Reza Shahabi and Saeed Torabian, two executive committee members of the Trade Union of the Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company, have been arrested and are held at unknown locations.
Shahabi, treasurer of the union, was arrested on June 12 as he clocked in at work. Four security agents then took him to his home. After a search, they confiscated his computer. Torabian, the union’s public relations officer, was arrested at his home in Tehran on June 9.
Security agents also tried to arrest union member Habib Rezapoor but he was not at home.
Since reforming in 2004, the Trade Union of the Tehran and Suburbs Vahed Bus Company has become one of Iran’s most militant trade unions.
Its leader and deputy leader have been in prison since 2007. Mansour Ossanlu is serving a five-year sentence and is currently held in poor conditions in Reja’i Shahr Prison, in Karaj near Tehran. Ebrahim Maddadi is held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, serving a three-year term.
On May 9, five trade unionists — Shirin Alam-Houli, Ali Heydarian, Mahdi Islamian, Farzad Kamangar and Farhad Vakili — were hanged in Evin Prison.
Messages of protest to the Iranian authorities can be sent by visiting Amnesty UK. Unionists from around the world, including Maritime Union of Australia national secretary Paddy Crumlin have written letters of protest.
These arrests are part of a concerted effort by the Iranian government to put pressure on all labour and human rights activists in the weeks leading up to the anniversary of last year’s massive streets protests in Iran.
[For more information, visit www.iwsn.org. Please forward copies of protest messages to the Solidarity Committee with the Iranian Workers Movement (Australia) proletarianunite@gmail.com .]