Rabiei, one of the notorious torturers of the 1980s and former deputy of the Ministry of Intelligence, has a record full of anti-worker actions
According to state media, Massoud Pezeshkian, the regime’s president, has appointed Ali Rabiei, one of the notorious torturers of the 1980s and former deputy of the Ministry of Intelligence, as his social assistant. Rabiei’s record is full of oppressive actions against workers and laborers, and systematic efforts to trample their rights in favor of government factions. The appointment of Ali Rabiei as Pezeshkian’s assistant demonstrates the depth of the oppressive and anti-worker nature of Khamenei’s new president.
Ali Rabiei was one of the deputies of the Ministry of Intelligence from 1987 to 1993. In subsequent years, when Hassan Rouhani was the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the mullahs’ regime, Rabiei served as the executive officer of the secretariat and chaired the Policy-Making Committee and the Internal Security Committee of this council.
From the time of the formation of the club-wielding party known as the Jomhouri Eslami, Rabiei was in charge of its labor branch. Along with Alireza Mahjoub and several club-wielders from the Jomhouri Eslami Party, they occupied the Workers’ House in Tehran. From 1979 to 1981, they suppressed labor organizations and unions and did everything to eliminate and dissolve the workers’ councils that were approved by Ayatollah Taleghani and supported by the PMOI supporters in various workshops and factories.
During the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, Rabiei was his advisor on social affairs and was very active in this position in the anti-worker actions and decisions of Khatami’s cabinet. In January 2003, Khatami’s government passed a resolution exempting workshops with fewer than 10 workers from labor law. During this period, Ali Rabiei and Alireza Mahjoub placed the Workers’ House entirely at the disposal of the government.
During Rouhani’s presidency, Rabiei was first the Minister of Labor and then the government spokesman. According to state media, in 2017, when Ali Rabiei was the Minister of Labor, for the first time, “workers were not allowed to attend the meetings of the Supreme Labor Council” and “in a sudden move, workers’ representatives were removed from wage-setting sessions” (Javan newspaper and Tasnim news agency, March 6, 2016). The Minister of Labor is the head of the Supreme Labor Council.
During this same period, Ali Rabiei passed a bill in the regime’s parliament, one of the articles of which was to determine “regional wages for workers,” to free employers from the obligation to pay minimum wage and allow them to set wages themselves, which would double the exploitation of workers and eliminate job security. However, due to worker protests, they were forced to cancel this legislation.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI)-Labor Committee
7 October 2024