Police Spokesperson: Some Took Money to Shut Down the Market
Mehdi Hajian announced that from early Wednesday morning, individuals created fear and panic, distributing threatening leaflets to intimidate the merchants of Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, and attempted to prevent the shops from opening. Eleven of the intimidators were arrested, and some of them admitted in their initial confessions to receiving money from foreign intelligence services to create chaos in the market.
Meanwhile, images received from Tehran’s market and other cities show that the widespread general strike of the merchants continued until the end of the day. This is not the first time the Islamic Republic has accused protesters of receiving money from other governments.