Iran

7,000 jailed in Iran

Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Gholian, are still in Iran’s jails but Ali Nejati has been allowed into hospital. Bakhshi is a leader of the Haft Tappeh sugar¬cane workers, in south¬west Iran; Nejati, a former leader of those sugar¬cane workers; Gholian, a social activist and supporter of the workers. All three are known to have been tortured in jail, and their jailing is part of a response by the Iranian government to action by the sugar¬cane workers, and by steelworkers in nearby Ahvaz, which has seen dozens jailed and then released since late last year. Mohammad Khanijar, another Haft Tappeh...

Bakhshi and Gholian jailed again

At 23:55 on Sunday 20 January, a large number of armed men in 15 SUV patrol cars descended on Esmail Bakhshi’s home and detained him. Bakhshi is a representative of the Haft Tappeh sugar­cane workers, in south­west Iran, who have recently been in dispute over unpaid wages and control of the sugar­cane complex. He was previously jailed on 18 November, and released on bail on 12 December. Also on 20 January Sepideh Gholian, a journalist and social activist jailed with the workers on 18 November and released on bail on 18 December, was re­arrested. Police came to her parental home to arrest her...

Trump’s bluster, Assad’s strength

On 19 December, US president Donald Trump announced a snap decision to withdraw US troops from Syria. At first he said the troops would be out within 30 days, but now it looks like several months at least. The plan is now conditional on assurances from Turkey regarding the safety of the Kurds in Northern Syria. Trump’s move outraged the “common sense” of bourgeois foreign policy. US Defence Secretary James “Mad Dog” Mattis and Trump’s special envoy for anti-Daesh work, Brett McGurk, both resigned. Mattis was angered by Trump criticising American allies and other NATO members regarding their...

Gholian and Bakhshi freed on bail; 40 steel strikers arrested

Sepideh Gholian - student, social rights’ activists and journalist who was arrested on 18 November while she was supporting and reporting on the strike of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers - was freed from jail, on bail, on 18 December. Esmail Bakhshi, a leading Haft Tappeh workers' representative of the Haft Tappeh workers, was released on 12 December. Ali Nejati, a retired member of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers Union executive committee, was transferred from jail to the cardiac unit of Baghaii Hospital in Ahvaz on 13 December. Like Bakhshi and Ghalian, he had been mistreated in jail...

Haft Tappeh: free the three!

Since Esmail Bakhshi, one of their elected representatives, was arrested on 18 November, the main demand of the workers of the Haft Tappeh sugar cane complex in south-west Iran has been his release. They are also demanding the immediate and unconditional release of Sepideh Gholian, a journalist and social rights activist, and Ali Nejati, one of the union’s former reps. The workers have been adamant that they will not end the strike until all three have been freed and “Haft Tappeh is completely in the hands of the workers … [and their] council”, or the government takes it over “[with all its]...

Free Bakhshi and Ghalian

Esmail Bakhshi, the jailed union rep of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers in south-west Iran, and Sepideh Ghalian, an activist who has supported the workers, have been badly beaten in prison. After visiting them, their families have reported that both have been tortured and are in serious distress. Four of the striking Haft Tappeh sugar cane workers in south-west Iran were arrested on 18 November. Three were then released, but Esmail Bakhshi and Sepideh Ghalian are still locked up. On 27 November, the Haft Tappeh workers gathered in front of Shush County Hall demanding the release of Bakhshi...

Iranian strike leader beaten up in jail

Above: demonstrators in the streets of Shush Esmail Bakhshi, the jailed union rep of the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Workers, has been so badly beaten in prison that he was transferred to hospital for treatment. He has injuries to his face and head, including severe bruising, and has suffered from internal bleeding. As of 29 November it is not clear if he is now back in jail or still in hospital. Four of the striking Haft Tappeh sugar-cane workers, in south-west Iran, were arrested on 18 November. As of 29 November, three of those arrested have been released, but Esmail Bakhshi and social activist...

Iran sugar workers strike for workers’ control

Renewed strikes by the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Company workers in Iran have taken up the demands put forward in August 2018. The August strike was suspended after management and regime officials made a number of commitments that were then not fulfilled. On day three of the strike, 7 November, the workers warned that if the government did not "respond to their demands", "they will transfer the strike to outside the company". "There is the day-workers’ insurance, the unpaid wages... A workers’ representative has to supervise everything, from the employer to the bottom – both their work and their...

Iranian sugar-cane workers start new strikes

Renewed strikes by the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Company workers in Iran have taken up the demands put forward in August 2018. The August strike was suspended after management and regime officials made a number of commitments that were then not fulfilled. On day three of the strike, 7 November, the workers warned that “government officials have until next Saturday [10 November] to respond to their demands, otherwise they will transfer the strike to outside the company.”“There is the day-workers’ insurance, the unpaid wages... A workers’ representative has to supervise everything, from the...

Save Arash Sadeghi!

Help us To save jailed university student activist, Arash Sadeghi Arash Sadeghi, a jailed university student activist, is suffering from cancer in prison in Iran. The authorities in Iran have deliberately deprived Arash of receiving specialised medical care and have sentenced him to ‘silent execution’. Arash has been suffering from pain in his arm and shoulder for more than 18 months, but the prison infirmary in Rajaee Shahr, has been prescribing anti-inflammatory drugs. Under the international pressure, Arash received an X-ray and MRI in which they found out Arash has cancer. His life is in a...

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