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Iran backs down on tax hike after merchant protest

AP | July 7, 2010

Iranian media say protests by merchants in Tehran's main bazaar forced authorities to back off of plans to increase taxes on their businesses.

Newspapers on Wednesday say reports of a plan to increase the taxes prompted merchants to gather in the main bazaar, some of them closing down their shops in protest.

State TV says that after the protests Tuesday, Finance Ministry officials and merchants met and reached a deal leaving their taxes at the 2008 rate, which ranges from 6 to 15 percent.

LAT | July 7, 2010

After just one day of protests, the Iranian government has retreated from its proposed 70% hike in the income tax for merchants and traders in bazaars.

On Tuesday, gold and jewelry vendors shut down Tehran's old bazaar in protest of the government's proposed tax hike. The discontent spread throughout the typically bustling bazaar as all garment, cloth and women's chador vendors slammed down their shutters and continued the strike.

Local merchants said that they did not trust the government and tax office and are already hard hit by the economy. Amir, a garment vendor, keeps a wad of bounced checks in the drawer of a table in his stall.

"Many of my clients who used to buy large quantities of garments can no longer pay their installments," he said. "Last month, I received more than [$40,000] in bounced checks. I cannot get my money back, so how can I afford to pay 70% more in taxes?"

On Wednesday, the merchants triumphed after their meeting with Finance Ministry officials. The income tax will stay at the 2008 rate, hovering between 6% and 15%. Had the proposed raise been accepted, it would have generated $20 billion in additional government revenue.

Local reports indicate that security and intelligence services harangued the merchants for their refusal to stay open. Yet the vendors remained steadfast, arguing that the income tax hike fails to acknowledge the realities of the feeble Iranian economy.

Son urges Iranian courts to stop woman's death by stoning

CNN | July 7, 2010

The son of an Iranian woman who faces execution by stoning appealed to Iran's courts Wednesday in hopes of sparing his mother's life.

A lawyer for Sajjad Mohammedie Ashtiani traveled to Tehran to persuade judiciary officials to commute the sentence of Sakineh Mohammedie Ashtiani, who was convicted of adultery and condemned to death by stoning, a method deemed barbaric by human rights activists.

Sajjad Ashtiani told CNN that he visits his mother every Monday in jail, never knowing whether that meeting will be their last.

If the sentence is carried out, Sakineh Ashtiani, 42, will be buried up to her chest, according to an Amnesty International report citing the Iranian penal code. The stones that will be hurled at her will be large enough to cause pain but not so large as to kill her immediately.

She was convicted of adultery in 2006 and forced to confess after being subjected to 99 lashes, human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei said. She later recanted that confession and has denied wrongdoing.

Her conviction was based not on evidence but on the determination of three out of five judges, Mostafaei said. She has asked forgiveness from the court, but the judges refused to grant clemency.