Reaction of 4 Labor and Professional Organizations in Iran to the Islamic Republic's Attack on Israel: Adventurous and Detrimental to the Poor's Livelihood

Four independent labor, teachers, and retirees' organizations in Iran criticized the Islamic Republic's missile and drone attack on Israel in separate statements on the evening of Saturday, April 25. These organizations described this military action by the Islamic Republic as 'adventurous' and 'an attack from the people's pockets,' with its consequences being 'an assault on the livelihoods of children and the underprivileged' and 'the sacrifice of the impoverished.' In response to the attack on its consulate in Damascus on April 13, which was attributed to Israel, the Islamic Republic fired over 300 drones and missiles at that country. During this attack, several senior commanders and members of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed. Israel has not yet claimed responsibility for the April 13 attack. The Free Workers' Union of Iran described the attack as 'adventurous,' stating that the government has engaged in a war that, with 'the potential expansion of its depth and scope, will turn a 90 million-strong society into a scorched earth.' The statement added, 'The rulers are carrying out their last mission to deliver a decisive blow to Iran after 46 years of gradual destruction.' The Coordinating Council of Teachers' Trade Unions of Iran also stated in a statement: 'The ruling government in Iran has launched an attack by sending dozens of drones and missiles to Israel, which, even if it ends after just one night, will ultimately claim the lives of women, children, and the underprivileged whose livelihoods have been attacked and from whose resources these missile launches are supplied.' This nationwide teachers' union noted that in the event of an all-out war between the Islamic Republic and Israel, 'it is evident that the interests of neither nation, caught in the grip of religious and fascist governments, will be served, and displacement and poverty will plague people who are already struggling to meet their basic needs.' The Retirees' Union also wrote in a statement that the people of Iran are now unwittingly on the brink of a devastating war that 'will turn the lives of the impoverished people of Iran and the region into a complete nightmare.' This union added: 'In Iran, inflation and rising prices are accelerating faster than ever in the new year, the sick economy is practically on the verge of collapse, and the results of years of plunder, corruption, and neglect are clearly visible in all sectors of society.' The Retirees' Union further emphasized, 'Now the people of Iran must endure the war's damages, having played no role in creating it.' This organization also stressed that 'war-mongering in any form is condemned; as the victims of wars will be the impoverished people who must endure displacement, loss of loved ones, and hundreds of disasters that, if continued, will severely threaten the lives of millions of them.' Simultaneously, the Council of Retirees of Iran, in a statement referring to the Islamic Republic's attack using hundreds of drones and missiles made 'from the people's pockets' against Israel, wrote, 'War among powers, in continuation of their policies and interests, has never benefited the people and the underprivileged classes and will not, except for our bodies being used as shields to protect the powerful and their resources, costing the survival of their government.' This organization continued in its statement: 'The people who have turned the streets into arenas of their livelihood protests have already paid the cost of these hundreds of missiles and drones that have turned to smoke,' adding: 'The first outcome of this attack for the people of Iran, aside from the confusion, concern, anxiety, and the immeasurable disruption of public psychology, is the dollar crossing the threshold of 70,000 tomans and its devastating consequences on people's livelihoods.' The Council of Retirees of Iran announced that 'the war atmosphere and beating the drum of fighting the enemy is, in fact, a counter to the unity and solidarity of the people’s resistances who have decided to change the current conditions,' adding: 'Workers, retirees, women and children, teachers and students, and farmers without water and land are increasingly exposed to repression under the pretext of war.' This council wrote: 'Alongside all groups, organizations, and the majority of society that abhors war, we declare to its instigators that this war and tensions have nothing to do with the interests of the people and their lives and are against our interests, and therefore this crisis must be ended as soon as possible.' The statement concluded: 'The people want peace and life and are averse to war, death, and destruction.'