Iran: Workers arrest at May Day protest

The statement below was released by the International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran. For more information, contact info@workers-iran.org or alliance@workers-iran.org. Visit the site of Solidarity Committee with Iranian Workers-Australia, at www.unionkar.com.

The May Day rally and celebration in Tehran, organised by independent Iranian labour organisations in Laleh Park, May 1, was attacked by security and intelligence forces. Many were arrested and beaten.

The security forces did not allow the more than two thousand people who had come to the park to join the event and arrested dozens of activists. The event was shut down before it started.

The intelligence forces brutally attacked participants, including women and children, with batons and tear gas. Hundreds of people were forced out of the park. The park was surrounded by hundreds of security personnel.

A May Day rally in Sanandaj city was also attacked by security forces and plainclothes police officers. Many were also beaten and arrested.

From GLW issue 794