THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 37, February 23, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
DISSIDENT WATCH: MANSOUR OSANLOU
By Dr. Michael Rubin
ISLAMIST TYRANNY & OPPRESSION IN IRAN: IRAN'S ISLAMIST POLITICAL REGIME CONTINUES ITS SUPPRESSION OF
DISSIDENTS -- A CASE IN POINT: THE REGIME'S REACTION TO MANSOUR OSANLOU & THE TEHRAN BUS DRIVERS'
STRIKE
FULL STORY:
On December 22, 2005, several thousand Tehran bus drivers belonging to the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and
Suburbs Bus Company (sharkat-e vahed) went out on strike paralyzing the capital. Their leader, Mansour Osanlou, called
the job action to protest government refusal to discuss housing and education benefits, working conditions, and
recognition of the union. [1] The strike was the first major independent strike in the Islamic Republic, where, since the
Islamic Revolution, the government has served both as the largest employer and the regulator of organized labor
representatives. [2]
Iranian security forces responded by arresting Osanlou. They held him without charge, denied him access to a lawyer, and
transferred him to Tehran's Evin Prison. Learning of planned protests calling for his release, security forces rounded up the
Union's Board of Directors and arrested several hundred workers. [3] The Tehran municipality seized control of the
company [4] and dismissed many workers who refused to return to their jobs. [5]
Students and other labor activists sided with the bus drivers. On January 31, 2006, the student union at Tehran's Amir Kabir
University demanded the "unconditional release" of the arrested workers. [6] To the bemusement of ordinary citizens
prevented from riding buses by the refusal of drivers to work, the official daily Kayhan denied that there had been a
strike. [7]
The standoff continued for months as the bus drivers continued their protests. On May 1, 2006, several hundred police
broke up a peaceful demonstration calling for Osanlou's release and arrested several more students and union activists. [8]
Ebrahim Yazdi, the Islamic Republic's first Foreign Minister, took President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to task for his actions.
"Mr. Ahmadinejad, you talk about poverty in America … but they do not imprison workers for going on strike to increase
their wages," he declared. "The Vahed bus company workers who strike to increase their wages, face a language of force." [9]
The government crackdown continued into the Summer. On July 15, 2006, the Labor Ministry invited six bus drivers and
union representatives to negotiate a solution. When the six arrived at the Ministry, security forces arrested them. [10]
Finally, on August 9, 2006, the Iranian government released Osanlou. [11]
When Osanlou began organizing Tehran's bus drivers, a pro-government vigilante group affiliated with the officially
sanctioned labor organization attacked him and, while holding him down, severed part of his tongue. [12] How ironic, then,
that, while Osanlou and his allies refused to be silenced, the U.S. White House failed to speak up.
NOTES:
[1] Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA, Tehran), Dec. 25, 2005.
[2] Shargh (Tehran), Jan. 2, 2006.
[3] "Iran: Release Workers Arrested for Strike," Human Rights Watch, Jan. 31, 2006; letter from Ebrahim Madadi, vice president of the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, to Juan Somavia, director general, International Labor Organization, May 30, 2006.
[4] ILNA, Feb. 9, 2006.
[5] National Review Online, June 19, 2006.
[6] ILNA, Jan. 31, 2006.
[7] Kayhan (Tehran), Jan. 29, 2006.
[8] "Free Mansour Osanloo Now!," International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran, May 8, 2006.
[9] ILNA, May 12, 2006.
[10] E-mail from a Vahed Bus company representative, July 15, 2006.
[11] ILNA, Aug. 10, 2006.
[12] Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, May 24, 2005.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Middle East & the Problem of Iran
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Dr. Michael Rubin, a Ph.D. in History (Yale University) and a specialist in Middle Eastern politics, Islamic culture and Islamist
ideology, is Editor of the Middle East Quarterly and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public
Policy Research. Dr Rubin is author of Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran (Washington Institute
for Near East Policy, 2001) and is co-author, with Dr. Patrick Clawson, of Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2005). Dr. Rubin served as political advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad (2003-2004); staff
advisor on Iran and Iraq in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (2002-2004); visiting lecturer in the Departments of
History and International Relations at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2001-2002); visiting lecturer at the Universities of
Sulaymani, Salahuddin, and Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan (2000-2001); Soref Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy (1999-2000); and visiting lecturer in the Department of History at Yale University (1999-2000). He has been a fellow at
the Council of Foreign Relations, the Leonard Davis Institute at Hebrew University, and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and
International Affairs.
The foregoing article by Dr. Rubin was originally published in the Middle East Quarterly, Winter, 2007, and can be
found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
February 23, 2007
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