Rasoul Khadem: The Deceased Workers Were 'Enslaved' for a Bite of Bread

Rasoul Khadem, a veteran and beloved wrestler of Iran's national team, visited the families of the deceased miners in Tabas and described the victims as men who worked 'enslaved' 800 meters underground for a lawful bite of bread. On Tuesday, October 1, he shared images of the families and survivors of the miners who died in the coal mine explosion in Tabas on Instagram, stating: 'Men who were willing to work enslaved 800 meters underground in the coal mine for a lawful bite of bread, and due to their poverty, did not raise their voices, went away from us a week ago due to a gas explosion.' He also reminded that some of these workers 'suffered severe gas poisoning due to the lack of evacuation of other parts of the mine after the explosion and died.' Khadem further stated that 'more than 50 families became fatherless, husbandless, and childless,' referring to the statements of the families of the victims of the Tabas mine explosion, noting that the income these men earned to 'support their children's living expenses' was 'the minimum possible income' and 'did not reach anywhere.' He emphasized that these workers were 'employed in the mines in the ultimate helplessness and vulnerability, enslaved,' and on the seventh day after the miners' deaths in Tabas, he published images of 'the condition of their families,' which reflected the poverty and sorrow resulting from the loss of their loved ones. The publication of these images and the former champion wrestler's visit with the survivors comes amid reports that officials of the Islamic Republic have warned journalists against commenting on the deaths of the miners and have forced them to delete their posts on social media. In this context, Marzieh Mahmoudi, a journalist, sarcastically wrote on the social media platform X on Tuesday, October 1: 'When you woke up this morning, wasn't the situation in the country better? I will tell you the reason. Yesterday, some were forced to delete their tweets and writings about the Tabas mine, and today all our problems were solved.' The imposition of these restrictions on commenting about the mine explosion and the deaths of dozens of workers comes at a time when Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, declared five days of public mourning for the removal of Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Previously, Ali Daei and Ali Karimi had commented on the indifference of the Islamic Republic officials to the deaths of the workers in Tabas and the large expenditures for 'Gaza, Lebanon, and Iraq.'