‎
Ghazal Azadfar

Iranian government officials arrested several labor activists across the country after ‎banning independent May Day rallies and holding official celebrations. ‎

Independent labor and union activists and organizations were planning to hold ‎celebrations to commemorate the May Day, but their plans were foiled by the Islamic ‎Republic’s security and intelligence organizations. Many prominent activists received ‎calls from the Ministry of Intelligence asking them not to participate in independent May ‎Day rallies. ‎

Previously, on Ordibehesth 8 [April 27], hundreds of laborers and union activists were ‎planning to hold a rally in Chitgar Park, located between Tehran and Karaj, which was ‎disrupted by the police and security officers. The same incident was repeated on ‎Thursday, Ordibehesh 12 [May 1], in Assaluyeh, where police officers prevented laborers ‎and members of the Etehadiy-e Azad-e Kargaran [“Independent Labor Union”] to take ‎part in the celebrations, according to a report by “Etehad” website, the union’s official ‎platform. ‎

According to this report, Javanmir Moradi and Taha Azadi, members of the union’s ‎board of directors were arrested and transported to a police detention facility. ‎

The only information available from the condition of two labor activists is that they have ‎been transferred to a Ministry of Intelligence detention facility and are being interrogated. ‎Meanwhile, another labor activist residing in Assuluyeh, Saeed Hazrati, also was arrested ‎by the Ministry of Intelligence. ‎

Three other members of the Etehadiy-e Azad-e Kargaran, Hamid Athari, Nasrin ‎Mahmoudi Azar, and Aram Ebrahim Khas were arrested on Wednesday prior to the May ‎Day rally in the city of Oshnaviye in Western Azerbaijan. ‎

The news of the arrests have not been covered by major newspapers and media outlets or ‎verified by government agencies. ‎

According to the website “Dastranj,” affiliated with the labor movement, seven labor ‎activists were arrested after May Day rallies in Sanandaj, capital of Kurdistan. They are ‎Salah Zamani, a construction worker and member of the Center for Defense of Children’s ‎Rights, Shiva Kheirabadi, Abdollah Najjar, Ghaleb Hosseini, Ali Hosseini, Bahaeddin ‎Soddoghi, and Sousan Razani. ‎

In this connection, Dastranj website reported that four of the arrested activists have been ‎released on bail, but did not mention their names. There are no reports available on the ‎status of other labor activists arrested in Kurdistan. ‎