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"Enough of Empty Promises!" Retirees Protest over Deteriorating Living Conditions

May 30, 2023
2 min read
Retirees from the telecommunications sector again gathered in multiple cities across 12 Iranian provinces on May 29 to protest the government’s failure to improve their living conditions amid soaring inflation
Retirees from the telecommunications sector again gathered in multiple cities across 12 Iranian provinces on May 29 to protest the government’s failure to improve their living conditions amid soaring inflation
Hormozgan
Hormozgan
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari
Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari
Ilam
Ilam

Retirees from the telecommunications sector again gathered in multiple cities across 12 Iranian provinces on May 29 to protest the government’s failure to improve their living conditions amid soaring inflation.

Pensioners have taken to the streets every Monday in recent weeks.

Videos released by the Free Workers' Union show pensioners shouting slogans in the provinces of Khuzestan, Lorestan, Hormozgan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, Ilam, West Azerbaijan, Khorasan Razavi, Mazandaran, Fars and Isfahan.

In the south-western city of Ahvaz, protesters rallied outside the Khuzestan Telecommunications Company's main building and chanted "Enough of oppression and injustice, our table is empty" and "Enough of empty promises, our table is empty."

Retirees in Mashhad, in the country’s north-east, voiced anger at the minister of communications with slogans such as "Unworthy minister, shame on you, shame on you!"

Similar protests rocked cities in West Azerbaijan and Kurdistan provinces.

Workers also held rallies on May 29 to protest living standards and to push the government to approve wage and social payment increases as the industrial, manufacturing, and service sectors have been hit by increasing job layoffs over the past three months. 

Workers at the Madkosh factory in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, a crucial supplier for the Hormozgan steel production plant, demonstrated for a third consecutive day.

In East Azerbaijan province, workers at the Neflin Sinite factory in Kaliber went on strike for a second day and demonstrated outside the factory premises.

And employees of the Gharb Oil and Gas Exploitation Company in the south-western city of Ilam also protest the non-fulfilment of their demands.

Unrest has rattled Iran since last summer in response to declining living standards, wage arrears and a lack of welfare support amid the Islamic Republic’s increasing isolation and a worsening economic situation partly triggered by years of sanctions. The September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody breathed new life into the protests.

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