Growing strikes across Iran in protest to the high prices, the dire economy and the Iranian regime’s repressive measures.

Strikes continued across Iran on Thursday, with additional workers joining the nationwide movement, reports the MEK sources inside Iran. Factory workers, steelworkers, and merchants are now all part of the growing strike movement.

Bazaar Owners’ Strike

In Tabriz, in northwest Iran, bazaar owners went on strike on Wednesday in protest of rising prices, scarcity of goods, and a decrease in customers. MEK sources inside Iran reported that shops near Sa’at Square and Taleghani Avenue were closed. Shop owners in other cities reportedly joined the strike and closed their shops as well.

Factory Workers’ Strike

On Thursday, factory workers from the Haft Tappeh Sugar Mill Company in Shush continued their strike for the eleventh consecutive day. The workers rallied outside of the governor’s office in Shush, chanting, “Death to oppressors, hail to workers!” and “Shush locals, support us!”

The factory workers are striking because they have not been paid for four months and to protest the privatization of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Mill Company.

The striking factory workers also expressed solidarity with the Ahvaz steel workers, who have been striking for seven consecutive days. They chanted, “Proud steel workers, thank you, thank you!”

Steel Workers’ Strike

Ahvaz Steel Factory workers rallied on the streets of Ahvaz on Wednesday to demand better working conditions and their unpaid wages. The steel workers marched to the governor’s office and blocked the surrounding streets. In videos posted on social media by the MEK network, the steel workers can be heard chanting, “We will not leave from here, until we receive our rights!”

“No nation has seen this much injustice!”

“Workers of Khuzestan, unite, unite!”

Support for the Strikes

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) previously released a statement supporting the strikes. The statement read: “Workers of the Ahvaz National Steel Group also protested on Saturday, gathering in front of the governor’s office in the city. They chanted: No nation has seen this much injustice; Hossein Hossein, is their slogan, theft is their pride; what did behind the scene hands have done with the factory?”

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the NCRI, has been vocal in her support of the nationwide strike movement, recently tweeting in support of the striking steel workers and factory workers:

“Hail to the deprived workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Factory and Steel Factory of #Ahvaz who have risen up to demand their rights, calling for an expansion of the protests by the slogan of ‘Workers of Khuzestan, unite, unite.’”

Mrs. Rajavi reiterated her support of the continuing strikes in another tweet: “Workers’ unity and perseverance against the mullahs’ oppressive rule herald a free, prosperous #Iran devoid of all forms of repression and discrimination.”

The Ahvaz steel workers have been forced to strike three times this year for unpaid wages and better working conditions. During the June strikes, more than 50 striking workers were arrested and four were beaten while being transferred to jail.

In June, the Free Workers Union of Iran commented on the brutal beatings, saying, “One of the workers was beaten to the extent that he suffered a haemorrhage, but the authorities did not make an effort to transfer him to a medical facility.”

Staff Writer