Spring of freedom

Karim Siahi and Tariq Kholfi, Ahvaz steel workers, were released on bail Iran, Jan. 20, 2019 -  On Saturday, the Free Union of Workers published a statement, in which it condemned the repressive conditions set against workers of Ahvaz who were recently release from prison on bail. “The extraction of a 2.5-billion-rial bail from the families of Karim Siahi and Tariq Kholfi shows that wave of repression continues against the workers of Iran National Steel Industrial Group, who were demanding for their most basic rights during their 38-day strikes and streets protests,” the union wrote in its statement. Siahi and Kholfi were among the representatives of the steel workers of Ahvaz who had been protesting against unpaid wages and poor working conditions. As the strikes and protests continued, the Iranian regime cracked down on the protesters and  arrested several dozen workers  during nightly raids at their homes. Siahi and Kholfi were finally released on Saturday aft...

Homeless people, labor children and drug addicts in the streets In a cold, cloudy November morning in Tehran, a chill breeze sweeps the leaves in one of the main streets of Tehran, drawing the gazes of passersby to a man lying on a piece of cardboard beside the pavement. Seeing homeless people, labor children, and drug addicts wandering and lying in the streets has now become a common scene in Iran. “70 percent of the population is under the poverty line.” These are statistics that even official state-run media cannot hide and have to reveal in a bid to maintain a modicum of a reputation as news sources. On October 31, state-run news agency ILNA revealed, “In the recent circumstances almost 70 percent of the population lives in a vulnerable situation that will extremely affect the low-income strata of the society. However, mid-class strata will suffer as well.” Tasnim, a news agency with ties to the terrorist IRGC Quds force, talked about the collapse of the middle and ...