Four thousand petrochemical workers in southern Iran will be sacked and replaced after going on strike for better pay and conditions, state media reported.
The employees in Bushehr province have demanded salary increases and better accommodation and transport, state news agency Irna quoted the official in charge of the region's oil and gas sector as saying.
"In eight petrochemical projects of this region, a number of seasonal workers went on strike due to livelihood problems, and after the end of the legal deadline, 4,000 of them will be replaced by new workers," Sekhavat Assadi, chief executive of the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone said.
The agency extracts oil and gas from the offshore South Pars field in the Gulf, the world's largest known gas reserve which Iran shares with Qatar. About 40,000 people work at South Pars.
Mr Assadi said that "all manufacturing companies are operating and production is at full capacity".
In October, authorities made a number of arrests after a union rally when workers protested over the non payment of wages in Asalouyeh, the port in Bushehr province where the South Pars complex is based.
In 2022, Iran witnessed several waves of strikes by teachers and bus drivers who protested over low wages and high living costs.
Iran's economy has been hit by US-led sanctions and spiralling inflation, along with record depreciation of its national currency, the rial, against the dollar, after Washington withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018.
