In the wake of the powerful blows struck by Israel in its 12-day war against Tehran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic-missile programs, the reactionary regime in Tehran has arrested more than 1,000 people, including Afghan immigrants, Arabs, members of the Baha’i religion, teachers, and other union members and workers.
In Tehran and other parts of the country the regime set up checkpoints, searching the phones, cars and computers of those they stop. This crackdown is a sign of weakness, not strength, amid deep opposition to the anti-working-class regime and its Jew-hating attacks on Israel.
Many of those detained since the start of the war are accused of having supported the Israeli attacks, being spies for Israel’s Mossad, seeking to “incite unrest,” or promoting “propaganda against the regime.” The regime says it is setting up “special courts” for swift trials and executions.
Prior to the war, there were weekly protests around the country of retirees demanding higher pensions and medical care. But most were put on hold as the war started and when the government shut down the internet and threatened to arrest anyone who condemned the regime’s military adventures.
Retirees in Rasht, in Gilan province, were back on the street June 29 in a small but spirited protest. “Even though the atmosphere in our country still smells of war, we must continue to demand our rights to protect our labor achievements and to expose and reject the mafia entrenched in the government, which has brought such dark days upon the people,” they said, the Metalworkers union reported.
“Imprisoned workers, imprisoned teachers, must be freed!” “Until we win our rights, we’ll be in the streets on Sundays,” they chanted.
Just 10 days before the war began, thousands of independent owner-operator truck drivers ended an 11-day strike that shut down cargo transport across the country, the largest such labor action since 1979. They forced the government to recognize that their strike and demands were legitimate.
When Farzaneh Sadegh Malvajerd, Iran’s minister of roads and urban development, went to the cargo terminal in Bandar Abbas June 27 she was confronted by a group of truck drivers.
The Truckers and Drivers Union posted a video of her saying the questions raised in the strike were “under review.”
“You came to speak, but you didn’t listen and you didn’t let us speak,” the union complained. “We are not asking for promises; we are demanding action.”
What the regime fears the most
The next day the union posted a discussion between two drivers. This is one time when a story is worth a thousand pictures. The Militant reprints it here in its entirety:
“I’m Ghasem, a heavy-vehicle driver. I’ve been behind the wheel for 30 years. In the mirror, all I saw was my hair slowly turning white — but the fares stayed the same.
“Yesterday, I was sitting at an old roadside teahouse. A young driver sat next to me and asked, ‘Mr. Ghasem, is the war over?’
“I gave a bitter smile and said, ‘Which war? The one in the news, or the one we fight every day on the road?’ He lowered his head.
“I said, ‘No, son, our war isn’t over. The war against the rising cost of tires — each pair costs as much as half a truck. The war against never-ending repair bills, highway tolls, insurance that neither heals us nor secures our future, fuel quotas that give with one hand and take back with 10.’
“Then I placed my hand on the steering wheel and said: ‘This wheel has been my whole life. But now, we no longer have the wheel of life in our hands, and our voices don’t reach anywhere. All we’ve heard are promises. They said everything would be fixed on the 13th of June. Today is the 28th of June, and still, nothing’s been fixed.
“The young driver asked, ‘So that’s it? There’s nothing more we can do?’
“I looked at him and said, ‘If we stand together, have each other’s backs, speak with one voice — then not only trucks, we can move mountains. We’re strong enough to force everyone to answer to us. If they haven’t acted until now, they need to know: Our silent voice can rise again.’
“He fell silent — like all of us do when we think of a thousand wounds. But in his eyes, there was something — a spark of hope.
“The very thing the authorities fear most.”