Central Province Police Defends Action Against Workers of Hepco and Azarab

Kiomars Azizi, the police chief of Central Province, responded on Thursday, September 21, to criticisms regarding the riot police's attack on workers in the city of Arak, stating: "The police is in no way opposed to securing the livelihoods of workers, but in some cases, it is necessary to use legal powers to stabilize and establish public security." According to various media reports and photos and videos shared on social media, the riot police and law enforcement officers attacked workers from the Hepco and Azarab factories in Arak on Tuesday, September 19, injuring several, and according to the Free Workers Union of Iran, "a significant number of them were taken to the hospital." Additionally, according to the ILNA news agency, Mohammad Taghi Abai, the director general of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare of Central Province, said on Thursday that four workers were also arrested but were released after a while. The website "Arak Today" reported that Hepco workers briefly blocked the Arak railway line on Tuesday, and Azarab workers also closed the Tehran-Arak road, demanding that officials pay attention to their problems. Workers from both privatized factories have not received their wages for four to six months. They have previously protested multiple times since last year over unpaid wages. Approximately two thousand workers are employed in these two factories. According to the state news agency IRNA, Kiomars Azizi, the police chief of Central Province, noted the protests and strikes of Hepco and Azarab workers, stating that "the police, against its inherent will, was forced to use legal powers to control the situation." Meanwhile, Mohammad Taghi Abai stated that if the employers of Azarab and Hepco had fulfilled their commitments to the workers, these incidents would not have occurred. In response to widespread criticism in recent days regarding the attack on the workers of these two factories, the police chief added: "Police forces were alongside the workers for several hours, but they did not heed the kind and friendly recommendations of the police." So far, several labor organizations and some members of parliament have criticized the actions against Hepco and Azarab workers. Based on videos shared on social media, police initially told the protesting workers on Tuesday that they did not intend to confront them, but according to some news agencies and social media users, the riot police and law enforcement attacked them. Reports indicate that these forces, some of whom were on motorcycles, used batons and tear gas to disperse the protesting workers. Subsequently, law enforcement was stationed around the Hepco and Azarab factories and, according to released videos, attacked the workers with tear gas. This issue has not yet been confirmed or denied by official authorities, but the Free Workers Union of Iran has confirmed these attacks in a statement. Meanwhile, according to ILNA, Hepco workers continued their protests inside the industrial unit on Thursday. In this context, Mahdi Kouhestani Nejad, an advisor to the International Confederation of Trade Unions and a member of the Canadian Labour Congress, stated in an interview with Radio Farda that it seems a new wave of government crackdowns on labor protests has begun, describing the extensive use of riot police against Hepco and Azarab workers as "unprecedented." He noted that "the workers' struggle has reached a point where, despite these attacks, they are not backing down and are demanding their rights," adding that "the expansion of labor protests across Iran will mean new crises for the government." According to IRNA, the police chief of Central Province stated: "If the workers are upset, we apologize, as the police, as a law enforcement force, has duties and in some cases must use its coercive power and legal authority to organize the situation and maintain security." Nevertheless, Kiomars Azizi referred to the police as "supporters and backers of the workers" while urging them to pursue their demands within the legal framework. These statements come at a time when security forces have repeatedly attacked workers' protests, injuring or arresting them. In recent years, dozens of workers have been imprisoned or even flogged for holding labor protests. Additionally, dozens of workers from the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company have been arrested or summoned to court in recent weeks due to their participation in labor protests, and some have been dismissed by the private employer of this company. These actions have drawn criticism from labor organizations in Iran as well as labor unions and human rights organizations worldwide.