There is also a specific reason why the strikes are taking place this week. ‘Today is student day. Historically, this has great value, because in 1953, protests against the rule of the Shah and the arrival of the President of the United States were also held on this day. Furthermore, there was a crackdown and three students were killed. Since then December 7 has had a special meaning of resistance and protest demonstrations are held every year.’
For months, Iran has been under the spell of massive street protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died at the police headquarters after being arrested by the police for not wearing her veil correctly.
Hundreds of dead
Despite fierce protests and strikes, the Iranian regime pretends something else is going on. The regime claims that shopkeepers are keeping their doors closed because they are threatened by ‘rioters’. “You can see that the regime is getting nervous. Even now, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards are cracking down on the protests. We still haven’t heard the number of casualties in the last three days. But we know that between 500 and 700 people have lost their lives in the last two months. Now just as much violence is being used again.”
Today’s strikes remind Orafa of an important previous period of resistance in Iran. “The last strike on such a large scale was just before the 1979 revolution. It can be seen that this is the foundation of the Iranian economy and people are doing it because they want to hit the regime economically,” Orafa said. “What the West has not yet dared, the Iranians do.”