On 10 August Mr Madadi lost an appeal and was sentenced to five years and three months imprisonment on charges of ‘gathering and colluding with intent to act against national security’ and ‘disrupting public order and peace by participating in illegal gatherings’. In February Mr Razavi received a similar sentence.

The verdict is the latest in the repressive actions by Iran’s government against leaders of Vahed Syndicate.

• April 2015: Davood Razavi and Ebrahim Madadi are arrested. The ITF and the ITUC write to Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to ask him to intervene in the the case. A LabourStart appeal gets nearly 7,000 supporters.
• May 2015: Mr Razavi and Mr Madadi are released on bail.
• February 2016: A five year prison sentence is given to Mr Razavi. ITF general secretary Stephen Cotton writes to the president of Iran to protest the continued victimisation.

In a letter to Hassan Rouhani, president of Iran, ITF general secretary Stephen Cotton said: “I reiterate the ITF’s firm objection to such oppressive tactics, which seriously jeopardise legitimate trade union activities.

“International standards demand, as a matter of urgency, that Davood Razavi and Ebrahim Madadi are fully granted their civil liberties, i.e. that charges against them are dropped, that they are freed and that the conditions be put in place that enable them to conduct trade union activities, as envisaged by the rules of the ILO.”

Iran is a member of the International Labour Organisation and is under an obligation to respect the fundamental rights of trade unionists.