Iranian oil workers have threatened to go on strike if the government crackdown against protesters continued, a move that could cripple the country’s economy dependent on hydrocarbon revenues.
“We support the people’s struggle against organized and everyday violence against women and against the poverty and hell that dominates the society,” the Organizing Council of Oil Contract Workers said tthe other day.
Iranian crude oil and natural gas exports accounted for 18 percent of GDP and about one-quarter of government revenues in 2019, according to estimates.
Massive unrest has roiled Iran, with protests spreading to more than 80 cities and towns, after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while under custody by morality police on September 13 for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code.
Meanwhile, Iran’s police command warned on Wednesday that the force would come down hard on protests that erupted nearly two weeks ago over the death of a young woman in custody.
