Labor Strike Hits Iran’s Kurdistan After Executions

A wave of defiance spread across Iran’s western Kurdish cities on January 30, as residents launched a labor strike to protest the execution of four Kurdish political prisoners earlier this week. 

Answering calls from human rights organizations and a Kurdish political party, shop owners kept their doors closed in cities that are usually bustling with activity.

Images circulating online show deserted streets and shuttered shops in Sanandaj, Saqqez, Mahabad, Bukan, Dehgolan and other cities.

Meanwhile, helicopters patrolled the skies above Sanandaj and Kermanshah, and internet disruptions were reported in several cities, a tactic commonly used by Iranian authorities to counter protest movements.

The heightened tensions in Iran’s Kurdish provinces come a day after Mohammed Faramarzi, Mohsen Mazloum, Wafa Azarbar and Pajman Fatehi were executed for allegedly plotting a bombing in Isfahan last summer in collaboration with Israel.

Rights groups have widely disputed the accusations, and said the men were sentenced in a grossly unfair trial marred by allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.

The four defendants were all members of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan.