a number of privately owned businesses in the wake of deadly nationwide protests last month, even as the country’s cratering economy is hitting people and businesses hard and its government pursues a fraught diplomatic path with the United States.

Neither police nor judicial authorities have elaborated on why the businesses, most of them popular gathering spots in central and northern Tehran for young Iranians, have been shut down.

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But many of the businesses had either observed strikes or expressed support online in the form of Instagram stories for the nationwide protests that started at the end of December.

Dozens of small and medium-sized businesses – including restaurants, cafes and roasteries, art galleries and ice cream shops – have been closed over recent days by a police authority tasked with overseeing public spaces.

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