Iran, October 1, 2019—In an influx of ongoing reports of protests across Iran, the workers of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company continued their strike for the eighth consecutive day on Monday, protesting the expulsion of their colleagues and demanding their return to work. This rally, held in the city of Shush in Khuzestan Province, southwest Iran, was organized despite various threats made by Iranian regime officials and the summoning of a number of workers by the local prosecutor’s office.
In recent measures, the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) summoned around 40 workers, demanding they show up at the Shush police station. The Haft Tapeh workers are insisting their just and completely legal protests will not be silenced as regime authorities resort to threats and expulsions.
Brave workers of the Haft Tapeh sugar mill in southwest #Iran continuing their just strike.#IranProtestshttps://t.co/cmkUUByUtk
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 27, 2019
Even regime officials are beginning to acknowledge the rights of Haft Tapeh and others to protest and seek their just demands.
Mahmoud Sadeghi, a member of the Iranian regime’s Majlis (parliament), admits to the fact that labor protests are escalating in numerous cities across the country. “We are currently witnessing daily protests by workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company and the HEPCO industrial complex in Arak,” he said on Wednesday, September 25.
“Currently, the problems resulting from wrong policies have placed the country facing problems and the workers of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company and Arak are paying the price. To have their voices heard, these workers are resorting to various measures such as blocking rail tracks,” he added.
Sadeghi also acknowledged the fact factories in Iran under the mullahs’ rule are controlled by incompetent regime clerics. “Some company transfers are quite interesting. I don’t understand how members of the cleric's society, who should be focused on teaching their students, can manage an industrial complex? This is what we have been witnessing recently in Arak and Dena Tire Company,” Sadeghi explained.
In a report from the city of Hashtgerd, northern Iran, members of a trade union held a gathering outside the regime’s Alborz Province judiciary office. 27 years ago, these trade union members purchased lands in various parts of the city during its numerous phases of expansion. However, the state-run institution has refused to hand over the lands.
Members of a trade union in Tehran holding a protest rally
“Recently, and without the owners’ consent, the Hashtgerd municipality has changed the maps of the purchased lands, effectively eliminating 2,000 pieces of land from those purchased nearly three decades ago,” one protester said.
In other reports, in Tehran, a number of stock owners rallied outside the regime’s Majlis (parliament) on Monday, protesting recent changes in the regime’s currency laws and regulations that have resulted in losses ranging in the millions of dollars for them.
