Case Filed Against 5 Individuals as Responsible for the 'Tabas Mine' Incident

On Tuesday, November 6, the spokesperson for the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic stated that investigations related to the Tabas mine incident are still ongoing. According to the opinions of official judicial experts, five individuals have been identified as responsible for the incident, and the degree of fault for each has been determined. Asghar Jahangir mentioned that the judiciary has taken key actions, including 24-hour presence at the accident site, conducting field investigations, collecting evidence, and interviewing witnesses. Additionally, officials and suspects related to the incident have been identified and banned from leaving the country, and an order to seal the explosion site until it is made safe has been issued and executed. This claim by the spokesperson comes as the government news agency ILNA reported on Friday, October 27, that the Majanjoo mine in Tabas, South Khorasan province, was operating without the necessary safety equipment, stating that workers are still working without safety measures. ILNA reported: 'The Tabas mine is operational; the workers, those who survived the incident, have returned to work; they have no choice but to return; finding a bite to eat from the depths of the earth is no joke.' The news agency emphasized that many have returned to work at Majanjoo, and only the block where the incident occurred is currently closed. The spokesperson for the Islamic Republic's judiciary also announced the formation of an expert committee and the issuance of over thirty judicial mandates to address complaints from the victims' families. According to Asghar Jahangir, the responsibility for paying costs to the families of the victims and the injured has been assigned to the mine managers, and mine officials are required to equip active mines with safety measures. Some compensation payments to the families of the deceased and injured have also been made so far. An 18-page report from the Islamic Consultative Assembly previously published identified a series of factors related to this incident, including inappropriate working conditions such as 'non-compliance with safety laws and standards, lack of protective and safety equipment, insufficient training, use of old or unsuitable machinery, weak oversight of mining activities and work environments, and human errors due to negligence and carelessness.' The report also cited 'lack of oversight on mine ventilation maps, failure to perform gas removal operations before extraction, ineffective supervision and failure to implement corrective measures by labor inspectors and occupational health experts, and disregard for workers' warnings' as instances of 'violations, mismanagement, and failure to fulfill legal duties' in the Tabas mine explosion incident. The explosion in the coal mine in Tabas at 9 PM on September 22 claimed the lives of 52 workers. Three weeks prior, a methane gas leak in another mine in the same region had injured several workers. Mine workers in Iran are working under poor conditions, with low wages and inadequate safety standards. The holding of government ceremonies for the victims of the Tabas mine explosion is taking place amid protests and criticisms from the families of the victims. There was insufficient oversight, and they lacked safety equipment; the parliament also confirmed negligence in the Tabas mine disaster. A narrative of the resignation of 700 workers at Majanjoo and the unfulfillment of promises. The number of fatalities from the Tabas mine explosion has increased to 53. Work at the Tabas mine has resumed; everything is as before, and there are still no safety measures for workers.