Country of origin information report Iran January 2010

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Employment rights

32.01 Freedom House’s report Freedom of Association Under Threat – Iran, dated 21 November 2008, stated that:
“Free trade unions do not exist in Iran, despite the country's membership in the International Labor Organization (ILO) and ratification of ILO Convention 87, which calls for freedom of association and the right to organize. The right to collective bargaining is denied, and workers are not protected by the right to mediation and arbitration. Authorities rarely enforce child-labor laws, and children are forced to work in unsafe conditions. Unions that do exist are closely monitored by the state, including Workers' House, the official state union. Ahmadinejad's administration has increased surveillance of unions and has become involved in their elections. In August 2006, for example, the Ministry of Labor banned polls for the Trade Union of Journalists, though the group had conducted such elections six times previously.
“Strikes and work stoppages – most notably by transport workers, teachers, and factory employees – are common but illegal and typically suppressed. Demonstrations by Workers' House are also controlled, and the group was prohibited from holding a gathering to mark International Labor Day in 2003. The Teachers' Union has organized strikes and rallies protesting low wages for years, and a series of rallies in 2007 resulted in the arrest of the union's secretary general and numerous teachers throughout the country. Mansur Osanlu, head of the Vahed bus drivers' union, spent most of 2006 and 2007 in prison for organizing a bus drivers' strike in December 2005 that resulted in the imprisonment of hundreds of bus drivers, union organizers, and their families.” [112e]
32.02 The US State Department Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2008, released on 25 February 2009 (USSD Report 2008):
“The law provides workers the right to establish unions; in practice the government did not permit independent unions. A national organization known as Workers' House was the sole authorized national labor organization. It served primarily as a conduit for government control over workers. The leadership of Workers' House coordinated activities with Islamic labor councils in industrial, agricultural, and service organizations comprising more than 35 employees. These councils, which consisted of representatives of workers and a representative of management, also functioned as instruments of government control but nonetheless frequently blocked layoffs and dismissals in support of workers' demands. Restrictions on the ability of workers to associate continued during the year…. The law prohibits public sector strikes, and the government considered unlawful any strike deemed contrary to its economic and labor policies, including strikes in the private sector; however, strikes occurred. According to an October UNGA report, attempts to create a number of workers' associations and conduct labor strikes over wages have been met with arbitrary arrests and violence by security forces.” [4a] (Section 6)
32.03 The same report noted “Workers did not have the right to organize independently or to negotiate freely collective bargaining agreements. According to the International Trade Union Confederation, labor legislation did not apply in export processing zones.” [4a] (Section 6)
32.04 The USSD Report 2008 also stated:
“The labor code prohibits all forms of forced or compulsory labor, including by children; however, there were reports that such practices occurred. Female citizens were trafficked internally for the purpose of forced prostitution. Citizen children were trafficked internally, and Afghan children were trafficked to the country for the purpose of forced commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude as beggars and laborers….The law prohibits employment of minors younger than 15 years and places restrictions on the employment of minors younger than 18; however, the government did not adequately enforce laws pertaining to child labor, and child labor was a serious problem. The law permits children to work in agriculture, domestic service, and some small businesses, but prohibits employment of minors in hard labor or night work. There was no information regarding enforcement of these regulations.
“According to government sources, 3 million children were prevented from obtaining education because their families forced them to work. Unofficial sources claimed the figure was closer to 5 million. In 2007 Tehran reportedly opened several shelters for street children. There were reportedly significant numbers of children--particularly Afghan but also Iranian--working as street vendors in major urban areas. Many Afghan children were unable to attend school because they lacked birth certificates or identification cards, which the government reportedly refused to issue in an effort to curb illegal immigration.” [4a] (Section 6)
32.05 Furthermore:
“The law empowers the Supreme Labor Council to establish annual minimum wage levels for each industrial sector and region. In March President Ahmadi-Nejad increased the minimum wage levels by 20 percent to 2.2 million rials (approximately $220) per month, which labor groups stated did not provide a decent standard of living for workers and their families. There was no information regarding mechanisms to set wages, and it was not known whether minimum wages were enforced. Afghan workers, especially those working illegally in the country, often were paid less than the minimum wage.
“The law establishes a maximum six-day, 48-hour workweek, with a weekly rest day, normally Friday, and at least 12 days of paid annual leave and several paid public holidays.
“According to the law, a safety council, chaired by the labor minister or his representative, protects workplace safety and health. Labor organizations outside the country have alleged that hazardous work environments were common in the country and resulted in thousands of worker deaths annually. The quality of safety regulation enforcement was unknown, and it was unknown whether workers could remove themselves from hazardous situations without risking the loss of employment.” [4a] (Section 6)
32.06 On 1 May 2009, Amnesty International (AI) recorded that “Independent trade unions are banned in Iran. Under Iranian labour legislation, workers are allowed to form Islamic Labour Councils (ILCs) – which cannot defend the terms and conditions of their members - in companies with more than 50 workers. They are not, however, permitted to set up any other labour organization. “AI also called for the release of two trade unionists currently serving three and five year prison sentences in connection with their trade union activities. Furthermore,
“Amnesty International has also asked the Iranian authorities to review the cases of five leaders of the Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company (HTSCC) Trade Union, with a view to overturning their convictions and sentences. In April 2009, the five were sentenced to between four to six months' imprisonment for ‘propaganda against the system’ in connection with interviews they gave on May Day 2008 to foreign journalists about working conditions at the plant.” [9n]
See Political affiliation, Economy and Children
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Annex A: Chronology of events

