At least 35 Iranian labor activists and two reporters arrested at International Workers' Day rally

Eyewitnesses, speaking to Radio Farda on Wednesday, May 1, said the number of people arrested was more than 35, most of whom are members of the workers' union of the Tehran Bus Company.

According to them, the protesters were beaten before being arrested, and in some cases they were even dragged to the ground.

Reza Shahabi, Hassan Saeedi, Vahid Fereydouni, Mohammad Ali Aslaghi, Rasoul Taleb Moghadam, Asadollah Soleimani, Nasser Moharramzadeh, and Ms. Shiri are among those arrested, and witnesses say they were all transferred to the security police headquarters in Tehran's Gisha neighborhood.

Some reports also state that at least two reporters were arrested during the rally, Keyvan Samimi and Marzieh Amiri.

Images released from the workers' rally show them protesting against rising prices and inflation. Another aspect of their demands was their insistence on the right to independent labor organizations.

These arrests prompted a response from Amnesty International, which called the action "illegal" and "arbitrary."

In a statement released on Wednesday, the organization said that Iranian government agents have "arrested hundreds of workers and workers' rights defenders" since International Labor Day last year.

According to Amnesty International, these arrests are "part of an organized campaign to suppress public unrest and protests," which has included the issuance of "prison sentences" and sometimes "flogging."

Amnesty International emphasizes in its statement that "Iranian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release workers and other activists detained for participating in peaceful protests and strikes, or for other acts that fall within the framework of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association."

The organization further points to reports of "mistreatment of labor rights activists" and their "torture" and calls on the Islamic Republic's authorities to launch "impartial, independent, and effective investigations" into the matter and "bring the perpetrators to justice in fair trials based on international standards."

The Amnesty International statement refers to Sepideh Gholian and Esmaeil Bakhshi, who have accused Iranian security forces of torturing them.

Esmael Bakhshi, a representative of the imprisoned Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers, and Sepideh Gholian have been arrested in connection with the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers’ protests. The two have revealed that they were tortured in Ahvaz’s intelligence detention center, an allegation denied by Iranian authorities. However, they say they are willing to testify in a fair trial about the torture.

Amnesty International finally called on the Iranian authorities to “remove the unlawful ban on the formation of independent unions and allow workers to participate in peaceful assemblies, including on International Workers’ Day, and to exercise their rights to form or join independent unions.”

A day before the International Workers' Day arrests, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani called the statistics on workers "promising" and called for more and more active work.