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Africa
National public sector strike in Tunisia over pay and conditions
Public sector workers walked out Thursday in a national strike to demand salary increases and oppose attacks on conditions. The strike by 3 million UGTT union members shut 159 state agencies and public companies. Flights were cancelled and public transport ground to a halt, as well as utilities and the postal service.
In response, the government threatened it would “requisition” some workers to provide skeleton essential services.
The crisis ridden government of President Kais Saied is appealing to the UGTT to take part in a national dialogue, as it did after the 2011 uprisings, to help impose an International Monetary Fund dictated pay freeze among other attacks.
Thousands of South African tax workers continue pay strike
The nationwide strike begun May 25 by 12,400 tax and customs duty collection workers at the South African Revenue Service is to continue as talks between the employer’s body and the unions came to a standstill.
The Public Servants Association and National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union members demand a 12 percent and 11.5 percent wage increase respectively. The tax body offered a 1.4 percent raise, blaming a lack of funding from central government. This amounts to a pay cut since inflation in South Africa is currently running at 5.9 percent.
South African township residents in angry cost of living protest outside Pietermaritzburg shopping mall
Residents of Mpumalanga township in South Africa were accused of wanting to loot a shopping mall in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal on June 10 when they gathered nearby and burned tyres. They were protesting the rising cost of living.
Local businesses, security guards and police, fearful of civil unrest after reported calls for a national “shutdown” on social media, patrolled the areas in anticipation of disturbances.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the province is organising a protest march in Durban Friday June 17. The danger of the escalating class struggle surging out of control was noted by a COSATU provincial secretary said, “We do need to show our anger and concern at some point and this protest demonstration speaks exactly to that”.
With one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, South Africa’s most affluent 20 percent of the population take more than 68 percent of income.
South African youth march for jobs in local economic investment zone
An estimated 2,000 young South Africans from townships around Pretoria marched to the headquarters of the Ford Motor Company and the Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone June 14 to demand jobs for local youth.
The unemployed young people were supported by student organisations, the South African National Civic Organisation and other pressure groups demanding businesses hire people from the local townships who have the skills and qualifications for the jobs.
Unemployed workers prevented from protesting for jobs in Cape Town, South Africa
Protestors demanding Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) jobs at the Symphony Way building project in Delft, Cape Town, South Africa were stopped by police from demonstrating at the site after an interdict was given by the Western Cape High Court.
The Symphony Way development is a partnership between the City of Cape Town and Airports Company South Africa. People from Delft say that, as locals, they are supposed to be given priority for EPWP jobs but many say they are overlooked even when they have registered for the project.
The EPWP is a discredited African National Congress (ANC) government scheme in which unemployed people do temporary work in the public sector but without the salary or benefits afforded to direct employees.
Nigerian college staff begin one-month strike joining striking university lecturers
Staff at Nigerian colleges have begun a stoppage over similar issues to those behind the ongoing strike by university academics.
University lecturers walked out on February 14 over salaries, the delay in release of revitalisation funds for universities and the adoption of new payroll software.
A meeting of the National Executive Council of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) on June 10 declared the action would begin immediately.
The issues behind the strike include non-payment of outstanding promotion arrears from 2016, non-payment of allowances to librarians, non-release of N15billion in revitalisation funds, non-implementation of a needs assessment report drawn up in 2014 and ‘poor funding of colleges of education and poor conditions across state-owned colleges of education especially in Ogun, Kwara, Abia, Kogi, Kaduna, Zamfara, Yobe, Oyo, Benue, Edo and Ebonyi states.’
Other demands relate to the faulty IPPIS salary-payment system and its replacement with the more reliable UTAS system.
Following the expiry of a 21-day strike deadline, COEASU declared the “suspended” strike over these issues in 2018 would be “resumed”. The union said it would reconvene its National Executive Council after one month of strike action to determine whether the government had shown enough “commitment on the issues” for the strike to be called off again.
In the universities, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members walked out on February 14 over low salaries, the delay in release of revitalisation funds for universities and the adoption of new payroll software.
Diamond miners threaten strike action over pay and conditions in Zimbabwe
Diamond miners employed by RioZim Limited in Zimbabwe will strike unless their pay and working conditions improve.
