Iran: Election Fever and Workers Protest

Arseh Sevom — The elections are coming, which means candidates are finally registering, the internet is slowing, and paranoia is high. In the latest crackdown, dogs walked in public are being confiscated. Iran hasn’t budged on the press freedom index, hanging on to its spot as one of the six worst countries in the world. Workers refuse to let May Day go unnoticed: they celebrate, strike, and protest poor wages and even worse conditions. Ten political prisoners in Evin were transferred to solitary confinement, while permits have been issued for mining in protected natural areas.

Press Freedom Day

According to a report from Reporters Without Borders, Iran finds itself once again among the six worst countries when it comes to press freedom. There is widespread state control of the press, arrests and threats against reporters and netizens, plus the harassment of the families of journalists working abroad — most notably those of BBC Persian. With the elections just a few weeks away, Kaleme [fa] reports that editors are being called to the Interior Ministry for briefings on red lines that cannot be crossed. The Ministry justified the restrictions as necessary to protect national security. The representative of the ministry made it clear that no breach of the restrictions will be tolerated.

May Day in Iran

The Vahed Bus Union marks May Day

Iran Labor Report provides a rundown of May Day activities in Iran, from marches in Kurdistan, to strikes, to pastries and trinkets at bust stations. A petition with 30,000 signatures protesting the low minimum wage was delivered to Parliament. The current minimum wage is 487,000 tumans (less than $400) per month, more than one million tumans below the poverty level for a household of four.

In Kurdistan, workers marked May Day with gatherings and marches, chanting, “Bread, housing, freedom.”

On April 30, director of the Middle East Section of Human Rights Watch Sarah Leah Whitson stated, “Iranian workers are on the front lines of the struggle to demand such basic rights as freedom of assembly and association. They are often the first victims of government crackdowns that aim to silence criticism.”

According to the head of Iran’s Workers’ House, between May 2011 and May 2012, over 100,000 workers lost their jobs. Women continue to suffer from unequal protections and pay. More information is available in a statement from the International Campaign to Support the Rights of Iranian Workers.

Political Prisoners Transferred to Solitary

Iran Today [fa] reports that political prisoners in Iran’s Evin prison refused to meet with their families last week to call attention to the transfer of ten political prisoners to solitary confinement.

@persianbanoo 1:20pm via Web tweets: The 10 political prisoners who were moved to solitary April 28 are on hunger strike protesting incarceration in solitary #Iran #Iranelection

Mining Iran’s Nature Preserves

Radio Zamaneh reports that twenty-five organizations defending the environment issued a statement against the decision of the government to to issue permits for mining in protected areas. The organizations state that the permits are against the law because they impinge on protected natural areas.

The statement asks why the environmental agency did not speak out against the mining permits. The head of the agency stated that when the parliament passed the law they did not ask for guidance from the environmental agency.

A number of MPs have protested the permits, stating that the permits would lead to a natural disaster. Ten percent of Iran is now protected. One MP stated that natural areas should remain protected and that no mining should take place there.

Internet Under Seige

On May 1, the Basij acknowledged for the first time that a number of their sites had come under a cyber attack. ITIran [fa] reports that Iran is cracking down on virtual private networks and other methods for circumventing internet filtering. Radio Free Europe’s Persian Letters reports:

“As there are cyberattacks against us, the Basij’s cyberarmy — which includes university instructors and students as well as clerics — is attacking websites of the enemy,” Fazli said, according to a quote in the “Iran” daily.

On May 5, IranIT reported that access to Virtual Private Networks and other proxy services that help circumvent the internet were no longer working. Throttling down access to the internet seems to be the primary issue. Some people inside Iran report that they can’t even open emails. Global Voices reports of the reaction from Iran’s blogosphere.

Registration for Presidential Candidates Begins

With elections just a few days away, registration for candidates has begun. No big surprises. Former president Rafsanjani has stated he won’t run without a green light from the Supreme Leader. Tehran’s current mayor Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf was among the early registrants. He is supported by a number of senior clerics.

We’re rooting for Zahra, whose story we read in the graphic novel Zahra’s Paradise. She has launched her campaign here: http://vote4zahra.org/.

Dogs Confiscated

As we reported last week, the morals police have launched an anti-dog-walking operation detaining dogs seen in public with their owners.  Mohammad Zarghami at Radio Farda reports that the dogs have been confiscated, kicked, and thrown into large sacks, and brought to the notorious Kahrizak area in the suburb of Tehran. The owners are left without news of their pets and without even a receipt. This photo, posted by the Mazandaran Animal Shelter shows food and water prepared by a group of volunteers for the detained pets.