Statement by the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company on the Mass Killing and Detention of Workers During the Protests

Following the previous statements issued by the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company regarding the massacre and brutal suppression of the January protests, which reached their peak on the 18th and 19th, and in light of weeks of internet shutdowns and severe communication restrictions, information is gradually becoming available to the public about the deaths of hundreds of workers who participated in these protests. Additionally, according to published reports, many workers in Asaluyeh who intended to go on strike have been collectively arrested and are being held in detention inside the same company’s warehouses.

In recent days, the streets of the country have witnessed scenes that no human being will ever forget: among the thousands of fallen teenage and young protesters, hundreds of workers—who had come into the streets for bread, for survival, and for liberation from poverty, humiliation, and suffocation—were answered with bullets. Workers who for years have carried the burden of this country’s economy on their shoulders; workers who have labored in factories and workshops and deserts, from the heat of Asaluyeh in the south to the bone-chilling cold of the colder regions, in the darkness of mines, in fruit and vegetable markets, and on roads, in hospitals, and in schools, under the harshest conditions—today are either buried underground or imprisoned in detention centers whose names and locations are not even disclosed.

A worker who cries out for bread, a worker driven to desperation by poverty and demanding their rights, is neither a criminal nor a threat. No society has ever achieved peace and stability by silencing workers and youth with bullets; violence has only amplified the voice of protest. This mass killing, whose horrific dimensions have yet to be fully revealed, is a wound on the body of the entire working class—a class that, despite relentless repression over past decades, has never lowered the banner of justice and freedom.

In the face of this painful situation and the widespread repression confronting workers and protesting people, the Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company once again declares:

• The killing of workers and protesters is an unforgivable crime with no possible justification.

• The arrest of workers is a blatant attempt to silence the voice of hunger and protest.

• Responsibility for the lives of every single detainee lies with the institutions that abducted them without informing their families and continue to hold them in detention.

• The families of detainees have the right to know the condition of their loved ones, and no institution has the right to conceal this information.

• The list of those killed and detained must be announced transparently, and their status must be clarified.

• Detained workers and other protesters across the country must be released immediately and unconditionally.

The Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company, in unison with the people driven to desperation, demands full transparency regarding the status of all those detained during the January protests, access for families to their loved ones, and an immediate end to repression and violence against workers and protesting people.

Political prisoners must be freed.

Those who ordered and carried out these crimes must be tried in fair and public courts.

Justice, freedom, and equality are the right of the people of Iran.

The solution for workers and laborers is unity and organization!

Syndicate of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company

20 Bahman 1404/February 9, 2026