The miners’ grievances include delayed payment of salaries, lack of protective gear and discrimination against fixed term contractors, who are not paid bonuses like permanent employees.
The Zimbabwe Diamond and Allied Minerals Workers Union General Secretary, Justice Chinhema stated in a letter to the company, “We are also left with no option but to agree with the workers that their situation needs the employer to act, and if the employer fails to act, the workers will take action and defend their rights as per provisions of the law.”
Ugandan teachers on strike over discriminatory pay rise
Ugandan teachers plan to strike from June 15 after the government agreed to increase the salaries of science teachers but not those in arts and humanities.
The Uganda National Teachers Union (Unatu) made a provisional strike date, to be called off if the government offered a compromise, saying “Unatu is still open for further negotiations.”
Unatu leader Filbert Baguma Bates referred to previous climbdowns by the union: “It is important to note that our Industrial Action that started in 2019 over the same issue was only suspended pending the full implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.”
President Museveni justified the effective pay cut for non-science teachers saying there was not enough money to pay an increase for all teachers, and that scientists are more important “to the nation”.
The strike takes place only days after health workers were told by the Allied Health Professionals Association to return to work.
Europe
Second Belgium national strike called over cost-of-living crisis
A second national public sector strike has been called across Belgium for June 20, with a mass demonstration planned in the capital, Brussels. Demonstrations are expected in other cities.
As in the previous strike on May 31, workers in French and Flemish-speaking regions will protest the collapse in income in the face of rocketing inflation. Inflation reached 8.97 percent in May, its highest level since 1982.
This time, the strike call is being extended to private sector workers. While action will vary across sectors and locations, the anticipated disruption points to widespread anger among workers.
Transport across the country, as well as in and out of it, will be heavily affected. The Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company expects significant disruption in the capital. The national train company, which saw workers defying minimum service requirements last time, anticipates disruption, as have both the regional transport operators in Wallonia and Flanders.
At Brussels Airport, security staff employed by G4S confirmed they will strike over excessive workloads. The airport already announced the cancellation of flights because of the disruption. Brussels Airlines, the airport’s biggest user, announced the cancellation of half its flights that day.
In separate action, pilots and cabin crew at Brussels Airlines will strike on June 23-25 against work pressure. Unions representing cabin crew originally called for consideration of a bonus from management but were then forced to say cabin crews had not asked for cash to solve their problems but structural change.
As in May, the ports are likely to be affected, because of increased workloads. In April, Antwerp and Zeebrugge ports were officially unified as the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. Europe’s biggest car port and largest export port employs 74,000 people and is under huge stress.
German container firm Hapag-Lloyd suspended barge services at Antwerp-Bruges this month because of congestion, while contractor Contargo noted that waiting times at Antwerp rose in the last month from 33 hours to 46.
As with the strikes at airports, the port actions point to the need to coordinate disputes internationally. Last week, dockworkers in Hamburg came out on strike for the first time in three decades in a pay dispute.
Czech public sector unions declare strike alert over wages
This week, a strike alert over wages was endorsed by nine Czech public sector unions.
Wage negotiations are ongoing with the government, but workers are offered below inflation increases. Inflation reached 16 percent in May. According to the Czech Statistics Agency, public sector workers’ real wages fell by an average 8.4 percent this year. Teachers’ wages rose by two percent, paramedics by six percent. Civil servants, non-teaching educational staff and others saw a wage freeze. The public sector employed 656,500 people last year
A strike begun May 1 over salaries was called off by unions five days later for wage negotiations.
To date, according to České Noviny, unions on strike include those representing workers in transport, education, health care, culture and libraries, as well as civilian military personnel. They are supported by firefighters and other unions representing cultural and civil service workers.
Last Friday, 450 cabin crew workers employed by EasyJet at Germany’s Berlin airport walked out on a token five-hour strike. The strike resulted in 11 flights being cancelled.
The strike was called by the Verdi union, as the firm has not submitted any pay rise offer during ongoing wage negotiations.
Coordinated strike notices have been issued for pilots at airline SAS in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Around 1,000 pilots announced a strike from June 29 over an ongoing wage dispute with the ailing company.
