In a joint statement on Sunday, 11 October 2026, two councils organising oil workers' protests called the flogging of more than 10 protesting Petropars workers in Hoveyzeh, Khuzestan, "shameless audacity" and announced that they would respond with widespread protests. According to Iran International, the "Organising Council of Contract Oil Workers' Protests" and the "Organising Council of Informal Oil Workers' Protests" urged oil workers, other labour centres and the public to unite and force the authorities to apologise and reinstate the dismissed workers.
The statement says the only answer to the lash, prison and execution is unity, organisation, and nationwide protests and strikes. The two councils called for those who carried out the flogging to be put on trial, said that flogging the protesting workers was flogging all oil workers and all the people of Iran, and warned that this marked the end of their tolerance.
The labour councils on the Hoveyzeh court and Petropars management
The oil workers' councils accused Petropars management of filing a complaint against the workers for "obstructing the way and causing damage" after they gathered at the company's site, after which police arrested the workers with beatings. The statement called Hoveyzeh Criminal Court No. 2 a show court and its ruling medieval. According to the two councils, the economic slump caused by the Islamic Republic's warmongering policies has left large numbers of project workers unemployed, and the flogging sentence was handed down to intimidate those same unemployed workers.
The oil workers' councils say the answer to the lash and execution is nationwide protest and strike.
Background to the case of the Petropars workers in Hoveyzeh
The Petropars workers in Hoveyzeh, most of them skilled Arab workers native to Khuzestan who, according to HRANA, hold bachelor's or master's degrees, worked for years on projects at the South Azadegan oil field. After the projects ended, their contracts were not renewed and, by their own account, workers from Gilan and Fars were brought in to replace them. The workers had protested their dismissal by gathering outside the Khuzestan governorate in Ahvaz and the Hoveyzeh governor's office.
According to HRANA, Branch 101 of the Hoveyzeh court on 4 July 2026 sentenced each of the workers to 74 lashes and a fine of 20 million tomans. Karun Human Rights reported on 9 October that the flogging sentence had been carried out, and HRANA reported that the fines had also been paid. According to HRANA, the workers still gather outside the Petropars company every week.
The flogging of workers has precedents: 17 workers at the Aghdareh gold mine were flogged earlier, and reports have been published of flogging sentences carried out against detainees of the Dey uprising. Meanwhile, the Isfahan prosecutor has said that sentences relating to protesters will continue to be enforced; on the same day, Amirsalar Davoudi, a lawyer for political prisoners, was arrested at the Revolutionary Court in Isfahan.
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.