(PMOI / MEK Iran): Mullah’s regime has responded to the protests at Haft Tappeh with suppressive force.

The factory workers and other employees at the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company in Shush have protested for almost 50 days against the privatization of the company and delays in payment of their wages. They have also demanded the rehire of four of their colleagues who were fired for participating in past protests. The striking workers have protested continuously for the past seven weeks but have still not received answers to their demands.

The workers, many of whom have not received their earned wages in several months, march daily in front of the company’s offices chanting against the privatization of the company. Their slogans target company officials, regime leaders, and the provincial governor of Khuzestan.

https://twitter.com/HeshmatAlavi/status/1289495062913589248

The regime has responded to the protests at Haft Tappeh with suppressive force. Security forces have been deployed numerous times to break up protests at the factory over the past two years. Since 2018, a dozen of the arrested protesters have been tortured and forced to make false confessions on state television. The MEK previously reported that forced confessions are a common tactic employed by the regime. Experts have noted that these “confessions” are almost always retracted after their subjects are released from prison.

In February of this year, the regime deployed its special anti-riot guard from the nearby city of Ahvaz to suppress ongoing protests and strikes. The riot police stormed the factory, attacking protesters and occupying the building before arresting dozens of workers. The arrested protesters were transferred to Haft Tappeh security forces station and then sent on to the Justice Department in Shush.

Corruption and Privatization

The workers at Haft Tappeh have protested against privatization and delayed wages for several years, due to a pattern of corruption that has left the workers in an impossible situation. The Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company is the largest employer in Shush, and jobs are scarce, but paychecks are delayed for months. The failure to pay employees is even more shameful during the Covid-19 pandemic. Employees were forced to return to work before it was safe and then denied payment for their work.

The problems at Haft Tappeh began in 2015 when the company was auctioned to 28-year-old Omid Asadbeigi and 31-year-old Mehrdad Rostami for a down payment of 6 billion tomans (approximately $1,500 USD). Asadbeigi was given $1.4 billion in government currency to use on the company, but he sold the currency on the open market. According to a report from the Workers Union, the Khuzestan Provincial Security Council gave Asadbeigi a special “license” to pay workers’ wages late.

As a result of public outrage,  Asadbeigi is finally facing trial, but the trial itself has exposed even more corruption. On May 21, the Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Fars news agency reported that Asadbeigi stated during the investigation he paid for Khuzestan provincial governor Gholamreza Shariati and his family to take a vacation abroad.

Statement from Maryam Rajavi

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), responded to the recent events in Shush on Twitter. She tweeted:

“Hail to the workers of Haft-Tappeh sugarcane company in Shush who have been on protest and strike for 50 days. The clerical regime has abandoned our people in the clutches of disease, unemployment, and poverty. They do not pay workers and nurses’ salaries. The only solution is replacing the mullahs’ oppressive rule in Iran with people’s sovereignty and the rule of democracy.”