Unions have been in negotiation with the company since last November, and the collective agreement with SAS Pilot Group union, which cover all three countries, expired on April 1. Pilots are still working under the terms of that agreement, but its expiry means they are not bound by a commitment not to strike.
The first notice was issued by Danish pilots last week and was confirmed by Swedish pilots this week.
Danish Pilot Union chairman Henrik Thyregod said, “We can under no circumstances agree to deteriorations [wage cuts] of more than 30 percent, which SAS demands.” He employed this rhetoric while stressing the union wanted to assist the company, saying “We have gone to great lengths to help SAS, and we have offered the company huge savings.”
Last week, SAS’s share price fell by 5.5 percent to an all-time low of 0.626 Swedish kronor.
Spanish cabin crew for budget airline Ryanair announced six strike dates in a dispute over pay and conditions.
USO and SITCPLA union members will walk out on June 24-26, then 30 June 30-July 2. The strikes were called after management walked out of collective bargaining agreements. Ryanair said it had already negotiated an agreement with the CCOO union.
SITCPLA and USO claim CCOO has virtually no presence among Ryanair workers, and the deal it negotiated accepts the precariousness of cabin crew. Among other complaints is that the “pay rise” agreed by the CCOO, of 1,000 euros in 2022 and 800 in 2023, was only a reversal of wage cuts applied at the beginning of the pandemic, not an increase. This reversal, presented as a concession to CCOO, is being appealed by the company.
The workers are also demanding a minimum wage guarantee, as some cabin crew are still on hourly contracts and paid below minimum wage. Ryanair only agreed to permanent and direct employment for CCOO members. Elimination of agency contracts was agreed in 2019 but breached by Ryanair.
Workers want access to legally agreed holiday entitlement and the implementation of a fixed work schedule of five days on, three days off. This previous agreement, scrapped unilaterally by Ryanair, was reimposed after a National Court challenge.
Bus and metro strike in Rome, Italy
Workers on the local transport network in Rome, Italy will strike for four hours tomorrow morning against the running down of the system, job losses and declining conditions. The network is operated by ATAC.
The strike from 8.30am-12.30pm will affect buses, trams, the metro and the local light rail services.
The ORSA TPL and USB unions, which called the strike, say it is necessary to hire over 1,000 workers, and protest the ongoing denial of accrued holiday entitlement.
Their statement points to a “situation of degradation and disarray” across the company, with the service brought to near collapse. The conditions are used to justify the company’s privatisation and the further outsourcing of work.
The unions act as corporate partners, with the USB protesting the “government’s unwillingness to plan a serious and credible economic investment plan.”
French teachers strike against precarious contracts in Marseille
Assistant teachers (AEDs) staged a one-day strike today in Marseille, France after several weeks of local demonstrations and actions. They demand their six-year fixed-term contracts are made permanent.
A government decree making this possible was agreed in February but has not been implemented. The new school year starts in three months, and many AEDs are approaching the end of their six contracted years without knowing if they will be rehired afterwards.
The CGT union is calling for AEDs to be given proper training on working time pending their new situation.
Postal workers in Brittany, France strike over conditions
French postal workers in Lorient, Brittany began an indefinite strike on June 13 over working conditions, “which are deteriorating day by day.”
In a statement, the three unions representing the workers denounced a proposed reorganisation of La Poste, which will reduce the number of deliveries and jobs. Workers are demanding an end to short-term contracts and the massive recruitment of permanent workers. They also want additional payments for distributing electoral leaflets, claiming a slice of the 83 million euros La Poste receives from government.
La Poste told Le Télégramme that electoral material was considered part of the usual route workload, claiming, “If an increase in workload is noticed, the additional hours worked will be paid.” La Poste insisted that any reorganisation was “envisaged in consultation with the unions.”
A strike by postal workers in nearby Saint-Nazaire began June 7 over the same issues. The Saint-Nazaire strikers were also demanding the replacement of temporary and fixed-term contracts with permanent employment, additional payments for distributing electoral leaflets, and objecting to a proposed reorganisation. The strike notice called for postponement of the reorganisation if the other demands were not met.
