Porters are Killed in Iran

Iranian border forces have continued to kill porters (kolbars) who carry heavy loads across the mountain ranges between Iran and Iraq, with at least 24 being shot dead since April and a reported 79 being killed in the past year.In the five days between August 13 and 18, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) killed one porter, wounded eight, and arrested three in Nowsud, Baneh, and Urmia. The murdered porter was named as Seraj Ahmadi, 37.

Of course, the above figures don’t account for accidental deaths, such as falling from cliffs, freezing to death, or being buried in avalanches.  

The porters, who live in deprived areas where the dire economic status leaves them unable to get a job even though many of them have degrees, often carry out this physically taxing job because they have no other option to support their families.

They are forced to take these jobs because the regime’s institutionalized corruption and theft of the Iranian people’s money have deprived them of their opportunities and impoverished them, along with 80% of the county. Porters are met with brutality by the regime, who consider this a disruption to their smuggling operations.

This brutality has not gone unnoticed. In August, 80 international labor and trade unions issued a statement, entitled “Porters should not be forgotten”, to condemn the regime for the murder of the porters as well as other anti-labor policies.