Despite attempts by the reactionary capitalist regime in Iran to whip up support among working people for its escalating confrontation with Israel and convince workers now is not the time for protests, growing numbers of workers are taking to the streets.
This includes workers at oil refineries, platforms and other oil facilities who have been holding weekly protests for over a year — and occasional work slowdowns — demanding higher wages and pensions, better work conditions and job safety. Oil exports are the mainstay of Iran’s capitalist economy.
“The current situation in Iran has made a war with Israel and its main supporter, the U.S., inevitable,” the Tehran daily Jahan-e-Sanat reported Oct. 21. Amid “turbulent” stock, gold and currency markets, the paper complained, there is “widespread dissatisfaction among teachers, wheat farmers, retirees, nurses, and other social groups.”
The government arrested three people and warned 16 others for criticizing the Tehran-led “resistance front” with Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and militia forces in Syria and Iraq, calling it an “unforgivable sin.” In reality this is a sign of deep opposition to the regime’s goal of destroying Israel and killing the Jews.
Hoping to quell the protests, high-ranking government officials have been meeting with oil workers. They “act as if the situation is so dire that we should accept a lesser evil,” said the call for an Oct. 21 union meeting in Asalouye province. “But no, no, no! We will die before accepting this humiliation.”
Oil workers protested at more than a dozen sites Oct. 20-21, including hundreds in Asalouye.
After the protests, one worker wrote that some argue “Israel’s goal is to create dissatisfaction in society to achieve its objectives. Well, we don’t even need Israel for that, since our own officials are imposing salary caps, depriving workers of their rights, taking taxes. … At least Israel declares its goals, so you know who you’re dealing with — there’s no hypocrisy. But the official who brings these miseries upon the people and is hypocritical about it is the worst oppressor.”
Workers who held a meeting on Lavan island, a major oil terminal, vowed to protest twice a week “with even greater passion and determination.”