Sepideh Gholian has been released from prison — and her first message was clear: she may tire of many things, but not of reaching freedom.
Across Iran, protests are spreading again: students in more than 15 cities, pensioners in Shush, Rasht and Tehran, Ahvaz Steel workers, petrochemical and oil workers, nurses, teachers and prisoners are raising their voices against poverty, layoffs, repression and executions.
The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign has now reached its 124th week in 56 prisons, while the regime has executed at least 49 people since the start of Khordad.
The answer to poverty, executions and repression is organisation, strikes, and the continuation of the Woman, Life, Freedom revolution:
26 May–9 June 2026
The cost of war must not be put on the people
The recent wave of protests, strikes, hunger strikes and public actions is unfolding under conditions shaped by war, economic collapse, executions, internet shutdowns and mass layoffs.
As the Worker-communist Party of Iran states:
Workers and hardworking people,
The unbearable conditions of the past several decades have become even more unbearable with the start of the war. Employers, including the state, the IRGC and the ruling mafia, who are the largest employers, have used the wartime atmosphere to intensify their attacks on workers and withhold wages. They have made hundreds of thousands unemployed. Astronomical prices have broken the backs of working and hardworking people. The regime has also intensified threats, bluster, arrests and executions under the titles of espionage and aiding the enemy, and has completely cut people’s access to the internet in order to stop the spread of protests and survive the current crisis.
The statement stresses that the people are not responsible for war or its consequences:
Neither the people’s disastrous economic conditions nor repression and executions began with the war, and the masses of people are not responsible for the war and its suffering. The cause of all this is the government itself and its criminal policies inside the country, and its anti-US and anti-Israel policies and terrorism in the region. We must not allow this atmosphere to continue. We must loudly announce our indictment against this entire situation and the government that has caused it.
It calls for the continuation of the Woman, Life, Freedom revolution, organisation, strikes and nationwide protest:
The way out for us is the continuation of the Woman, Life, Freedom revolution, organising ourselves, expanding protests and strikes, and confronting every single domestic and regional policy of the government. The path to our happiness begins first with the destruction of this government and its entire corrupt and criminal apparatus, and ending all these warmongering, repressive and anti-people policies.
“No to Executions Tuesdays” continues in 56 prisons
The “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign has continued across 56 prisons in Iran, reaching its 122nd, 123rd and 124th consecutive weeks during this period.
On 9 June 2026, the campaign marked its 124th week. Its statement warned that since 22 May 2026 alone, the execution government has hanged at least 49 people. It also condemned the renewed confirmation of the death sentence against political prisoner Yaqoub Derakhshan in Lakan Prison, Rasht, and the issuing of death sentences for political prisoners Yasin Shahbakhsh, Hassan Moslavi and Ali Kamali.
Four other political prisoners — Farshad Etemadifar, Alireza Mardasi, Masoud Jamei and Reza Abdali — are also reportedly at imminent risk of execution in Sheiban Prison, Ahvaz.
The campaign states:
Freedom and justice are the right of every human being, and real justice is achieved not through death and the removal of the right to life, but through respect for human rights. Therefore, to achieve it and to be free from oppressive and despotic rulers, we must struggle and resist.
The campaign also expressed support for the recent protests of school students across Iran.
Geneva protest: Islamic Republic must be expelled from the ILO
On 2 June 2026, a protest was held in Geneva in front of the International Labour Organization conference, called by the Campaign to Free Imprisoned Workers.
The campaign had issued a letter titled “The Islamic Republic must be expelled from the International Labour Organisation”, calling on groups, organisations, parties and political currents to support it. So far, 28 groups, organisations and political currents have backed the campaign.
A delegation from the Worker-communist Party of Iran participated in the protest with its banners. Speaking on behalf of the party, Azim Motavar said:
We are here to be the unextinguishable voice of the people of Iran abroad. We demand the boycott of the Islamic Republic at all political levels. We have come to shout that the Islamic Republic is not the representative of the people of Iran, but their murderer, and must be expelled from the International Labour Organization conference forever.
He added that those attending the conference on behalf of the Islamic Republic do not represent protesting workers, the Ekbatan children facing execution, the thousands of fighters of the January 2026 uprising, or the revolutionary women of Woman, Life, Freedom.
The Worker-communist Party of Iran has for years demanded the expulsion of the Islamic Republic from the ILO. The party states that because of the January massacre and 47 years of crime, repression, poverty, wage slavery, war and insecurity, the Islamic Republic must be boycotted worldwide.
Ahvaz Steel workers issue ultimatum
On 9 June 2026, workers at Ahvaz Steel gathered in front of the company management office over delayed wages, living conditions, workplace problems and unanswered demands.
They had already warned the company and Bank Melli that if no practical action was taken by 9 June 2026 to pay their demands and respond to their grievances, they would gather at 8:30 am on 10 June in front of the governor’s office.
Their statement said:
We will gather so that, for the last time, the situation of the company, production and the future of workers is clarified transparently and decisively. Workers no longer want promises; they want practical action.
Ahvaz National Steel Group remains one of the key centres of labour protest, with a strong history of large, united gatherings and mobilising wider public support.
