Nov 20, 2018

"Imprisoned workers must be released!" shouted hundreds of workers at Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industry Company, as their strike entered the 16th day. The workers are demanding that the company pay them their salaries, which they say have remained unpaid for months now.

The strikers have shuttled from venue to venue, hoping to have their voices heard. They have protested at the factory's main site outside the town of Shush, as well as the governor's office, and, even more boldly, at the town's Friday prayers, where they shouted, "We turn our faces to the homeland and our backs to the enemy!"

Despite their peaceful nature, the protests have reportedly seen some 20 people taken away in police cars. Khuzestan provincial officials have confirmed that at least four striking workers and a female journalist covering the protests have been arrested. A lawyer representing the arrested protest leaders said he was kept in the dark regarding the whereabouts of his clients, adding that they face security charges.

After decades of ups and downs, the government-owned enterprise in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province was privatized in 2015. Ever since, the workers say, the company has been in the red. Now confirmed to be a fugitive, the owner is said to have been granted $800 million in government development loans, which he has failed to pay off.

Speculations have been rife about the owner's identity. Earlier this week, some media reported the owner was a nephew of Iran's First Vice President Ishaq Jahangiri. The Reformist politician, however, was quick to deny any association, describing the "allegation" in a public statement as baseless and part of "psychological media warfare."