This chronology is not designed to be a precise or comprehensive record of all events that may have occurred but rather is intended to provide a general framework which can inform further investigation as considered necessary.
1925 Reza Khan seized power in Persia by military coup. Subsequently elected Shah.
1935 Persia renamed Iran.
1941 British and Soviet forces occupied Iran; Shah forced to abdicate in favour of his son.
1946 Following end of war, occupying forces left.
1963 Shah launched ‘White Revolution’. Reforms opposed by landlords and conservative clergy.
1964 Ayatollah Khomeini deported to Iraq for opposition activities.
1965 Prime Minister Mansur assassinated, reportedly by a follower of Khomeini.
1977 Anti-government strikes and demonstrations.
1978 September: The Shah's policies alienate the clergy and his authoritarian rule leads to riots, strikes and mass demonstrations. Martial law is imposed.
1979 January: Shah forced to leave country.

February: Khomeini returned and took power.

April: Iran declared an Islamic republic. Supreme authority given to Walih Faqih appointed by clergy, initially Khomeini.

November: Students seized hostages in US Embassy in Tehran.
1980 February: Bani-Sadr elected President.

September: Iraq invaded Iran. Strongly resisted by Iran; outbreak of hostilities.
1981 January: US hostages released.

June: Fighting between MEK supporting Bani-Sadr and Revolutionary Guard Corps led to Bani-Sadr’s dismissal and his departure at the end of July 1981, after several weeks of hiding, for France.

July: Muhammad Ali Rajaei voted President. Muhammad Javad Bahonar became Prime Minister.

August: President and Prime Minister killed in bomb attack; MEK blamed.

October: Hojatoleslam Ali Khamenei elected President; Mir Hussein Moussavi appointed Prime Minister.
1985 After the US and Soviet Union halted arms supplies, the US attempted to win the release of hostages in Lebanon by offering secret arms deals, this would later become known as the Iran-Contra affair.
1987 Islamic Republican Party dissolved.

20 July: UN Security Council adopted Resolution 598.
1988 Ceasefire declared in Iran/Iraq war.
1989 3 June: Death of Ayatollah Khomeini. Replaced by Ayatollah Khamenei formerly President Khamenei.

July: Rafsanjani became President. Post of Prime Minister abolished.
1993 Rafsanjani re-elected with reduced margin.
1994 February: Rafsanjani survived assassination by BKO.
1997 May: Rafsanjani stood down. Seyed Mohammad Khatami won Presidential election by landslide.

June: Closure of the Iranian Embassy in Kabul, followed by a trade embargo with Afghanistan initiated by Iran.

August: Khatami inaugurated.

October: Khatami appointed former Prime Minister Moussavi as his senior adviser.

American vessels were present in the Persian Gulf to calm tension between Iran and Iraq over the September bombings in southern Iraq.

December: The Conference of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference was held in Tehran.
1998 March: The Iranian gas and oil industry was opened up to foreign investors for the first time.

June: The impeachment of the Interior Minister by the Majlis was followed by his immediate re-appointment by Khatami in a newly created Vice-President Cabinet post.

July: The former mayor of Tehran, Gholamhossein Karbaschi, was found guilty on charges of corruption and embezzlement. He was sentenced to five years imprisonment and other punishments.

The Solidarity Party of Islamic Iran was recognised and registered as a new political party.

An amnesty was issued for 1,041 prisoners sentenced by the revolutionary and public courts.