Pensioners protest in Shush, Rasht and Tehran
Social Security pensioners held protests in Shush, Karkheh, Haft Tappeh, Rasht and Tehran over poverty, discrimination, inflation, low wages and the looting of their pension funds.
Their immediate demands include higher pensions above the 70 million toman living basket, free healthcare, the return of survivors’ benefits, implementation of legal provisions in 2026 pension rulings, ending government and Shasta interference in the pension fund, and payment of the state’s debt to the Social Security Organization.
In Shush, pensioners chanted:
“Livelihood and dignity are our absolute right”
“Inflation and high prices are destroying people’s lives”
“They looted Social Security and ruined us”
“Only in the streets will we win our rights”
“We will not live under oppression; we will sacrifice our lives for freedom”
Students Take to the Streets in More Than 15 Cities
School student protests have spread across Iran. On 6 June 2026, students protested in at least 15 cities, including Tehran, Isfahan, Karaj, Khorramabad, Arak, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Tabriz, Mashhad, Birjand, Qom, Sari, Bojnourd, Kerman and Yasuj.
Students protested education policies, injustice, and top-down decisions imposed without the involvement of students and teachers. Their slogans included:
“Don’t be afraid, we are all together”
“Our voice is not heard through letters”
“Incompetent officials, resign”
“We have heard many promises, but seen no justice”
“Student, shout for your rights”
“Students may die, but will not accept humiliation”
The Worker-communist Party of Iran declared firm support for the student protests and called on teachers, families and all sections of society to support students and their demands.
Teachers support the student uprising
The Teachers’ Trade Association of Iran (Tehran) issued a statement supporting the student uprising. It stressed that student protests are not separate from the struggles of teachers, workers, pensioners and other sections of society, but are expressions of a structural crisis: accumulated discrimination, injustice, economic hardship and blocked legal channels for expressing demands.
The association called for an immediate end to repression of students, removal of paramilitary forces from universities, release of all detained students, cancellation of disciplinary and judicial rulings related to protests, recognition of the right to protest, and protection of the civil and political rights of university communities.
Petrochemical, Oil and Gas workers protest
Workers at the Mahshahr Petrochemical Terminals and Tanks Company held their second protest on 2 June 2026, following an earlier protest on 30 Ordibehesht.
Their demands include the immediate return of 48 contract workers who were dismissed or suspended after months of pursuing their demands, payment of deducted wages and monthly salaries, restoration and increase of welfare benefits, recognition of the right to protest and gather, and an end to security threats by the Mahshahr Economic Zone security office and other bodies.
The Council for Organising Protests of Non-Permanent Oil Workers declared its full support for the workers’ protests.
In another development, Petronad Mahshahr workers succeeded, after a week of protests, in forcing the return to work of more than 60 dismissed colleagues. The workers continue to demand the return of all dismissed workers; reports say the total number of dismissed workers is around 200.
Explosion at South Pars Gas Complex injures workers
O 25 May 2026, an explosion occurred during debris removal at the sixth refinery of the South Pars Gas Complex. Six contract workers were injured due to the explosion of remaining gas in pipelines; three were transferred to Asaluyeh hospital.
According to the Council for Organising Protests of Non-Permanent Oil Workers, delays in rescue operations, fencing off damaged areas, late arrival of fire and emergency teams, and delays in removing injured workers from the crisis zone caused serious harm.
The council condemned the forced imposition of reconstruction work on workers in highly unsafe conditions and called it illegal and a direct threat to workers’ lives.
Broader Social Protests Spread
Across the country, protests have resumed and expanded among many sections of society:
In Sanandaj, poultry sellers and market traders went on strike and closed their shops over economic crisis, inflation, taxes and lack of support.
In Sistan, dismissed workers of Pars Sistan Steel protested job uncertainty and demanded return to work and unemployment insurance.
At Kurdistan University, professors issued an ultimatum that they would strike if legal salary rulings were not implemented by 6 June 2026. They also warned they would refuse to hold final exams if the situation continued.
In Iranshahr, pre-hospital emergency staff protested years of unpaid claims, living conditions and threats of dismissal. Their unpaid claims include work clothes, food allowance, housing support, bonuses, overtime and work missions.
At Bushehr University of Medical Sciences, students protested poor food quality, hygiene problems and officials’ neglect by launching a food strike.
Residents of Dehnow village in Dorud protested a month-long water cut.
Defrauded customers of Farhan Diesel gathered outside the Islamshahr courthouse demanding their rights, chanting: “Cheques are not our answer” and “Enough promises, our tables are empty.”
Sepideh Gholian Released
On 30 May 2026, political prisoner and popular public figure Sepideh Gholian was released from Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad after serving six months.
After her release, she went directly to the grave of Khosrow Alikordi and published a photo in his memory, writing:
I have made a pact with myself that I may become tired of anything, but not of reaching freedom and carrying these hard stones of truth.
The Path Forward: Organisation, Strike and Revolution
The Worker-communist Party of Iran states:
This government is on its way out; it is caught in the worst crisis of its existence, and it is our task, the people’s task, to dismantle it and realise all these demands with our own capable hands. The Worker-communist Party stands with you with all its strength for the overthrow of the murderous Islamic government and for building a humane, free, prosperous and equal society.
Worker-communist Party of Iran
9 June 2026