French energy workers call second one-day strike over pay negotiations
Workers in the energy sector in France plan to walk out on June 20, when new wage negotiations begin with the employers. The CGT union members are demanding attacks on wages and pensions be addressed.
Workers at RTE, which manages high voltage power lines, have been in dispute for three months, demanding wages take account of inflation.
A previous one-day strike, on June 2, supported by all unions in the sector, saw power cuts in several regions as electricity substations were shut. Fabrice Coudour of the CGT said that whether new power cuts happen will depend on the offer on the table.
The other unions said they are not supporting this new action, preferring to wait and see how the negotiations progress.
The ballot of around 40,000 UK telecom workers employed by BT and its subsidiaries, Openreach and EE began on Wednesday.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) members rejected BT’s pay offer of between 3 and 8 percent. The ballot result is expected to be announced before the end of June.
Managerial and administrative staff at three UK rail companies to ballot for strike over pay and job losses
Rail staff working in managerial and administrative roles at three UK train operating companies are to ballot for possible stoppages.
The Transport Salaried Staff’s Association (TSSA) members at Cross Country, East Midlands and West Midlands railways are opposed to wage restraint and the threat of job losses. Nearly 600 TSSA members will ballot between June 16 and July 7. A ballot of around 300 TSSA members working for the Avanti West Coast train operating company (TOC) over the same issue is taking place and is due to close June 29.
TSSA’s 6,000 members working for Network Rail will ballot over the same issues beginning June 20, with the ballot closing July 11 leading to possible walkouts from July 25.
Around 50,000 rail workers members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are due to hold three days of walkouts next week over the same issue.
Unite union calls off strike by refuse workers in London and pushes through below inflation pay deal
The Unite union called off a three-week strike by around 100 drivers, loaders and sweepers working for French-owned waste management company Veolia in London, due to begin Thursday.
The Unite union members are contracted to provide waste management services to Croydon council. The workers in Croydon were earning around £7,000 less than workers performing similar roles in neighbouring London boroughs.
The drivers, who hold HGV licences, were earning around £12.51 an hour while many of the loaders and sweepers earn just £10.75 an hour. The non-statutory London Living Wage is £11.05 an hour.
The workers accepted a new pay offer from Veolia which Unite says is worth 8.5 percent plus a one-off £750 bonus which Unite claims means an 11.9 percent rise for the lowest paid.
GMB union ends six-week refuse collection workers’ strike in Wealden, England
The GMB called off the strike by UK refuse collection workers employed as drivers, loaders and pickers, by waste management company Biffa contracted by Wealden council in Sussex. The walkout over pay lasted just over six weeks. Workers returned to work Wednesday.
The GMB union members voted by a more than 90 percent majority to stop work and rejected several offers from the company. During the strike three GMB officials on the picket line were arrested by police.
According to a GMB press release of June 14, the deal “is worth between 24 and 27 per cent, depending on which job they do.”
Strike dates set for walkouts by waste management sorting plant workers in London over pay offer
Workers at waste transfer stations located at Smugglers Way, Wandsworth and Cringle Dock in Battersea, London are to strike after rejecting the employer’s well below-inflation pay offer. They are employed by Cory Environmental Ltd.
The GMB union members will take four days of stoppages, June 23 and 24 next week and again on June 30 and July 1.
The major waste management companies, Veolia, Biffa, Amey, Serco and Continental Landscapes use the services of Cory, which sorts waste, directing it to landfill or recycling.
Refuse collectors in London council Bexley ballot over pay
Over 100 refuse collectors working for Countrystyle Recycling on behalf of Bexley council in the UK capital are balloting for strike action.
The Unite union members are protesting a 2 percent pay rise. They are also protesting the company’s practice of keeping the refuse workers at the depot for up to two and a half hours after finishing their rounds, and the use of CCTV to monitor their movements and target workers.
The ballot closes June 27, and walkouts would take place in July.
Outsourced cleaners at London, UK hospital to begin week-long strike over pay and conditions
Cleaners and hostesses employed by outsourcing company Mitie at St Georges Hospital in Tooting, London will begin a week-long strike on Monday.
The GMB members, who are taking the action over low pay and working conditions, already held three days of stoppages over the issue.
