Shops in Iran, including Grand Bazaar, close over protests

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iranian shops in Tehran's historic Grand Bazaar and elsewhere across the country closed their doors Tuesday amid protests gripping the nation, as two prominent soccer stars also announced they would not be attending the upcoming World Cup over the demonstrations.

The shop closures came amid calls for a three-day national strike to mark earlier protests in 2019 against Iran's theocracy that ended in a violent crackdown by authorities. However, this round of demonstrations after the September death of a 22-year-old woman earlier detained by the country's morality police have continued despite activists recording at least 344 deaths and 15,820 arrests so far.

The protests have seen prominent former players Ali Daei and Javad Nekounam both say they've declined a FIFA invitation to attend the World Cup in Qatar, where Iran will play.

Shuttered storefronts could be seen across Tehran, Iran's capital, on Tuesday. Several shops did remain open, however, as a heavy security presence could be seen on the streets.

In the Grand Bazaar, the beating heart of Tehran for hundreds of years that long has served as a political bellwether for Persian dynasties, store fronts were closed as a lone woman and a man pushing a cart walked among its narrow alleyways. A stray cat nibbled at trash down one of its silent warrens.

Videos taken earlier Tuesday showed crowds gathered outside of the closed shops, some shouting: “This year is a year of blood; Seyyed Ali will be toppled!” The chant, heard in other protests, refuses to use the title ayatollah to refer to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. An ayatollah is a high-ranking Shiite cleric and such calls targeting Khamenei can bring a death sentence in Iran's closed-door Revolutionary Courts.

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