Nationwide Strikes and Protests Sweep Iran Over Economic Crisis, Unpaid Pensions

Staff WriterSeptember 22, 2025
Nationwide Strikes and Protests Sweep Iran Over Economic Crisis, Unpaid Pensions
Protest by oil and gas workers in Aghajari, southwest Iran (September 21, 2025)

Protest by oil and gas workers in Aghajari, southwest Iran (September 21, 2025)
Written by
Mansoureh Galestan

On September 21, 2025, a powerful wave of coordinated protests swept across Iran, with thousands of retirees, teachers, and industrial workers taking to the streets in cities from Isfahan and Khuzestan to the capital, Tehran. The demonstrations, driven by the regime’s systemic corruption and catastrophic economic mismanagement, revealed a population pushed to its limits, with chants on the streets escalating from demands for basic sustenance to outright calls for the theocracy’s removal.

These protests are not isolated incidents but a clear sign of a society on the verge of a nationwide uprising, exposing the illegitimacy of a regime that has plundered the nation’s wealth while leaving its people destitute.

A Nationwide Uprising: Mapping the Protests
The protests on September 21 were notable for their geographic scope and synchronized nature, indicating a deeply organized and widespread level of discontent. Major cities became focal points for public anger:

In Isfahan, steel industry retirees rallied against systemic injustice.
In Khuzestan, Social Security retirees protested the regime’s empty promises and crippling poverty. The movement extended across the province, with retirees from Shush, Haft-Tappeh, and Karkheh gathering in front of the local governor’s office to voice their demands.
In Kermanshah, retirees congregated outside the Social Security building, while in Rasht, the capital of Gilan province, retirees held a similar rally.
In the nation’s capital, Tehran, Social Security retirees and educators joined forces to protest against the unbearable living conditions.
The unrest extended beyond pensioners to active workers, highlighting a systemic crisis crippling Iran’s industries. In Aghajari, employees of the oil and gas company protested with empty dinner spreads, a poignant symbol of their struggle. Meanwhile, workers at Ghadeer Steel in Behabad have been on strike for four months over unpaid wages. In Shahroud, the imminent closure of the steel mill threatens to destroy 300 jobs, leaving hundreds of families with no source of income.

The Slogans: From Economic Demands to Political Defiance
The chants echoing through Iran’s streets demonstrate a clear evolution in public consciousness. While rooted in economic despair, the slogans have become overtly political, directly challenging the regime’s authority and ideological legitimacy.

Protesters in Khuzestan and Shush chanted, “Promises are enough, our tables are empty!” In Kermanshah, this sentiment was linked to the regime’s destructive foreign policy: “Warmongering is enough, our tables are empty!”

More significantly, the demonstrators are now identifying the regime as the true source of their misery. In a stunning rebuke of decades of state propaganda, retirees in Kermanshah chanted, “Our enemy is right here; they lie and say it’s America.” In Isfahan, protesters attacked the core of the theocracy’s fraudulent ideology, shouting, “They used Islam as a ladder to wear the people down,” and made their ultimate demand clear with the slogan, “Officials, have some shame, let go of the country.”

The Human Cost of a Corrupt System: The Plight of Retirees
The desperation fueling these protests is rooted in a state of near-total collapse of social services, particularly for the nation’s elderly. According to the head of the Social Security Retirees’ Medical Committee, the situation is now “critical.” The regime has withheld funds owed to the Social Security Organization, creating a catastrophic breakdown in healthcare.

For six months, supplementary health insurance fees have been deducted from retirees’ meager pensions but never transferred to the insurance provider. As a result, hospitals and medical centers across the country are canceling their contracts, leaving retirees with no coverage. Men and women who worked their entire lives are now being abandoned by the state.

The human toll is devastating. Retirees with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses cannot afford treatment and are forced to sell their homes and personal belongings to pay for medicine. In a stark example of the regime’s institutionalized corruption, loan quotas intended to provide essential aid to these retirees have reportedly been siphoned off by members of the regime’s parliament.

The nationwide protests of September 21 are a powerful indictment of the clerical regime’s four decades of incompetence and plunder. The slogans chanted on the streets confirm that the Iranian people no longer see a distinction between factions within the ruling elite; they identify the entire system, under the leadership of Ali Khamenei, as the architect of their suffering. This unified and defiant movement is not a fleeting moment of anger but the manifestation of a volatile society that has lost its fear. It is the sound of a nation rising to reclaim its future from a corrupt and illegitimate tyranny and signals an unwavering desire for a democratic and just alternative.

Staff WriterSeptember 22, 2025
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