Azerbaijan, Baku, July 14/Trend D. Khatinoglu/
While Iran's Labour and Social Affairs Minister, Abdolreza Sheikhol-Eslami, denies that Chinese workers are employed in building the Tehran-Caspian Freeway, two reporters from ILNA and Fars news agencies say that 700 Chinese employees are working on the project.
This isn't the first time when Sheikhol-Eslami has refuted the reports about Chinese workers' employment in the Tehran-Caspian Freeway project.
The Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) quoted the Labour Minister as saying that the plan to use Chinese workers on the Tehran-Caspian Freeway project was politically useful to those who want to criticize the government.
Those comments contradict Mehr news agency's report that last month Sheikhol-Eslami assured the Chinese minister that he called for the efforts be sped up to resolve Chinese workers' problems.
These comments have been accompanied by the protests.
According to ILNA, Nader Ghazipour, a member of Iran's Majlis (parliament), called employing Chinese workers in domestic projects illegal and a matter that had to be investigated by the responsible authorities.
Last Thursday, Iran's Labour Minister rejected the news again.
Fars news agency also reported that 100 of 700 employees involved in the freeway project are Iranian.