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Social Media Report Protests by Iranian Oil Workers for Higher Wages

A woman walks down a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters/File Photo
A woman walks down a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters/File Photo
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Social Media Report Protests by Iranian Oil Workers for Higher Wages

A woman walks down a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters/File Photo
A woman walks down a street in Tehran, Iran December 6, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters/File Photo

Social media posts on Saturday purported to show a group of protesting oil workers in southern Iran demanding higher wages and retirement bonuses.

The reported oil workers’ protests, which Reuters could not verify, comes amid an uprising across Iran, the boldest challenge to the republic since the 1979 revolution.

The nationwide protests were triggered by the Sept. 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old from Iran's Kurdish region, for wearing "inappropriate attire”.

Iran's oil ministry was not immediately available to comment.

The activist HRANA news agency said on Saturday that a group of oil workers protested outside the Pars Oil and Petrochemical Company in Asaluyeh in the southern Bushehr Province on the Gulf coast.

It said in addition to wage increases and pension bonuses, the removal of high income taxes and salary cap, improved welfare services and health conditions were among the protesters’ demands.

A combination of mass protests and strikes by oil workers and Bazaar merchants helped to sweep the clergy to power in the Iranian revolution four decades ago.

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Pro Palestine Protesters Scale Roof of Australia's Parliament

Members of the Australian Palestinian community shout slogans at the Palestinian Protest Campsite at University of Sydney in Sydney on May 3, 2024. (AFP)
Members of the Australian Palestinian community shout slogans at the Palestinian Protest Campsite at University of Sydney in Sydney on May 3, 2024. (AFP)
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Pro Palestine Protesters Scale Roof of Australia's Parliament

Members of the Australian Palestinian community shout slogans at the Palestinian Protest Campsite at University of Sydney in Sydney on May 3, 2024. (AFP)
Members of the Australian Palestinian community shout slogans at the Palestinian Protest Campsite at University of Sydney in Sydney on May 3, 2024. (AFP)

Pro Palestine protesters climbed the roof of Australia's Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday and unfurled banners, one saying Palestine will be free, and accused Israel of war crimes, in a serious security breach condemned by lawmakers.

Four people dressed in dark clothes stood on the roof of the building for around an hour, unfurling black banners including one reading "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", a common refrain of Pro Palestine protesters.

One of the protesters gave a speech using a megaphone accusing the Israeli government of war crimes, an accusation it rejects.

"We will not forget, we will not forgive and we will continue to resist," the protester said, Reuters reported.

A handful of police and security advised people not to walk directly under the protest at the main entrance to the building, while more were seen on the roof attempting to remove the protesters, a Reuters witness said.

The protesters packed up their banners before being led away by waiting police at around 11:30am local time (0130 GMT).

"This is a serious breach of the Parliament's security," opposition Home Affairs spokesperson James Paterson said in a post on social media platform X.

"The building was modified at great expense to prevent incursions like this. An investigation is required."

Since the war began Australia has been the site of several pro Palestine protests, including weekly demonstrations in major cities and a months-long occupation of university campuses.

The ruling Labor Party indefinitely suspended a senator, Fatima Payman, on Monday after she crossed the floor of the Senate to vote in favor of a motion backing Palestinian statehood.

Australia does not currently recognize Palestinian statehood, though Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in May it could do so before a formal peace process between Israel and Palestinian authorities is complete.