Teachers Across Iran Protest for Fair Pay, Release of Jailed Colleagues
Teachers and supporters protested in the streets of more than 119 Iranian cities across Iran ...
Labor Rights
Iran Rights Lawyer: Judicial Process is a “Means to Settle Political Scores”
One of the few remaining defense lawyers in Iran willing to take on human rights cases, Nasser Zarafshan is an expert at navigating the Islamic Republic’s judicial system, which criminalizes dissent and imprisons lawyers like Zarafshan for doing their job. Usually tried under trumped-up “national security” ...
Oil Industry Strikes Gain Support Across Iran, Raising Prospect of Confrontation with State
Incoming President Raisi’s Record of Violence against Protesters Increases Concerns June 29, 2021—The continuation of strikes in Iran’s critical oil and petrochemical facilities—not seen on this scale for more than four decades—and the massive show of support from workers in other sectors, may well be a turning ...
More Defense Attorneys Prosecuted in Iran for Defending Human Rights
The state policy of persecuting and imprisoning independent defense lawyers under false charges for doing their jobs is continuing under Iranian Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi, who is running for the presidency in June 2021. In addition to at least four defense attorneys who are currently imprisoned in ...
Labor Day in Iran: Listen to the People’s Demands for Basic Rights
Unpaid Wages and Benefits, Unfair Wages Trigger Increasingly Organized Strikes Labor Activists Jailed Under Trumped-Up Charges April 30, 2021 – As International Labor Day approaches, workers across Iran are facing a deepening crisis and inability to meet their most basic economic needs, as reflected in the growing ...
Crippling Economic Hardship Enflames Iranian Protests
Protests in Iran over high inflation and unpaid wages are spreading in Iran as the working class and retirees struggle to make ends meet. The largest organized rallies were held by retirees who are unable to support themselves on their small pensions. They were joined ...
Iran’s New Minimum Wage Set “Below Poverty Line”
Labor Ministry Calculations Ignore Actual Rate of Inflation At the end of every year in Iran, the Labor Ministry sets the national minimum wage for the following year, determining a base income for more than 40 million Iranian workers. For the Persian year 1400, starting ...
Dying of Hopelessness: Suicides on the Rise in Iran
Suicides increased in Iran in 2020, according to state medical data. Blue-collar workers as well as students who’ve been disproportionately impacted by the country’s struggling economy dominated media reports of people taking their own lives. The victims include an 11-year-old boy in Bushehr, located on the Persian Gulf coast, ...
“Suffering” Iranian Retirees Joining Nationwide Protests Against Chronic State Failures
On January 10, 2021, Iranian retirees gathered in front of government buildings in at least 19 cities including--Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and Yazd--to protest the government’s lack of response to their demands. The protesters, who receive retirement checks from the State Welfare Organization's (SWO) pension fund, ...
New Charges Thrown at Political Prisoners to Keep Them Behind Bars
Rushed Convictions Show Judiciary Willing to Do Bidding of Intelligence Forces State Responds to Growing Societal Discontent with Intensified Efforts to Silence All Dissent October 1, 2020—In a blatant move to keep political prisoners in Iran behind bars despite completing their sentences, judicial authorities in Iran are increasingly issuing ...
Showdown at Haft Tappeh Sugar Factory: Minor Win for Workers, Larger Abuses Left Unchecked
Court Annuls Privatization of Company but Unpaid Wages and Withheld Insurance Benefits Persist “We are going to witness a big wave of labor protests spreading from the south to other parts of the country” It has been almost three months since the workers at Iran’s Haft Tappeh Cane ...
Veteran Journalist Reporting to Prison To Serve Three-Year Sentence
Keyvan Samimi Sees Worsening Fear and Repression in Iran The veteran journalist and political activist Keyvan Samimi must report to Evin Prison to begin serving a three-year prison sentence for his peaceful activism and reporting. On August 21, Samimi posted a screenshot of an electronic summons from ...