The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed its deep concern over the disregard for and lack of protection of Iranian journalists’ labour rights the sackings demonstrate.

Arash Hassan Nia and Arash Salehi, members of the Association of Iranian Journalists, an IFJ affiliate, were working full-time for Radio Farda, the Iranian branch of the United States government-funded Radio Free Europe. RFE has its headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic, and is part of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM).

One of the two journalists had already raised concerns about job security at the station in a meeting with the IFJ in Brussels in September 2018. He pointed out that Radio Free Europe and USAGM deny their staff the right to create a union, which deprives them of the ability to defend their rights collectively. Union busting can’t be tolerated.

The IFJ said: “We stand in solidarity with our Iranian colleagues. We utterly condemn Radio Farda’s management attitude and urge them to reinstate both journalists and to respect journalists’ fundamental right to unionise. They will always find us at the forefront of challenging them when they attack journalists’ fundamental labour rights”.