Strike of chicken feed production workers in Northern Ireland over pay parity continues
The walkout of workers at Moy Park chicken feed manufacturing plant in Randalstown, Northern Ireland begun June 6 is continuing. Those taking part included drivers, mill operators and engineers.
The Unite union members, who voted by a 78 percent majority, are seeking pay parity with other Moy Park manufacturing sites in Northern Ireland. The workers rejected an offer by the company to tie pay parity to an attack on terms and conditions, including holiday pay.
The Moy Park group made an operating profit of £86 million last year
Strike by UK financial regulatory body staff over jobs, pay and conditions
Following a 48-hour strike in May, staff at the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) held a further 48-hour strike on June 16. The strike in May was the first strike in the body’s history. They voted by over 75 percent to walk out.
Walkouts took place at the FCA sites in London and Edinburgh. The Unite union members oppose to plans to cut jobs and pay and impose an appraisal system. Workers also imposed an overtime ban and are only carrying out contractual duties.
FCA staff are responsible for monitoring and regulating companies providing financial services in the UK. According to Unite, the FCA is haemorrhaging jobs with 1,000 having left since Nikhil Rathi became FCA CEO in October 2020.
Strikes announced at Caterpillar in Northern Ireland over pay
On Tuesday, the Unite union announced another eight weeks of strikes by workers employed by US-based heavy construction machinery manufacturer Caterpillar in Northern Ireland over pay. The workers already held eight weeks of strikes.
Workers rejected the company’s unacceptable pay offer predicated on compulsory overtime. According to Unite, Caterpillar was offering bonuses to office workers from other locations to cross picket lines and continue production.
Caterpillar has sites at the Springvale business park in Belfast and at Larne. It recorded surging profits last year after COVID-19 measures were abandoned, with cash reserves of around £7 billion, paying out £1.75 billion to shareholders. and paid its highest paid director £0.9 million.
Ballot of UK Royal Mail managers over job cuts
Around 2,400 UK Royal Mail managers across 1,000 workplaces are balloting for possible strike action.
The Unite union members oppose Royal Mail plans to cut over 500 frontline delivery managers, on top the previous loss of 450 posts. The threat of job cuts comes as a Unite survey of managers shows a majority working unpaid overtime and not taking sanctioned breaks to keep up with work demands.
Further Education lecturers at 33 colleges across England are balloting for possible strikes. The ballot closes on July 15.
The University and College Union (UCU) members oppose the miserly 2.25 percent pay offer from the Association of Colleges. They are also protesting unmanageable workloads. Since 2009 the pay of college staff has fallen by over 35 percent and the gap between teachers’ and college lecturers’ pay is around £9,000.
Recently, six colleges planned walkouts in North West England over the same issue. The UCU at Bury College and at Hopwood Hall College suspended action and negotiated separate below inflation deals, 3 percent plus a £1,000 lump sum and 7.5 percent respectively. The UCU encouraged the other colleges to follow their example.
There are 370 FE colleges in the UK, and the UCU refuses to mobilise its members in a unified struggle, reprising the sporadic regional strikes in the universities against pay, conditions, workload and pensions until cancelling all national stoppages until 2023.
UK university clerical staff to ballot over pay claim
UK workers at Darchem Engineering in Stockton on Tees, England held a 48-hour strike beginning Monday. Two 48-hour strikes are planned June 20 and June 27. An overtime ban began on June 6.
Welders pay increased £2 an hour, but not that of platers and sheet metal workers.
The Unite members’ action could hit Hinkley Point nuclear plant, for whom the company manufactures industrial pond liners in a contract worth £200 million.
Strike by British Council staff over job cuts
Staff at the UK government’s international culture and education body, the British Council, began a three-day strike Wednesday. They are also taking action short of a strike including the withdrawal of goodwill. This follows a two-day strike on March 24 and 25.
PCS pickets were mounted outside British Council offices in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London and Manchester. PCS members abroad took part in the strikes, including in Bogota and Baghdad.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) members originally voted by a 73 percent majority for the walkouts are opposed to plans to cut jobs, restructure the service and outsource some parts of the organisation. The British Council is pushing ahead with job cuts.
