Shabtabnews In this dark night, I have lost my way – Arise from a corner, oh you the star of guidance.
RFL/RE – Iranian labor rights activist Narges Mansuri says she has been on a hunger strike since January 29 to protest the “anti-human behavior of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
In a voice message sent from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison, Mansuri said she started her hunger strike, despite suffering from chronic illnesses, because she was banned from meeting her child, was threatened with execution, and was subjected to the harsh behavior of interrogators whose actions “drive political prisoners to insanity.”
Mansuri, who has been working for the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company for more than 20 years and is a well-known labor rights activist, was detained in May amid a wave of arrests of labor and political activists in Iran.
The official IRNA news agency claimed that Mansuri was arrested by security agents while trying to leave the country.
She has been arrested, interrogated, and tried many times in recent years.
Mansuri is one of 14 women activists in Iran who have publicly called for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to resign.
She and the other women also called for a fresh political system within the framework of a new constitution that would secure dignity and equal rights for women.
Mansuri says that since signing the statement calling for Khamenei’s resignation, the Iranian authorities have issued four court orders against her and threatened her many times.
Criticism of Khamenei, who has the last say on almost every decision in the Islamic republic, is considered a red line in Iran, and his critics often land in prison, where political prisoners are routinely held in solitary confinement and subjected to various forms of torture.
Labor protests in Iran have been on the rise amid declining living standards and unpaid wages. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.
Authorities have cracked down on the protests, arresting many of those taking part.
