On 5 June 2021, the Haft Tappeh Sugar Cane Company workers published a statement on their independent Telegram channel warning of threats to kill labour activists.
In May 2021, a court revoked the privatisation of the agro-industrial complex and removed Omid Asadbeigi as CEO of Haft Tappeh, a change that many of its 5,000 workers had campaigned for. The activists believed thugs in the employ of Omid Asadbeigi were behind the latest threats to their lives following his removal.
The privatisation of Haft Tappeh dated back to 2016, and it had been badly mismanaged ever since, leaving workers facing chronic wage arrears and undelivered health insurance benefits. The workers protested, which led to threats and repression. (On 20 November 2018, several Haft Tappeh workers who had participated in the protests were arrested by security forces, and on 14 December 2019, the Appeals Court in Tehran sentenced nine labour activists to five years in prison on the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security” in connection with the Haft Tappeh protests.)
The workers continued to protest in the summer of 2021, calling for the payment of their outstanding wages and the reinstatement of their dismissed colleagues. There was some good news, however. A press release issued on behalf of the Haft Tappeh workers stated that their colleagues Mohammad Khanifar, Hamed Hamdani and Faisal Sa’alebi, arrested during the protests, had been released from prison on 6 June following their trial.
