The furious workers blocked the Tehran-Ahvaz railway in order to protest the lack of response from the factory owners to the just demands of their employees. The Iranian regime’s suppressive forces then attacked the protesting workers, firing teargas to disperse them and arresting a number of the workers.
Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), hailed the “courageous and resilient” workers of Azarab and urged the people of Arak, especially the young people hungry for change, to rise in support of the protesting workers. She urged the International Labour Organization, labor syndicates, and unions as well as all advocates of human and workers’ rights to “condemn the anti-labor policies of the mullahs’ regime and support the rights of Iranian workers”.
Since this new round of protests by Azarab workers began, many employees have been summoned and threatened by the intelligence and security agencies of the Iranian regime.
This is because the mullahs are terrified that any protest or gathering by the Iranian people will grow into an uprising and eventually overthrow the Iranian regime. The mullahs are right to be frightened because this is the true wish of the Iranian people, who want to rid themselves of tyrants and install a democracy.
This workers’ protest is just the latest demonstration in the Iranian people’s uprising, which began in December 2017 over the rising cost of living. The protests over the mismanaged and looted Iranian economy soon spread to 160 cities across Iran, so the Regime responded with force; arresting at least 8,000 people, extra-judicially executing 50, and tortured 14 to death in prison.
This didn’t stop the protest though and the people came out in force over thousands of different issues where the Regime was the root cause. The people wanted the mullahs gone and made that more than clear with their chants of “down with the dictator” and “death to [Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei”.
In 2019, these protests became global with thousands of members of the Iranian diaspora in cities across Europe and the US coming out to echo the cries of their fellow Iranians and force the West to acknowledge the wishes of Iranians.
