While numerous video reports of people celebrating the death of Ebrahim Raisi have been published in recent days, some sources report mandatory business closures for mourning the president of the Iranian regime in certain cities.
A video report from the city of Baharestan in Isfahan province, published on Wednesday, May 22, shows the forced closure of the daily market under the pretext of “public mourning” following the death of Ebrahim Raisi.
While a police car is seen in the image, a citizen says, “They didn’t let people come and sell their goods today,” and those who “set up their stalls had to come with cars to take their goods away, and unfortunately, they are not letting people do their work.”
In another report, in the city of Mahabad, the managers of the “Asghari and Tanakora” bazaars were pressured to “completely close these two complexes on the day of Ebrahim Raisi’s burial.”
An informed source said that intelligence officials “went to these two bazaars on Tuesday afternoon” and “warned the management of these two commercial complexes that if the shops were open on the day of Ebrahim Raisi’s burial, they would be dealt with.”
According to this report, these two bazaars are “one of the main destinations for travelers during official holidays in the country” and their shopkeepers have “never closed under any circumstances” and even during Nowruz holidays, the anniversary of Ruhollah Khomeini’s death, and Ashura, “these bazaars see the highest number of visitors and customers.”
According to this report, on Sunday, coinciding with the announcement of the disappearance of the helicopter carrying Ebrahim Raisi and other regime officials, government forces “were stationed near Mahabad Boulevard Bridge to prevent any expressions of joy by the people.”
According to citizen reports, some guilds and unions have also sent messages to their members announcing that Wednesday is an “official holiday” and that “tradespeople, guilds, and markets are also closed.”
Following the death of Ebrahim Raisi and his companions, which Iranian regime officials confirmed in the early hours of May 20, Iranians inside and outside the country are celebrating and dancing, distributing sweets and chocolates on the streets, with some calling it the “National Helikotelet Festival.”
“Helikotelet” is a humorous combination of the words “helicopter” and “kotlet,” an Iranian meat dish similar to a hamburger. This term is used sarcastically and humorously to refer to the death of Ebrahim Raisi and his companions in a helicopter crash.
The term “kotlet” was first used for Qassem Soleimani, the regime’s chief terrorist and head of the IRGC Quds Force, after he was killed in a drone strike in Iraq.
The mandatory business closures come as people’s celebrations over Raisi’s death even spread to prisons; simultaneously with the Iranian regime’s announcement of a five-day “public mourning,” a human rights source reported that political prisoners in Iran declared five days of “public food.”
Some citizens have also reacted to Ebrahim Raisi’s death by posting humorous content on social media.
In response, Iranian regime officials, warning users about their comments regarding Raisi’s death in the helicopter crash, have summoned and arrested several citizens.
