Prince Reza Pahlavi: Iranian Workers' Rights Are Spent on Terrorists in Iraq, Yemen, Gaza, and Lebanon

On Saturday, July 30, Prince Reza Pahlavi severely criticized the regional policies of the Islamic Republic and the expenditure of Iran's national wealth on groups supported by this government in the Middle East. In a post on social media platform X, he reminded that 'the national wealth of Iran, which belongs to Iranian workers and should be spent on their dignified living and their families, is being used for terrorists and their missiles in Iraq, Yemen, Gaza, and Lebanon.' ILNA news agency reported on Saturday that weeks after protests and sit-ins by some workers of the 'Arghavan Gostar' petrochemical company in Ilam due to unemployment resulting from the end of their contracts and the lack of accountability from officials, one of these workers attempted to end his life by pouring gasoline over himself, but other workers prevented this act. According to ILNA, the wife of one of the workers also attempted suicide by ingesting rice pills due to 'financial problems caused by her husband's unemployment,' but was saved by rescuers. Since mid-June, the continuous protests of unemployed workers from the 'Arghavan Gostar' petrochemical project in Ilam have made headlines. Labor activists say that some project workers at the Arghavan Gostar petrochemical plant have become unemployed due to the end of the contractor's contract, and the unemployment trend for other workers continues. These workers, most of whom worked in connections, installation, and equipment, have become unemployed with the completion of the project and believe they should be employed. One of the workers had previously told 'Tejarat News' that after the end of contracts until the end of June, about 400 workers would be unemployed, and their requests to officials for continued cooperation have gone unanswered. On the other hand, ILNA reported that last Tuesday, about 7 of the unemployed workers from this company were arrested due to 'following up on their employment status' and were released after three days. The Arghavan Gostar petrochemical company in Ilam produces polymer-grade propylene by refining chemical-grade propylene. The location of this project is in Ilam province, Chavar county. According to Iranian media reports citing workers from the Arghavan Gostar petrochemical project in Ilam, all these workers are locals from the region and Chavar county, with work experience ranging from 5 to 10 years. Many of these individuals, despite having specialized degrees, worked for wages described as 'one-fourth of other projects' in this project and lost other job opportunities due to repeated promises from company and contractor managers. Guilds and workers have identified 'the intermediary role of contractors' between employers and workers as one of the major obstacles to their wage issues. The elimination of contractors and protests against 'outsourcing services and assigning work to contracting companies' is one of the fundamental demands of guild and labor protests. According to previous reports from some labor organizations, 'more than 22,000' project workers in 110 companies are on strike to achieve their guild demands, and some of them have also left their workplaces and returned home. The history of protests by petrochemical workers in recent years has led to violence and worker suicides, with only six cases of livelihood-related suicides occurring in the Chavar petrochemical factory in the past two years. The condemnation of the death sentence against Sharifeh Mohammadi by labor unions around the world continues. The Council for Organizing Protests of Informal Oil Workers has reiterated its support for the strike of project workers. Strikes in the Dibay paper and pulp industries in Shushtar; 350 workers are demanding the reopening of the factory and payment of wages. The second week of the strike by water supply workers in Roudbar is in protest of eight months of unpaid wages. Livelihood protests by retirees in several cities in Iran have been held, emphasizing the 'double oppression' of the government against women. Thousands of project workers in Iran have continued their strike for the fifteenth day.