News Agency Close to Security Institutions Reports; Arrest of Contractors in South Pars

According to the news agency 'Fars', security and intelligence agencies have intervened in the issue of workers' strikes in project work and have summoned and arrested several contractors on charges of 'collaborating with calls and counter-revolutionary actions.' An economic journalist, in an interview with Voice of America, stated that the reason for this is 'the government's fear of repeating the oil workers' strike experience during the 1979 Revolution.' This media outlet close to the Islamic Republic's security institutions has reported the 'continuation' of these arrests in the coming days, attributing the reason to the creation of strikes in developmental projects in the South Pars region. Before the arrests due to the strikes, on April 28, the CEO of the Special Economic Zone of Pars, Sekavat Asadi, reacted to the workers' strikes by announcing that on Thursday [April 27], about a thousand workers were 'replaced' with new individuals, and on Saturday, April 29, three thousand new forces would replace the workers 'who left their jobs and did not return within the specified time.' Roozbeh Boulaheri, a journalist active in the labor sector, told Voice of America: 'From the Islamic Republic's perspective, a good worker is one who protests but does not take to the streets and follows up on their grievances through correspondence.' Reza Ghaibi, an economic journalist, also stated to Voice of America: 'The arrest of contractors completes the intimidation project of labor activists who are currently pursuing their demands through strikes in various industries.' He attributed the focus of security agencies and the government on the oil industry, with the dismissal of workers and the arrest of contractors, to the importance of this industry, emphasizing: 'This hastiness by the government indicates the special position of oil industry workers in joining the strike, as this could suddenly turn into a widespread strike across the entire oil industry and pose a significant challenge to the regime.' According to this economic expert, the Islamic Republic has the experience of oil workers' strikes from the 1979 Revolution and is aware of its importance.