August: Iranians were permitted to visit Shi’a Muslim shrines in Iraq for the first time in 18 years.

British Airways resumed direct flights to Tehran.

Iranians, including diplomats, were captured by the Taleban in northern Afghanistan.

September: The Government of Iran gave the United Kingdom assurances that it had no intention, nor would it take any action to threaten the life of Salman Rushdie or those associated with his work, nor would it encourage or assist others to do so. They also disassociated themselves from the bounty offered to carry out the fatwa and stated that they did not support it.

October: The deaths of Iranians captured in August by the Taleban led to Iranian troops amassing at the border with Afghanistan. Exchange of mortar and artillery fire resulted.
1999 February: State and local elections held for the first time since the revolution.

July: A student demonstration for press reform resulted in a police raid on Tehran University dormitory complex. Six days of street riots followed the worst since the revolution.
2000 February: Khatami and his liberal/reformist supporters win 170 of 290 seats in the Majlis. Conservatives lose control of parliament for the first time since the revolution.

April: New Press Law adopted. Sixteen reformist newspapers banned.

August: Fatwa religious decree issued allowing women to lead religious congregations of female worshippers.
2001 June: Khatami re-elected for a second term after winning just under 77 per cent of the vote.

August: Khatami sworn in.
2002 January: US President describes Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an “axis of evil” in his State of the Union address. This is a reference to the proliferation of long-range missiles said to be under development and a perceived threat considered to be as dangerous to the US as terrorism. This statement causes offence across the Iranian political spectrum.

February: Iran rejects the proposed new UK ambassador to Tehran.

September: Russian technicians begin construction of Iran’s first nuclear reactor at Bushehr, despite strong objections from the United States.

Iran accepts Britain’s nomination for a new ambassador, ending a diplomatic spat over the previous candidate’s rejection.

UK Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, is in Iran at the end of a Middle East tour for talks that are expected to focus on the Iraq crisis.

December: Richard Dalton, the new UK ambassador took up his post on 1 December 2002.

Iran and Iraq consider resuming trade.

2003 February: A military aircraft crashes in the south-east of the country, killing all 302 people on board. It is Iran’s worst air disaster.

March: Local elections in Iran appear to have swung in favour of conservative candidates, in a blow to reformist President Khatami.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards renew the death sentence on British author Salman Rushdie, passed 14 years ago by the late Ayatollah Khomeini.

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi says his country is not taking sides in the war in Iraq.

June: Thousands attend student-led protests in Tehran against the clerical establishment.

August: Diplomatic crisis with UK over arrest of former Iranian ambassador to Argentina, sought by Buenos Aires on warrant alleging complicity in 1994 Jewish centre bombing.

September: UN nuclear watchdog gives Tehran weeks to prove that it is not pursuing atomic weapons programme.

October: Shirin Ebadi becomes Iran’s first Nobel Peace Prize winner. The lawyer and human rights campaigner became Iran’s first female judge in 1975 but was forced to resign after the 1979 revolution.

November: Iran says it is suspending its uranium enrichment programme and will allow tougher UN inspections of its nuclear facilities.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report says Iran has admitted producing high-grade plutonium for peaceful purposes, but concludes there is no evidence of a nuclear weapons programme.

December: 40,000 people are killed in an earthquake in south-east Iran; the city of Bam is devastated.
2004 February: Conservatives gain control of parliament in controversial elections. Thousands of reformist candidates were disqualified by the hardline Council of Guardians ahead of the polls.

June: Iran is rebuked by the IAEA for failing to fully cooperate with an inquiry into its nuclear activities.

Three British naval craft and their crews are impounded after allegedly straying into Iranian waters. The eight servicemen are released four days later.

November: Iran agrees to suspend most of its uranium enrichment as part of a deal with the EU.
2005 February: Amid tension with Washington over its nuclear programme, Iran forms a common “front” with Syria, another state which is under pressure from the US.

More than 400 people are killed in an earthquake in the southern province of Kerman.

June: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tehran’s ultra-conservative mayor, wins a run-off vote in presidential elections, defeating cleric and former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

August: Tehran says it has resumed the conversion of uranium and insists the programme is for peaceful purposes. An IAEA resolution finds Iran in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

December: A military aircraft crashes in a Tehran suburb. More than 100 people are killed.
2006 January: Iran breaks IAEA seals at its Natanz nuclear research facility. Bomb attacks in the southern city of Ahvaz the scene of sporadic unrest in recent months kill eight people and injure more than 40.

