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Iran's Kurds Threaten to Resume Strike Over Border Blockade

by Ali Javanmardi

   IRBIL, IRAQ --

   Iranian Kurdish shopkeepers in northwestern Iran are threatening to
   resume a general strike within weeks if the government does not re-open
   border footpaths they use to import goods from Iraq.

   In an interview with VOA Persian on Friday, a spokeswoman for
   shopkeepers in the city of Baneh said the government must open the
   footpaths by the end of Ramadan in mid-June or the strike will resume.

   Shopkeepers shut almost all of Baneh's thousands of stores for 25
   consecutive days starting April 15 to try to pressure Tehran to remove
   a blockade that it imposed on the border footpaths last December.

   Iranian Kurdish porters, known locally as kolbars, have used the
   footpaths for years to carry goods from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran for
   sale in Baneh's shops. The absence of such trade has further weakened
   the economy of Iran's Kurdistan province, where the lack of
   manufacturing has impoverished many people.

   Baneh residents told VOA Persian that the shopkeepers suspended their
   25-day strike May 9 in a goodwill gesture toward visiting Tehran
   officials who met with representatives of the shopkeepers.

   The residents said the visiting Iranian officials promised them good
   news on the border footpaths. But they said the officials made no
   specific promises and insisted on the strike ending before taking any
   action to address their demands. The residents quoted the government
   officials as saying that accepting the demands of people on strike
   would set a bad example by encouraging people elsewhere to stage
   similar strikes.

   Baneh activists who spoke to VOA Persian said many shopkeepers were
   skeptical of repeated and unkept promises by government officials to
   end the blockade of the border footpaths. But, they said striking store
   owners were struggling to survive and needed to reopen to try to make
   some money. The activists said the shopkeepers would use new income to
   help sustain another strike if one is called.

   Michael covers international news for VOA on the web, radio and TV,
   specializing in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific. Follow him on
   Twitter [1]@Michael_Lipin

References

   1. https://twitter.com/Michael_Lipin