Reports from Iran say that at 2:00 am on Monday security forces arrested thirteen workers of a steel factory in their homes and while onlookers protested, they arrested two more people.
Iran’s Free Labor Union (FLU) reported that security personnel also raided other homes but the workers they were looking for were not at their residences.
The steel factory in question, located in Ahvaz, capital of the oil-rich Khuzestan province in the southwest, has witnessed labor strikes and protests for the past two months. Workers are demanding their unpaid wages.
On Monday morning a group of workers began a protest in the city against the arrest of their comrades. Security forces then arrested twelve more people.
The general manager of the National Steel Group that owns the factory has also confirmed the news of arrests in an interview with ILNA.
Labor unrest in the province has intermittently flared up since last December. Another major industrial complex, the sugar mill in Shush has also been on strike and large protests for weeks. Lately, some of their demands have been met and the situation is now relatively quiet.