February: IAEA votes to report Iran to the UN Security Council over its nuclear activities. Iran says it has resumed uranium enrichment at Natanz.

March: Earthquakes kill scores of people and render thousands homeless in Lorestan province.

April: Iran says it has succeeded in enriching uranium at its Natanz facility.

31 August: A UN Security Council deadline for Iran to halt its work on nuclear fuel passes. The IAEA says Tehran has failed to suspend the programme.

December: Iran hosts a controversial conference on the Holocaust; delegates include Holocaust deniers.

UN Security Council votes to impose sanctions on Iran’s trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology. Iran condemns the resolution and vows to speed up uranium enrichment work.

2007 February: IAEA says Iran failed to meet a deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, exposing Tehran to possible new sanctions.

March-April: Iran detains 15 British sailors and marines who were patrolling the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab waterway that separates Iran and Iraq. A diplomatic stand-off ends with their release two weeks later.

April: President Ahmadinejad says Iran can produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.

June: Protests erupt after government imposes petrol rationing amid fears of possible UN sanctions.

July: Iran agrees to allow inspectors to visit the Arak nuclear plant following talks with the IAEA.

August: The former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, is elected head of the Assembly of Experts (the body which appoints, supervises and can dismiss the supreme leader), a position which further solidifies the veteran politician’s role within the Iranian establishment, one that is increasingly at odds with the incumbent president.

October: US announces sweeping new sanctions against Iran, the toughest since it first imposed sanctions almost 30 years ago.

December: A new US intelligence report plays down the perceived nuclear threat posed by Iran.
2008 February: Iran launches a research rocket to inaugurate a newly built space centre. Washington describes the launch as “unfortunate”.

March: President Ahmadinejad makes unprecedented official visit to Iraq, where he calls on foreign troops to leave. He also stresses his government’s desire to help rebuild Iraq and signs a number of cooperation agreements.

Conservatives win over two-thirds of seats in parliamentary elections in which many pro-reform candidates were disbarred from standing. The conservatives include supporters of President Ahmadinejad as well as more pragmatic conservatives who oppose his confrontational foreign policy.

May: IAEA says Iran is still withholding information on its nuclear programme.

Iran’s new parliament elects former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani as its speaker.

June: EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana presents an offer of trade benefits, which Tehran says it will look at, but will reject if it demands suspension of uranium enrichment.

July: Iran test-fires a new version of the Shahab-3, a long-range missile it says is capable of hitting targets in Israel.

August: Informal deadline set by Western officials for Iran to respond to package of incentives in return for halt in nuclear activities passes without reply.

Iran says it has successfully launched a test rocket capable of carrying a satellite into space.

September: UN Security Council passes unanimously a new resolution reaffirming demands that Iran stop enriching uranium, but imposes no new sanctions. The text was agreed after Russia said it would not support further sanctions.

November: Parliament votes to dismiss the interior minister, Ali Kordan, who admitted that a degree he said he held from Oxford University was fake. The move is a blow to President Ahmadinejad ahead of next year's presidential election.

In an unprecedented move, President Ahmadinejad congratulates US president-elect Barack Obama on his election win. Mr Obama has offered to open unconditional dialogue with Iran about its nuclear programme.

December: Police raid and close the office of a human rights group led by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Ebadi. Officials say the centre is acting as an illegal political organisation.

2009 February: Speaking on the 30th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he would welcome talks with the US as long as they are based on "mutual respect".

March: Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei tells anti-Israel rally that US President Obama is following the "same misguided track" in Middle East as President Bush.

April: An Iranian court finds Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi guilty of spying for the US. She is sentenced to eight years in prison.
May: Iran rejects a US state department report saying it remains the "most active state sponsor of terrorism" in the world.

Jailed Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi is freed and returns to US.

June: Mr Ahmadinejad is declared to have won a resounding victory in the 12 June presidential election. The rival candidates challenge the result, alleging vote-rigging. Their supporters take to the streets, and at least 30 people are killed and more than 1,000 arrested in the wave of protests that follow. The Iranian authorities claim foreign interference is stoking the unrest, and single out Britain for criticism.

July - President Ahmadinejad dismisses his most senior vice-president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, under pressure to do so by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

August - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sworn in for second term as president presents cabinet - the first since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979 to include women.

A number of senior opposition figures are accused of conspiring with foreign powers to organise unrest and are put on trial.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says there is no proof that opposition leaders blamed for the post-election unrest were agents of foreign powers.