A Labor Activist's Response to Claims of Raisi's Role in the 'Liberation' of Haft Tappeh: Ignoring the Efforts of Workers

One of the representatives of the workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company reacted to claims regarding Ebrahim Raisi's role in the 'liberation' of this company, describing it as 'ignoring the efforts and wounds of the workers.' The claim of Ebrahim Raisi's involvement and media propaganda in Iran about his support for workers comes at a time when the crackdown on workers, teachers, retirees, and their activists increased during his presidency in both the judiciary and executive branches. In this context, he has become a focal point of slogans in livelihood protests in recent years, especially after his presidency, with chants such as 'Six classes of liars, where are your promises?' and 'Incompetent Raisi, go back to your seminary.' According to a report from the 'Independent Channel of Haft Tappeh Workers' on Wednesday, June 2, Youssef Bahmani, one of the labor activists of this company, stated, 'Today I am a critic and a worker of Haft Tappeh,' and noted that after Ebrahim Raisi's death, 'many people attributed the liberation of Haft Tappeh to him and ignored the efforts and wounds of the Haft Tappeh workers.' Youssef Bahmani pointed out that in the Islamic Republic, 'all presidents' after their term become either despised or banned from media, and usually 'all the misfortunes of this land are attributed to the previous president.' He reminded that the election and qualification approval system in the Islamic Republic leads from the presidency and the Islamic Consultative Assembly to the Guardian Council and the judiciary to the leader. He posed the question, 'Where does the power and authority of the parliamentary representative speaking confidently among the workers of Paper Pars come from, if not from the Haft Tappeh worker?' He said, 'Now do you want to ignore the efforts of the workers or do you want us to forget Ismail Bakhshi and Ms. Zilabi?' This labor activist pointed out that Ismail Bakhshi, a representative of the Haft Tappeh workers, and Farzaneh Zilabi, the lawyer for these workers, as well as a number of teachers and retirees in Khuzestan province, have 'paid the price' and 'Haft Tappeh and all workers owe them.' He questioned why Ismail Bakhshi has not been reinstated if Ebrahim Raisi and Mohammad Kaab Amir, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly from Shush, were telling the truth. Youssef Bahmani added, 'Today, anyone who stands by the Haft Tappeh worker should be proud because the Haft Tappeh worker exposed the biggest corruption.' He stated, 'We achieved everything we wanted through our unity; we stood, paid the price, and succeeded.' He also mentioned, 'There are those who try to downplay the efforts of the workers and attribute the achievements to others.' The Independent Channel of Haft Tappeh Workers also reported that on Wednesday, a large banner was placed at 'Three-Way Haft Tappeh' stating, 'The only supporter of Haft Tappeh workers has been Ebrahim Raisi.' According to this worker, when Ebrahim Raisi was the head of the judiciary, 'what cases he did not create for the workers,' and when he became president, 'if it were not for the strikes and insistence of the workers, they would never have given the company to Haft Tappeh,' although 'even today, the issue of the transfer is still unclear.' In the early hours of May 21, Islamic Republic media confirmed the death of Ebrahim Raisi and his companions in a helicopter crash while returning from the inauguration of the Qiz Qalehsi border dam in East Azerbaijan province. The joy of the people, which began following the announcement of the disappearance of the helicopter carrying the president, increased with the announcement of Raisi's death and has continued both inside and outside Iran and on social media. According to reports from state media, several citizens in various cities of Iran have been arrested or summoned to judicial and intelligence agencies due to their reactions to the news of Ebrahim Raisi's death. The security and judicial apparatus of the Islamic Republic's response to the people's reactions to Raisi's death continues.