The devastating explosion at the Madanjou coal mine in Tabas, which claimed at least 50 lives, has ignited public outrage over the Iranian regime’s long-standing neglect of worker safety. As of September 22, 2024, 24 miners remain trapped, and rescue operations have been hindered by toxic gas accumulation. While the government seeks to downplay the tragedy, the scale of the disaster and its preventable nature are becoming more apparent, exposing the regime’s failure to protect its workforce.
In a revealing show of priorities, Masoud Pezeshkian, the regime’s president, boarded a flight to New York shortly after news of the deaths surfaced. His swift departure to attend the United Nations General Assembly, without addressing the crisis at home, underscores the regime’s disinterest in human suffering, as it follows the agenda set by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. This action speaks louder than any words of sympathy that were notably absent.
Reports from the ground further highlight the dire conditions that led to the tragedy. Khabar Fori, a state-controlled media outlet, confirmed that “there was no methane gas sensor in the Tabas mine,” and shockingly, the miners were paid a meager 12 million tomans per month (approximately $200) for their life-threatening work. This gross underpayment reflects the regime’s exploitation of the working class, particularly in dangerous industries like mining.
#Iran News:
Tragic Mining Accident in Tabas Claims at Least 30 Lives, Dozens Still Missinghttps://t.co/Ips4DIoWyR— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 22, 2024
Images from the site of the explosion also serve as a tragic reminder of the regime’s disregard for safety. A photograph of a dead miner’s torn boots captured widespread attention, symbolizing the abysmal safety conditions that miners face. This miner, working hundreds of meters underground, wore tattered boots, a visual testament to the regime’s exploitation of its labor force.
Reza Alizadeh, head of the Parliamentary Commission for Industry and Mines, admitted during a state TV interview on September 22, that basic safety measures were not followed at the mine. “Even minimal safety standards were not implemented… It took nearly an hour for carbon monoxide to reach Block B, yet not even the simplest sensor alert was issued. Had there been a proper alert, these workers could have evacuated,” he acknowledged.
The Iranian mining industry has long been a death trap for workers. According to the Legal Medicine Organization of Iran, 2,115 workers died in workplace accidents in the past year alone, an 11.3% increase from the previous year. Since 1993, an average of 105 coal miners per year have lost their lives in accidents across the country. These figures highlight the regime’s chronic failure to enforce safety regulations in its most hazardous industries.
Declaring Three Days of National Mourning for the Tragic Deaths of Over 50 Miners in Tabas #Iran
In the mullahs’ anti-worker regime, the lives and safety of laborers are treated with indifference, sparking neither concern nor accountability.
Tragedies and heart-wrenching scenes… pic.twitter.com/2xSDUDtfwM— Maryam Rajavi (@Maryam_Rajavi) September 22, 2024
The conditions in Iranian coal mines remain far below international safety standards. Workers report using broken helmets and suffering from the deliberate shutdown of ventilation systems to save on electricity costs. The lack of basic safety measures has turned coal mines into ticking time bombs, as methane gas, which is abundant in such environments, can ignite with even the smallest spark. This deadly scenario repeats itself several times each year.
Efforts to investigate the disaster are being met with obfuscation from the regime. Mohammad Jafar Abdollahi, head of the Judiciary in South Khorasan, has already warned against any media scrutiny that might expose the regime’s culpability, emphasizing that investigations should “reduce the pain of the workers’ families” rather than fuel further dissent. Abdollahi insisted that the company responsible for the mine should bear the costs of burial and memorial services, revealing more concern for managing public anger than for accountability.
Following the incident, Shahbaz Hassanpour, a regime parliamentarian, recalled the 2017 explosion at the Zemestan-Yurt mine and the empty promises made by the government at that time. “We were supposed to have expert teams in place to prevent such incidents, but the conditions I saw two months ago in the mines of Kerman are even worse than those that led to this disaster,” he said, admitting that outdated and poorly maintained equipment is still widely used in Iran’s mining sector.
This disaster is yet another in a long list of tragedies directly linked to the regime’s corruption and negligence. As Hassanpour bluntly noted, the machinery in Iran’s mines is “completely different from reliable equipment used in advanced countries,” and no proper oversight exists for the equipment that is imported. Despite the import of coal, essential safety tools remain absent, further exposing the regime’s prioritization of profit and military spending over human life.
As public outrage grows, the regime scrambles to downplay the event, with conflicting casualty reports from state-controlled media. On Sunday, state outlets reported over 50 deaths, but by Monday, the figure had mysteriously dropped to 35. This blatant manipulation of the death toll shows the regime’s desperation to control the narrative and prevent the disaster from sparking another nationwide protest.
The Tabas mine disaster is a clear reflection of the regime’s disdain for its people, particularly the working class. Until systemic change occurs, preventable tragedies like this will continue to claim innocent lives under the watch of a corrupt, warmongering dictatorship more focused on destroying other nations than on building the country it claims to govern.
