Continued Detention of Ahvaz Steel Workers: Number of Detainees Reaches 41

The Free Workers Union of Iran reported on Tuesday, December 18, that another ten workers from the National Steel Group of Ahvaz have been detained. Thus, the number of detained workers from this factory has reached 41. Security forces detained at least 29 workers from the National Steel Company of Ahvaz at 2 AM on Monday, and two others during a protest against the detentions. According to the Free Workers Union of Iran, ten more workers were arrested late last night in a 'brutal' raid by security forces on their homes. The names of those detained last night were reported as 'Behzad Alikhani, Ahmad Bavi, Arash Mohammadpour, Meysam Al-Mahdi, Mostafa Mousavi, Majid Mousavi, Amir Dehghan, Majid Jalali, Hossein Asakereh, and Behzad Shahbazi.' Thirty-one workers detained on Monday have also been transferred to the central prison of Ahvaz, known as 'Shiban.' Reports indicate that as the detentions continue in Ahvaz, some protesting workers are spending the night in the streets to avoid arrest. The ongoing detentions of workers in Ahvaz come at a time when, according to ILNA, on Monday 'Bagheri, the operations officer of the IRGC in Khuzestan province, attended a gathering of protesting workers and, while inviting them to remain calm, stated that detainees who are part of the workforce would be released by the end of today, December 18.' The presence of this IRGC official at the scene and his responses regarding these detentions may indicate that these arrests were carried out by the IRGC. Workers at the National Steel Company of Ahvaz have been continuously protesting for over 40 days due to the failure of officials to fulfill their promises regarding the payment of wages and back pay, gathering in front of various government institutions in Khuzestan province. Their demands include 'payment of overdue wages,' 'resumption of production and supply of raw materials,' 'establishment of social and supplementary insurance,' and 'attention to the living conditions of workers.' The National Bank owns the Ahvaz Steel Company. Meanwhile, some representatives of the protesting workers have threatened that if this bank does not fulfill its commitments to this factory, they will ask workers and people in Khuzestan to withdraw their deposits from this bank. Some workers have also threatened to continue their protests in Tehran if their demands are not met. The detention of workers in Iran has also faced criticism from the United States, with Robert Palladino, the Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, writing on Twitter: 'Yesterday, the Iranian regime arrested Ahvaz steel workers who were merely seeking to receive their wages. Unfortunately, the regime has always treated the people of Iran this way.' The Deputy Spokesperson emphasized: 'The United States supports their rightful demands. Iranians deserve to live in peace and with dignity.' In recent months, workers from Haft Tappeh Sugarcane and the National Steel Company have held large protest gatherings in Shush Daniel and Ahvaz. Several workers from Haft Tappeh Sugarcane had also been detained earlier. The Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Workers Syndicate had previously announced that Ismail Bakhtiari, a representative of the workers of this company, and Sepideh Gholian, a civil activist, were 'severely beaten and subjected to intense physical and psychological pressure' during their arrest. Ismail Bakhtiari was released on Wednesday, December 12, and Sepideh Gholian, a journalist and civil activist who was arrested with him, was released on bail of 500 million tomans.