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Protests across Iran by municipal workers, environmentalist and others

Reporting by PMOI/MEK

Iran, October 3, 2020—A group of municipal workers in the city of Omidiyeh in Khuzestan province, southwest Iran, held a rally protesting a six-month delay in their paychecks on Thursday, October 1.

It is worth noting that 280 contract workers of the Omidiyeh Municipality have not received their wages and job bonuses for six months due to the “lack of financial resources,” according to officials.

Despite promises to pay the workers' delayed paychecks, no measures have yet been taken by municipality officials to meet the workers’ demands. The officials have even threatened the workers with dismissals if they continue to protest.

 

Ahvaz municipal workers hold a protest gathering—October 1, 2020

Ahvaz municipal workers hold a protest gathering—October 1, 2020

 

On Thursday, 22 expelled workers of the second municipality district in the city of Ahvaz, southwest Iran, held yet another protest gathering demanding a return to work. These individuals had been working on the Green Belt project.

The municipality officials expelled these workers about three months ago and told them: “We do not need more workers”. The workers are still seeking a return to work.

“Our average work experience is about eight years and at the time of our dismissal our wages were delayed for two months and insurance premiums for four months. These still have not been paid to this day,” said one protesting worker.

“Officials of the Ahvaz District 2 Municipality claim that aside from their dismissals, they have no responsibility regarding the Green Belt contract workers, meaning they will not follow up on the issue of their unpaid wage and insurance premium,” he added.

 

Mining activity and construction work in Kerman province, south-central Iran, has raised protests from environmentalists

Mining activity and construction work in Kerman province, south-central Iran, has raised protests from environmentalists

 

 

On Thursday, a group of environmentalist and locals of the Kalmarez county in Kerman province, south-central Iran, rallied to protest mining activity in the local Silica Mine.

Activists are protesting mining and road construction activities that they say are damaging the environment, the habitats of local blacks and other wildlife in the area, and water resources in the Kalmarez mountains.

This mountain is described by locals as the “island of life” in the region and is considered one of the most important sources of water in the southern regions of Kerman province.

 

While at a first glance these protests reports from various parts of Iran may seem as sporadic cases, they are already rendering major concerns among regime officials.

 

In recent days, many state-run media have warned for the explosive state of Iran’s society a repeat of the nationwide November 2019 protests.

 

“[The November protests] are not over. Now and then, the wounds of those catastrophic days reopen and burn the soul of society,” said Hossein Nouraninejad, a journalist affiliated with the so-called reformists in Iran, told the state-run Etemad daily on Wednesday. “The last incident was the suicide of  Amir Hossein Moradi’s father, who was one of the arrested of those days… The result of the revolts was the announcement of the high and unexpected number of dead and wounded, which showed the extent of violent protests,” he added.

 

Following criticism from members of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) targeting Iranian regime President Hassan Rouhani during a recent session, the state-run Jahan-e Sanat daily warned on Wednesday: “The defeat of Rouhani is not only the defeat of the reformist government, but the people will also hold everyone accountable.”

“Hassan Rouhani said If the people want to blame somebody for country’s problems and shortcomings they must curse the White House in Washington but an MP stated that the people say in response, may God curse Rouhani,” the piece added.

 

That claim, of course, had its own extreme backlash from regime officials.

 

The state-run Arman daily, associated to the terrorist-designated Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), highlighted the regime’s collapse crisis. “The citizens are hopeless and do not believe the situation can be reformed,” the piece reads, adding that the only thing standing in the way of the people’s outrage is the “fear of suppression.”

 

Aftab Yazd, another state-run newspaper, wrote: “There is hate and rage within the people and therefore they have aggressive reactions.”

 

Setareyeh Sobh wrote: “The youth are fed up. They are waiting. It was just two weeks ago when social media users tweeted the hashtag ‘do not execute’ 12 million times in protest to death sentences issued for three youths arrested during the November 2019 incidents. If this match is lit, putting down the fire will be very difficult.”

 

Ebtekar, another state-run daily, warned, “Living conditions have reached an alarming point and if the hungry launch a movement, it can’t be considered a civil protest.”

 

In response,  Javan, another IRGC-affiliated newspaper, warned media outlets that these kinds of articles will portray a collapsing regime and will evolve all the pressures, sanctions, and dissatisfactions into an internal insurrection and riots, and eventually result in the establishment’s downfall.

 

Another uprising on the horizon

 

From the nationwide November 2019 uprisings to this day various regime officials and state-run media have constantly warned about upcoming protests and described the uprising as “not finished.”

 

These fears are not misplaced, and the nature of the protests that had targeted the regime in its entirety proves their veracity. People chanted slogans such as “Reformists, hardliners, the game is over,” “Down with Rouhani and Khamenei,” and “We don’t want the Islamic Republic,” clearly showing their rejection of all currents in the regime. The Iranian people have expressed their desire to overthrow the regime in five nationwide uprisings since 2018, and despite the regime’s violent response, protests continue in many Iranian cities to this day.

 

This is exactly why numerous regime insiders are constantly warning about the powder-keg situation in Iran. Given the current situation, the regime is at an impasse and has nowhere to go. Rouhani tries desperately to blame the U.S. for the ongoing collapsing crisis; the hardliners blame Rouhani’s government policies; yet most importantly, both have acknowledged that they are in a sinking ship and are drowning together.

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