Iran’s Anti-Regime Protests Hit Oil Sector as Workers Join Demonstrations 

Iran’s Anti-Regime Protests Hit Oil Sector as Workers Join Demonstrations 

Anti-regime protests in Iran have intensified as they reach the country’s critical energy sector.  “Workers at refineries crucial for Iran’s oil and natural gas production protested Monday over the death of a 22-year-old woman,” the Associated Press reported.

Protests against Iran’s Shia-Islamic regime began four weeks ago after an Iranian woman was found dead in police custody. The 22-year-old, Mahsa Amini, had been arrested by Iran’s Islamic morality police for violating the Sharia-mandated dress code.

Today in Iran, workers strike at Bushehr Petrochemical, chanting “Do not fear, do not fear, we are all together.” Striking oil workers played a critical role in the 1979 revolution. pic.twitter.com/gwLmD5jt5q

— Karim Sadjadpour (@ksadjadpour) October 10, 2022

The protests, which were first carried out largely by students and women in cities across Iran, appear to have gained the support of Iranian workers. “Iranian protesters remained defiant Monday with students staging sit-ins and some industrial workers going on strike despite a crackdown activists say has left dozens dead and hundreds more imprisoned,” the public broadcaster France24 reported.

The Associated Press reported the anti-regime protests hitting Iran’s crucial energy sector:

Workers at refineries crucial for Iran’s oil and natural gas production protested Monday over the death of a 22-year-old woman, online videos appeared to show, escalating the crisis faced by Tehran.

The demonstrations in Abadan and Asaluyeh mark the first time the unrest surrounding the death of Mahsa Amini threatened the industry crucial to the coffers of Iran’s long-sanctioned theocratic government. (…)

From the capital, Tehran, and elsewhere, online videos have emerged despite authorities disrupting the internet. Videos on Monday showed university and high school students demonstrating and chanting, with some women and girls marching through the streets without headscarves as the protests continue into a fourth week. The demonstrations represent one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 2009 Green Movement protests. (…)

Online videos analyzed by The Associated Press showed dozens of workers gathered at the refineries in Asaluyeh, some 925 kilometers (575 miles) south of Tehran, on the Persian Gulf. The vast complex takes in natural gas from the massive offshore natural gas field that Iran shares with Qatar.

In one video, the gathered workers — some with their faces covered — chant “shameless” and “death to the dictator.” The chants have been features across protests dealing with Amini’s death.

“This is the bloody year Seyyed Ali will be overthrown,” the protesters chanted, refusing to use the title ayatollah to refer to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. An ayatollah is a high-ranking Shiite cleric.

Watch the awe-inspiring bravery of people of Sanandaj. Their city has been subjected to shelling by the regime since yesterday, but they went outside to dance, men and women.

Dancing is also forbidden in Iran. #MahsaAmini
pic.twitter.com/a7xf7aEJPy

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) October 10, 2022

The Mullah regime has ordered a violent crackdown on nationwide protests, deploying militia belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to quell demonstrators. More than 185 people have so far died in the deadly clampdown, rights groups say. “Iranian security forces intensified a crackdown on anti-government protests in several Kurdish cities on Monday, as demonstrations elsewhere in Iran spread into the country’s vital energy sector,” Reuters reported Monday.

Despite the threat of deadly force, thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets chanting “Death to the Dictator” and “We Don’t Want Islamic Republic,” a bold reference to 40 years of Shia-Islamic rule and the country’s ruling Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — the unelected “Supreme Leader” of the country.

The Iranian dissident groups accused the regime of using deadly force, including heavy machine guns, to quell protests in residential neighborhoods. Videos circulating on the internet show “riot police carrying shotguns moving in formation with a vehicle, apparently firing at homes,” ABC News reported Tuesday.

“A video posted later Tuesday purportedly showed a massive bullet hole inside the home of one Sanandaj resident, a hole that Hengaw alleged came from a heavy .50-caliber machine gun — the type often mounted to armored vehicles,” the broadcaster noted.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.