One of the family members who was arrested told VOA that judicial authorities are not even accepting bail for the detainees. He said the Supreme Leader's order to crack down on protesters appears to have made it difficult to release them.
On Wednesday, July 26, a day after news broke of the arrest of a number of protesters in Tehran's bazaar rallies, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told officials of the judiciary in a meeting that "the judicial system must definitely deal with those who disrupt economic security."
Market protest
The strike and march in Tehran began on Monday from the cloth merchants' market; the marketers of the Grand Bazaar, Charsouq, and Qeysarieh markets closed their shops, and other shopkeepers also stopped working.
According to the released videos, after closing their shops, the marketers marched and chanted slogans such as "Our enemy is here, they lie, it's America" and "Death to the thugs." The rally was later met with police clashes and tear gas in some areas. Some protesters also chanted "Reza Shah, may your soul rest in peace."
Protests continued on Tuesday in some areas of Tehran's bazaar and central streets.
On Sunday, following the sudden increase in the free dollar rate to more than 8,000 tomans and approaching 9,000 tomans, mobile phone sellers in the two main markets for this product in Tehran, Alaeddin Passage and Chaharsu, closed their shops and gathered in protest of the high prices of goods and the fluctuating exchange rate.
America's reaction
These protests prompted a response from the US Secretary of State.
In the latest reaction to the new wave of protests in Iran, the US Secretary of State tweeted, criticizing the Islamic Republic of Iran's regime's support for terrorist groups in the region, and writing that the world is hearing the voices of protest from the Iranian people.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted on Wednesday morning, July 26: "Iran's corrupt regime is wasting the country's resources by supporting Assad, Hezbollah [Lebanon], Hamas, and the Houthis [Yemen] while Iranian families suffer."
Mr. Pompeo added: "No one should be surprised that the protests continue. The people are tired of corruption, injustice and the incompetence of their leaders. The world is hearing the voice of the [Iranian] people."
This is the latest response from the US Secretary of State to the protests in Iran.
Other images also showed that a group of merchants from Mashhad, Kermanshah, Arak, Qeshm, and several other cities also closed their shops.
