Oil workers in southern Iran strike, protest as anti-regime demonstrations continue

Workers at petrochemical plants in southern Iran went on strike and staged protests on Monday, according to videos shared on social media, as anti-government protests sparked by the death of a young woman continued.

Over a thousand workers at the Bushehr, Damavand and Hengam petrochemical plants, located in the port city of Assaluyeh, went on strike and staged protests, Radio Farda, the Iranian branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, reported.

Striking workers shouted slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and blocked access roads, according to videos shared by @1500tasvir, a Twitter account with over 200,000 followers that monitors protests and violations in Iran.

Commenting on the strike on Twitter, Karim Sadjadpour, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, noted that striking oil workers “played a critical role” in the 1979 revolution that toppled the former Shah of Iran and brought about the Islamic Republic.

The strike comes amid ongoing anti-government protests that erupted across Iran mid-September after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, died in police custody.

Activists and protesters say Amini was beaten by police officers while in detention, causing serious injuries that led to her death. Police deny the allegations.

Since Amini’s death, protests have quickly escalated and turned political with demonstrations taking place country-wide. Protesters have been chanting against Khamenei and calling for the downfall of the regime.