Protest slogans from miners during Rouhani's visit to the Yazd mine

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, faced protest slogans from miners during his visit to the Free Zone region of Golestan province on Sunday. Some protesters rushed towards Rouhani's vehicle. On Sunday, May 7, he referred to the coal mine incident in Yazd as a "wake-up call and warning for all officials" and emphasized the "necessity of continuous oversight, regulation, and provision of advanced equipment in unsafe work environments." A group of workers present at the site chanted protest slogans. Rouhani left the area amid the protests from these workers. According to ISNA news agency, he also stated during his visit to the Free Zone and meeting with the families of the victims of the Yazd mine incident that "the responsible parties and anyone who has been negligent in this incident must be identified and dealt with accordingly, with no exceptions in this regard, and this is something that the government and I personally emphasize." The explosion at this coal mine, located near Yazd, occurred on Wednesday morning, and according to Iranian officials, the bodies of 22 workers have been recovered so far. Rouhani also stated that "we are all responsible for this incident and must pursue existing problems and rectify shortcomings" and emphasized the need to address the issues faced by the families of the victims. He stressed the importance of addressing the rights and insurance of the workers, the deceased, and the injured in the mine incident, adding that "the Minister of Labor must address the situation of families of those who lost their lives or were injured in this mine, and their problems must be resolved." Rouhani further instructed the Minister of Housing to resolve the housing issues of the victims' families. According to ISNA, three family members of the victims also expressed their demands, but this report did not mention these demands. Meanwhile, according to ILNA news agency, the families of the injured and deceased demanded accountability from those responsible for the incident during their meeting with Rouhani and criticized the performance of some local officials. In this context, Tasnim news agency published a video where a miner, in protest against Rouhani's remarks, pointed out the deaths of several miners, stating: "170 children became fatherless. 40 women became widows. A few years ago, we came to the governor's office and protested that we had not received 14 years of wages, coming with our wives and children, but the officials did not address our concerns." Previously, ILNA reported that on Saturday, May 6, there was a minor clash between riot police and workers and families of miners inside the mine, which was reported as "not serious" and ended with the efforts of the police commander. Ali Rabiei, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, stated on Sunday: "We need to reconsider all our mining equipment and safety measures" and added: "What is written in the book has been observed here, but I think we need much more serious discussions on this matter." According to ILNA, he noted that mining equipment in Iran is outdated and "is not in a way that ensures complete safety today." Nevertheless, he considered the standards related to the Yazd mine to be "more than standard." According to Tasnim news agency, he had stated on May 2 regarding the safety of this mine that mining industry officials had inspected this mine last December and it was among the less problematic mines, and a suitable evaluation was reported by the inspectors. Rabiei and Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade, have recently attributed the main cause of the incident in Yazd to workers connecting batteries together. According to the Alef website, Nematzadeh even stated that the mine lacked methane gas and that connecting batteries caused the ignition of coal particles. The state news agency IRNA also quoted Ali Nasiri, the CEO of Northeast Coal Company, stating that "the initial cause of the incident was unfortunately due to the negligence of a few colleagues for bringing a battery into the mine for a diesel engine, which is generally prohibited." These statements came after Tasnim news agency quoted a miner saying that there was no gas detection device at the workplace. Meanwhile, some miners have reported that the safety conditions of the Yazd mine were inadequate and that they had warned about this several times, but this issue was ignored. According to ILNA, Rabiei commented on the issue of the lack of insurance for workers in this mine and other mines in Iran, stating: "If the contractors of the mines have not submitted the workers' insurance, according to a resolution that has been approved, the main employer must change the contractor." In this regard, ISNA reported on May 3 that many of these workers lacked accident and liability insurance. Previously, some reports and social media posts indicated that some miners in Yazd had signed blank contracts and lacked insurance. ISNA also pointed out in its report that "there are many mines where employers only insure a few workers for liability or accident, even with minimal coverage, and in this regard, fewer officials are following up and being accountable." This news agency reported on April 20 last year, citing the Iranian Statistical Center, that 97% of mines in Iran are privately owned. The Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare described the wages of miners as meager and stated that the arrears from 2016 in the Yazd mine have been paid, and there are outstanding payments from 2014 and 2015 that will be settled. Rabiei considered the wages of workers to be meager while the Supreme Labor Council announced the minimum monthly wage for workers for the current year to be 930,000 tomans, while the Wage Committee for 2017 estimated the monthly livelihood basket for workers to be 2,480,000 tomans. Meanwhile, reports from Iran indicate that the problem of unpaid wages for workers is not limited to the Yazd mine, as workers in various regions of Iran have repeatedly protested against the non-payment of their wages. One such protest occurred at the Polyacrylic Factory in Isfahan, where the wages of hundreds of its workers have not been paid for at least 10 months. Hadi Hashemian, the head of the Golestan province judiciary, announced on Sunday the interrogation of the director of the Yazd coal mine at the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office of Yazd, stating that the mine manager and contractor are currently free on bail. He noted that the process of registering and forming a case for the plaintiffs of this incident is being carried out swiftly, and so far, several heirs and injured workers from this incident have visited the Yazd prosecutor's office to register their complaints. This judicial official did not provide any explanation regarding these complaints.