Protests Continue Across Iran, Despite Regime’s Pressure

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People's slogan - people's broken backs under the burden of inflation
People’s slogan – people’s broken backs under the burden of inflation

By Jubin Katiraie

More protests sprung up across Iran on Monday and Tuesday, featuring people from all different sectors of society with a variety of issues that needed addressing, but all of them united with the regime as the central cause of their problems.

On Tuesday, September 15, retirees gathered outside the Pension Center Organization’s building in Kermanshah, western Iran, to protest low pensions that leave them in poverty, while regime officials are living the high life.

They chanted:

  • “Retirees are living in poor conditions”
  • “We are empty-handed, but officials get high wages”

Also, on Tuesday, retired workers in Ahvaz, southwest Iran, protested rally in front of the Social Security Department in Khuzestan province.

On Monday, September 14, bakers in Yazd, central Iran, gathered in front of the governor’s office in the city to protest the “unrealistic” cost of bread when the current out-of-control inflation is taken into account.

Because of the low bread prices, bakery workers are seeing a significant dip in their earnings versus inflation, more so than other workers.

Also on Monday, workers from the Iran Tractor industrial group held a protest against the decision to transfer ownership of the company to the private sector. They also demanded their legitimate rights be met.

Workers said that since the privatization, problems have doubled and paychecks have always been delayed for several months, which is making it impossible for them to survive.

Company officials have also refused to deposit a part of the workers’ insurance premiums to the Social Security Department’s account since last March, which can make it hard for workers to get healthcare or retire.

And finally, on Monday, the expelled employees of the Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company protested outside the governorate in Shush in Khuzestan province, southwest Iran. They demanded that their jobs be reinstated and that they be allowed to return immediately on permanent contracts.

They had been fired after taking part in previous protests over a lack of job security due to the temporary contracts the new managers made them sign.

Haft Tappeh workers have been on strike multiple times over the past few years.

It is clear that the regime will do nothing to fix these problems and that the people’s protests will not stop until their rights are honored, so it appears the country is at an impasse. In 2017, The Congress of the International Federation of Food Workers, Agriculture and Services adopted a resolution criticizing the way the Iranian regime is dealings with the workers of the Sugar Cape Haft Tapeh and announced its support for the workers.

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Iran: August Marked by Hundreds of Protests