UK glass bottle manufacturer workers to strike over pay
UK workers employed by Owen Illinois (OI) Glass plan to walk out after rejecting a 4 percent pay offer, when inflation is 11.1 percent.
A 24-hour stoppage of Unite union members at the Devilla Forest Quarry site in Alloa, Scotland was planned for Wednesday, while workers at the Glasshouse site in Alloa planned a 48-hour strike Thursday. The site in Harlow, near London is to be shut by a 48-hour stoppage Sunday.
OI Glass makes bottles for drink firms including Bacardi, Carlsberg and Diageo.
Housing association workers in northeast England set to strike
Housing association workers employed by the Thirteen Housing Group in northeast England voted by an 83 percent majority to strike over pay and attacks on pensions. The Thirteen Group is responsible for around 35,000 properties, mainly on Teesside.
The Unite union members oppose a well-below inflation 3 percent pay offer and threats to impose pension changes, which would leave those in the scheme around £1,000 a year worse off.
Dates for the strikes are June 25-28, July 2-6, July 9-14 and July 16-22. Strike days will involve 24-hour stoppages.
UK courts security workers strike ballot over pay
UK workers employed by the facilities management company OCS working as security staff in Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Services began balloting on Thursday over pay. The ballot closes July 13.
The PCS union members rejected a derisory pay offer of just 27p an hour above the £9.50 minimum wage. Their other demands include a £500 consolidated increase, full occupational sick pay from day one of employment and an additional day’s annual leave.
Strike by taxi hailing Bolt company drivers over pay and conditions
UK drivers working for hailing app Bolt held a 24-hour strike Wednesday. The App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) members are protesting the cost of living rise increasingly eating into their ability to earn a living, with fuel costs increasing by 34 percent and the cost of vehicles rising by 28 percent.
They are demanding fares are increased from £1.42 per mile to £2.50 a mile and the time element increased from £0.13 to £0.20 per minute. They are also protesting the company’s use of summary dismissals.
The ADCU organised a 24-hour strike for Uber drivers on June 22.
Car interior manufacturer workers in Tipton, UK to strike over pay offer
Around 100 workers employed by CabAuto near Birmingham, England are to strike after rejecting a 3 percent pay offer.
The Unite union members who make car interiors for luxury cars such as Aston Martin and Bentley are on only £9.90 an hour. Dates set for the strikes are June 28, 30 and July 4-8.
Traffic wardens at UK Wiltshire Council to hold stoppage
Traffic wardens working for UK Wiltshire Council will begin a week-long strike on June 30.
The GMB union members oppose plans to withdraw unsocial hour payments, leading to a loss of around £2,000 a year. The traffic wardens are among 350 staff including social workers and care workers facing the loss of the unsocial hour payments. The council is using the threat of fire and rehire to push through the changes.
GMB estimates the strike would lead to a £200,000 revenue loss for the council.
Protest by cleaners at UK Royal Opera House in London over work conditions
Cleaners employed by outsourcing company DOC Cleaning Ltd at the Royal Opera House in the UK capital held a protest outside the building on June 10. The Cleaners and Allied Independent Workers Union members were protesting imposed changes to breaks and the disciplining of workers who objected.
Middle East
Stoppages by bus drivers in Palestinian West Bank over working conditions
Bus drivers in 20 Palestinian West Bank towns held a short strike until 8.30am on Monday. The walkout was part of an ongoing dispute over working conditions.
Two-hour strike by Israeli teachers over pay negotiations
Israeli teachers in the Haifa area held a two-hour strike on Monday. Teachers in preschools, elementary and middle schools took part. It follows strikes by teachers in Jerusalem and central Israel.
The Israeli Teachers Union members are protesting the Finance Ministry’s refusal to negotiate over pay.
Continuing protests by pensioners in Iran over increasing economic insecurity
Originally held as weekly demonstrations in Iran, the protests and rallies by retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organisation on Sunday marked the sixth consecutive day of such protests. They took place in cities including Ahvaz, Bandar Abbas, Isfahan, Sari and Zanjan.
Protestors are responding to rising inflation, the continuing collapse of the Iranian currency and the withdrawal of government subsidies for many basic items, leaving wider layers of the Iranian population in dire needs. This is exacerbated by ongoing US sanctions against Iran.
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