Demonstrators continue to protest in Iran (Reuters)
Businesses, shops and traditional markets in more than 50 cities across Iran are closed for the second day, in one of the largest general strikes in decades in the country, as a sign of solidarity with the protest against the regime.
The strike began on Monday, and videos uploaded to social networks showed empty streets in normally bustling city centers.
Businesses of all kinds, from clinics to butchers and supermarkets, closed their doors and told staff not to come to work, according to residents in Tehran, Isfahan and other cities.
"The unity between all the trade unions is amazing," Salar, a restaurant owner from Isfahan, told the New York Times.
"It gives those of us who cannot demonstrate the opportunity to show our solidarity with the people."
Activists called the three-day strike the next phase of the protest that began in September after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Amini was arrested by the morality police in Tehran for violating the head covering law, and died three days later in hospital.
The incident sparked public outrage against the regime.
The government responded to the protests with harsh repression.
Yesterday, a spokesman for the Ministry of Justice, Masoud Staishi, said that the death penalty was sentenced to five protesters for killing, according to him, a member of the Basij militia.
According to him, 11 other protesters, including three teenagers, received a long prison sentence.
In response to the strike, the authorities threatened to cancel business licenses and arrest business owners.
According to the Ministry of Justice, the security forces will identify and punish the "rioters", who, according to him, are threatening the business owners so that they will join the strike.
On Monday, security forces closed a restaurant and jewelry store owned by Iranian soccer star Ali Dai after he announced he would join the strike, Fars news agency reported.
A resident of the city of Rasht named Afsin Hojat, tweeted that 90% of the businesses in his city are closed.
According to him, when he called a plumber to repair the air conditioner in his home, he was told that the plumber was not working for three days as a sign of solidarity with the protest.
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