In a tense dispatch from Iran’s energy coast, Omid Habibinia reports that hundreds of striking workers in Asaluyeh—an industrial city tied to the South Pars gas field—have been swept up by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and held in IRGC-controlled facilities, with families saying they have had no contact for weeks.
Sources connected to the workforce told The Media Line that gatherings, protests, and strikes began in Asaluyeh weeks before broader demonstrations flared nationwide. The early demands were bread-and-butter: higher wages, better benefits, overtime pay, and livable conditions in dormitories and housing. Then came the crackdown. Workers and relatives say the IRGC responded with mass arrests designed to keep labor unrest from spreading through Iran’s most strategic sector. One family member said a relative was arrested on January 10 and that the only information since is that he is being held in a temporary IRGC detention site nearby.
A spokesperson for South Pars workers said detainees are being kept in large industrial warehouses with limited access to food and water during the day, and estimated about 200 workers remain in custody. Labor groups, including the Council for Organizing Oil Contract Workers’ Protests, have appealed for the release of detained labor activists, warning that conditions are inhumane and information is being tightly controlled.
The location matters. Asaluyeh sits in the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone near South Pars, the massive gas field shared between Iran and Qatar. Much of the on-the-ground power runs through the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, described in the report as a giant state contractor overseeing major projects for the National Iranian Oil Company. The article also points to allegations of corruption and sanctions-evasion networks tied to Khatam al-Anbiya, citing leaked or hacked documents and noting US and European Union sanctions for support to the IRGC and proxy groups.
As strikes continue—some even covered by domestic outlets like “Naft Ma”—the report argues the unrest is taking on political weight, reviving memories of 1979 oil strikes that weakened the Shah. Habibinia’s full story, and the accompanying video report, are worth your time for the on-the-ground detail and the stakes it lays out for Iran’s economy and its security-state response.