
On April 24, at the cusp of International Workers’ Day, Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei spoke so passionately about labor issues in Iran from his ivory tower as if Iranian workers are living in luxury and abundance, and only the “leap in production” remained. He said, “The cornerstone of the leap in production is the worker.”
Hearing Khamenei’s words, it’s hard to believe that these statements are coming from the leader of a country where, according to the report of Iran’s Statistical Center, 60% of its people are below the poverty line. Khamenei’s speaks as if he has no knowledge of the real situation of Iranian workers. He is aware of the dire situation of the working class, employees, teachers, and wage earners. However, following the tradition of all dictators, the fundamental political and economic problems between the people and the regime are covered up and censored, and an efficient image of the ruling regime is promoted.
Khamenei did not mention the skyrocketing prices of essential goods and commodities that have burdened many Iranian workers, forced their children out of education and into labor, compelled workers to take on multiple jobs, and even pushed some to migrate. He has exploited the people to the bone, and now he demands their participation in production, following the deceptive traditions embedded in the regime. He said, “The leap comes with people’s participation. If people enter the field of economy, especially the field of production, the leap in production will occur.”
Khamenei fails to acknowledge that the nation is trapped in the quagmire of economic crisis, livelihood hardships, and unemployment due to the regime’s policy of totalitarianism. His statements reflect a state of delusion: “When production leaps, the country becomes wealthy, the masses become rich, the worker’s pockets fill, the worker’s hand is full, employment increases, unemployment decreases, and the numerous problems of workers and the economy in the country vanish.”
He talks about “people’s participation,” but he fails to acknowledge that even according to manipulated government statistics, over 60% of the Iranian people actively participated in boycotting and rejecting the clerical regime’s sham elections in February of last year. This level of participation couldn’t be clearer in expressing their dissatisfaction with the corrupt regime.
The attendees in Khamenei’s session are not genuine representatives of Iranian workers, but rather hand-picked individuals appointed by the regime in factories and workshops. That is why in the past 45 years, there has been no mention of the presence of any independent labor unions or syndicates in the meetings of the ruling regime in Iran. The regime has systematically suppressed independent worker organizations and unions, preventing genuine representation of the workers’ interests.
The participants in Khamenei’s session bear no responsibility for improving the situation of Iranian workers because there is no representative from any workers’ organization present in this session. It is a common practice among dictators to have individual recipients who have no collective power or organized representation, ensuring that they remain powerless and unable to demand their rights through collective action and organization. This tactic aims to prevent any meaningful change or improvement in workers’ conditions.
In contrast to Khamenei’s plush statements about the working class in Iran, it is sufficient to pay attention to the workers’ resolutions on April 30 each year. These resolutions are filled with reports of months-long delayed wages, marginalization, impoverishment, unemployment, livelihood deprivation, and the exploitation of workers. They also expose the workers and labor unions by the regime’s forces.
Khamenei, in describing the most crisis-ridden class of wage earners, makes deceitful claims that “everything is fine and normal.” What Khamenei fears and strives to conceal through his delusional statements is the accumulation of anger and resentment among the working class and the exploited sectors of Iran. They possess the broadest and strongest potential for a comprehensive uprising and revolution, aimed at dismantling the rule of exploitative and deceitful authority.