Urgent Appeal for the Immediate and Unconditional Release of Detained Workers and Teachers in Iran
Dear Friends!
Following the brutal and indiscriminate killing of protesters, more than fifty thousand protesters have been arrested and subjected to inhumane conditions in prisons, detention centres, and unofficial torture facilities. Among those detained are large numbers of workers from various sectors, particularly oil, gas, petrochemical, and industrial workers, as well as teachers and labour activists.
Workers employed in the oil industry across Asaluyeh, Kangan, Dayyer, Lamerd, and Parsian have been arrested, in many cases through violent raids on their homes or company dormitories. A number of project-based workers from Sahel Omran Company, a contractor affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were detained during strikes in the South Pars Special Economic Zone. These workers were protesting unpaid wages and had openly expressed solidarity with the broader popular protests.
Furthermore, hundreds of oil workers are currently being held without access to family contact or legal representation in a warehouse facility affiliated with Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, an IRGC sector. Others have been transferred to prisons in Bushehr and Shiraz through fabricated security charges. Additional arrests and summonses have targeted workers at Negin Makran Petrochemical Company, Fajr Jam Gas Refinery, and Kangan Petro-Refining Company following strikes over living conditions and unpaid wages.
The case of Sina Kiani, a 21-year-old worker from Kermanshah employed by a moving company in Tehran, exemplifies the broader pattern of abuse. The family only became aware of his detention following the broadcast of forced televised confessions, in which he was coerced into admitting alleged ties to opposition organisations—confessions that are routinely used to justify heavy sentences without any credible evidence.
Numerous other workers remain missing or in detention, including Omidollah Moradi, a 21-year-old worker arrested in Bijar on 12 Bahman, and Abdullah Khani, a labor activist and former political prisoner arrested on December 27. Mr. Khani was detained despite serious health conditions requiring continuous access to medication and medical care, and his family has been kept in complete uncertainty for over forty days.
In parallel, a significant number of teachers have been arrested, summoned, or sentenced, including many women educators. Several teachers remain imprisoned from previous waves of repression, highlighting the systematic targeting of educators and labor activists.
Free Them Now (FTN) strongly condemns this campaign of mass repression, state violence, and systematic use of torture, forced confessions, and death sentences. We call for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained workers, teachers, those arrested during the January 8-9, and all political prisoners in Iran.
We urgently appeal to international trade unions, labor federations, humanitarian organizations, and relevant international bodies to take concrete action. We ask you to exert pressure on your governments, the ILO, and international institutions to hold the Islamic Republic of Iran accountable. This includes pursuing diplomatic, political, and institutional measures, suspending or expelling the Iranian government from international bodies, and supporting international legal action against those responsible for crimes against humanity.
Today, more than ever, the people and workers of Iran depend on international solidarity. Your active support can play a decisive role in preventing further abuses and securing the freedom of those unjustly detained.
We look forward to your principled response and solidarity.
Sincerely,
Shahla Daneshfar, Spokesperson of FTN
Shahla.daneshfar2@gmail.com
9 February 2026
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