According to reports received, a worker employed on the Ahwaz Urban Railway project set himself on fire on Sunday, September 6, 2026, outside the main building of Ahwaz Municipality, following five months of unpaid wages and his sudden dismissal.
According to the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA), the incident occurred at around 10:00 a.m. People at the scene extinguished the fire using fire extinguishers, after which the worker was transferred to Taleghani Hospital in Ahwaz to receive medical treatment.
Labour sources reported that the worker is approximately 40 years old and had 17 years of work experience, serving as a security guard on the Ahwaz Urban Railway project. He is the sole breadwinner for his family and the father of two children. He is currently hospitalised with burns to his abdominal area.
On Saturday, the worker, together with several of his colleagues, had gathered outside Ahwaz Municipality to protest the non-payment of five months’ wages. According to labour sources, following the end of the protest, the project contractor dismissed him and four other workers.
On Sunday morning, the dismissed workers returned to the municipal building to follow up on their employment status and demand payment of their outstanding wages. However, after the officials present failed to provide a clear response to their demands, the worker set himself on fire outside the municipality building.
The worker’s colleagues have emphasised that delays in the payment of wages to employees on the Ahwaz Urban Railway project have a long history. They stated that the sudden dismissal of these workers has placed their only source of income, as well as the livelihoods of their families, at serious risk. Workers on the project are demanding the immediate payment of all outstanding wages and the reinstatement of the dismissed workers.
As of the publication of this report, Ahwaz Municipality and the project contractor had provided no explanation regarding the non-payment of workers’ wages, the dismissal of the five workers, or the worker’s act of self-immolation.
The Karoon Human Rights Organization condemns the prolonged delays in the payment of workers’ wages, the use of dismissal as a means of responding to labour protests, and the authorities’ disregard for workers’ economic and living conditions. The organization stresses that Ahwaz Municipality officials and the project contractor must be held accountable for the circumstances that, after months without wages and the loss of his employment, drove a family breadwinner to such a desperate and tragic act.
The organization also calls for immediate attention to the worker’s medical condition, full payment of all outstanding wages owed to workers, and the reinstatement of the dismissed workers.
