Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, February 3, 2020—Numerous cities across Iran, including Tehran, were scenes of various types of protests on Sunday, February 3, and Saturday, once again indicating the powder keg nature of a nation just waiting to erupt yet again.
In Tehran, a group of truck drivers rallied outside the regime’s so-called judiciary building in the Iranian capital, protesting hollow promises made by officials to provide them new trucks in return for them handing in their old vehicles. These drivers cooperated with a government plan to upgrade old vehicles, yet they are complaining about regime officials not living up to their end of the bargain.
“We have been betrayed and our assets have been stolen!”
“Saipa Diesel shame on you! Let go of this industry!” the drivers were shouting in their protests directed at the Saipa Diesel Company refusing to respond to their just demands.
These drivers had earlier rallied outside the Saipa Diesel Company and the Industry Ministry, demanding their promised vehicles to be able to continue with their jobs and make a living. It has been more than two years since many of these drivers have been left waiting.
It is worth noting that Saipa Diesel was obligated back in 2017 to deliver new trucks in return for these drivers’ old vehicles. However, the officials are refusing to do so saying the price of these trucks has risen and circumstances have changed.
In Shiraz, retirees of the Shiraz Telecommunications Company rallied outside the Fars governorate office, protesting mismanagement and other issues with the company officials. “It has been over 13 years since officials have been promising answers to our demands. During these years we have held numerous protest rallies. We have even put up tents in the company courtyard and held gatherings outside the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Trade, and where we are today,” the protesters were saying.
The years of demands now sought by the Shiraz Telecommunications Company workers, without taking into account the delays and the interests, have reached 35 billion tomans, equal to nearly $3 million. If the delays and interests are taken into account, the amount adds up to nearly $8.75 million.
In the city of Alvand in Qazvin Province, northwest Iran, municipality workers have not been paid in the past two to four months and are complaining about major mismanagement and financial issues in the city’s municipality department.
In Khuzestan Province, southwest Iran, a group of workers in the Water and Sewage Department held a gathering outside the department office in Ahvaz protesting very low paychecks and lack of job security.
Petrochemical workers of the Arvand Company in the city of Bandar Mahshahr in southwest Iran held a rally on Sunday morning protesting the company’s decision to change their contract status to collective contracts. The workers went on strike, as a result, to voice their protests to such a decision that puts their jobs in danger and at the mercy of company officials.
Storeowners in the town of Soufian in northwest Iran held a rally on Sunday, closing down the local market and holding a protest outside the city’s grand mosque. These store owners are demanding answers to questions raised during the past 27 years about the city’s property documents. Their strike literally brought the entire town to a standstill on Sunday.
Storeowners protesting in Soufian, northwest Iran – Sunday, February 2, 2020
A local, while filming the city’s closed shops, says all these stores are closed due to the officials’ neglect of the demands raised about property ownership documents.
In Hamedan, a major city in western Iran, a group of workers of the Khosh Noush Company rallied on Saturday outside the local Trade, Work & Social Welfare Department. These workers are saying they should be entitled to the right of early retirement after working 20 to 25 years in very difficult jobs under harsh circumstances.
The Khosh Noush Company of Hamedan is known for producing a variety of soda drinks and non-alcoholic beverages, alongside edible CO2 production, plastic boxes, plastic bottles for soda drinks, providing post-production services for soda producing machinery, and producing a variety of other locally popular beverages under different brand names.
Around 100 of the locals in the city of Lavasan, located northeast of Tehran, rallied on Saturday protesting land confiscation by figures linked closely to Iranian regime officials. This protest gathering was held outside the Lavasan mayor’s office and municipality. People are protesting how these new land buyers/owners are blocking local roads and officials in the Lavasan municipality are remaining silent in this regard.
People in the town of Likak Bahmani, located in southwest Iran, are literally deprived of their basic needs due to the plundering practices of regime officials. One local says, “We have nothing. We don’t even have water. I have this small pot that I have warm water in and take a shower. We are literally very, very poor.”
