Iran: workers defy ban to celebrate May Day; 10 arrested

Workers in a number of cities in Iran held, or attempted to hold, May Day rallies despite a heavy clampdown by the government. Rallies were held in the western cities of Sanandaj, Kermanshah and Saqez. However, the planned rally in the industrial zone of Asalooye was broken up when the security forces moved in to arrest the organisers and remove placards. Those arrested include Javanmir Moradi and Taha Azadi, from the leadership of the newly formed Free Union of Iranian Workers.

Ahead of May Day, the authorities turned down numerous applications for permits to hold rallies, and on 23 April arrested Sheis Amani, the head of the National Union of Dismissed and Unemployed Workers. Amani is still in detention.

Over 100 workers attended a rally in Sanandaj called by the Free Union of Iranian Workers. The event had to be held in the outskirts of the city as the authorities had refused to grant permits for rallies in downtown Sanandaj. A resolution, outlining workers’ major demands, including release of jailed workers, was passed amid continuous claps by the crowd. However, after the ceremony, the security forces arrested seven workers, who have been named as:

Salah Zamani
Shiva Kheir Abadi
Abdollah Najjar
Ghaaleb Hosseini
Ali Hosseini
Bahaoddin Sadooghi
Susan Raazani

Details of the events and the situation of those arrested will follow in our next update.

International Labour Solidarity Committee of the Worker-communist Party of Iran(ILSC-WPI)