Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution was not inevitable. The Shah had weathered waves of protests over the decades. What ultimately pushed the monarchy over the brink was escalating labor unrest that paralyzed oil exports. The shah needed the revenues from those exports to replenish his treasury.

Now, in 2021, we see why the Islamic Republic has been so sensitive to efforts by Iranian workers to establish independent trade unions. Most Iranian workers do not believe the government will mediate fairly. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps dominates the Iranian economy and routinely stands above any law or arbitration: If the IRGC or its affiliates choose not to pay oil workers or those working in its factories or construction projects, workers have little recourse through the Ministry of Labor. Hence why they’ve chosen instead to form their own organizations.