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TEHRAN — The Iranian government declared a sudden, two-day national
holiday on Sunday and Monday, after a long-simmering dispute between
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Tehran bazaar erupted last week, leaving one prominent merchant dead, according to opposition Web sites.

Shopkeepers in Tehran’s traditional bazaar district called a strike last Tuesday to protest what was rumored to be a planned 70 percent rise in income taxes. The government denied the rumors, calling them a misunderstanding that resulted from a “mistake” in the way the plan was presented.

But a prominent textile trader was killed when pro-government
militiamen and police officers raided the bazaar on Wednesday,
demanding that shopkeepers reopen for business, opposition Web sites
reported. One member of the textile merchant’s guild was said to have<... >>>