NCRI – Despite intense suppressive measures and an undeclared martial law, thousands of underprivileged Iranian workers marked International Workers’ Day by protesting against the clerical regime.
In Tehran, 5,000 suppressive forces blocked off streets leading to Laleh Park and held up the march of workers to prevent formation of protests.
While confronting the clerical regime’s suppressive forces, workers chanted slogans such as “Imprisoned workers must be freed,” and “We don’t want nuclear energy, we don’t want $180 salary.”
In the course of the clashes, more than 150 people, including women and teenagers, were arrested and taken to unknown locations. Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, lauded the dissenting workers, and called on international human rights and workers organizations, syndicates, and labor unions to condemn the suppression of deprived Iranian workers and immediately intervene to help free those arrested, especially women.
Among the women arrested are Maryam Mohseni, Fatemeh Shahnazari, Parvaneh Ghassemian, and Najma Ranjbaran. Other detainees include Gholamreza Khani and Mansour Hayat Gheibi from the Tehran Union of Bus Drivers, Jafar Azimzadeh, Shapour Ehsanirad, representative of laid off workers from Navard and Saveh Profil factories, Behzad Khabaz, Mohammad Faraji, Saleh Kimiari, Mehdi Farahi Shandiz, Saeed Youzi, Mohammad Ashrafi, Younes Arjang, Fayegh Khosravi, Nikzad Zanganeh, Pourya Poushtareh, Taha Valizadeh, Saeed Moghaddam, Saeed Sojoudi, Farajollah Saeedi, Alireza Saghfi, Jamal Seyedali, Sirous Rahyad, and Hamid Ghorbani.
A number of university students were also detained during yesterday’s clashes, including Hamid Malekzadeh from Tehran University, Kaveh Mozaffari, Amir Yaghoubali, and Seyyed Javad Moussavi from Allameh University. The regime’s agents violently beat those arrested, put them in State Security Forces (SSF) vehicles, and later transferred them to prisons.
Workers also staged gatherings and demonstrations in other Iranian cities, including Arak, Kermanshah, Ghasre Shirin, Sanandaj, and Qom, despite intense security measures adopted by the clerical regime. Some of the demonstrations led to clashes with suppressive forces and some workers were detained.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
May 1, 2009