Retirees Protests in Iran, Its Causes, and Effects on Regime
Written by
Mansoureh Galestan
A dozen cities across Iran witnessed protests by retirees and pensioners of Iran’s Social Security organization on Sunday. This is the eighth consecutive week that retirees hold nationwide rallies, demanding their pensions adjusted with the rising inflation rate and the skyrocketing prices. They also protested their long-delayed pensions. However, the regime has refused to answer.
Retirees were chanting, “bankrupted government is the pensioners’ enemy,” “Our country sits on treasures; retirees live in hardships, “and “enough with oppression, our table our empty.”
The continuation of the retirees’ protests and its increasing trend comes when the regime tries its best to intimidate pensioners by calling them or sending them SMS warnings to prevent them from holding protests. Nevertheless, the regime has failed, and retirees held their nationwide protests.
Retirees and pensioners of the Social Security Organization in #Iran held protest rallies across the country on Sunday demanding higher pensions as inflation and prices of basic goods continue to escalate.#IranProtestshttps://t.co/USm4kHr9h7
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) March 14, 2021
In it worth noting that they are one sector of society with “a population of 70 million dissatisfied people,” underlining the public hatred toward the regime and showing the regime “faces super-crises and threatened,” according to the state-run Mostaghel daily on Sunday.
The Iranian regime has refused to raise the pensions in line with the rising inflation rate and the skyrocketing prices. While the regime complains of not having enough economic resources, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Monday unveiled another missile town and bragged about its military power.
Mar. 16 – Urmia, NW #Iran
Long lines for poultry in Urmia, 4 days to #Nowruz. #Iranians suffer due to the regime's corruption and mismanagement. pic.twitter.com/jMH9e6FQz7— Iran News Wire (@IranNW) March 16, 2021
Iran indeed is a rich country. Iran is “the fifth richest country globally in terms of natural resources such as oil, gas, coal, wood, gold, silver, copper, uranium, crude iron, and phosphate. With one percent of the world’s population and soil equivalent to one percent of the earth’s surface, more It has 7% of the world’s mineral resources,” according to the regime’s Parliament’s website on February 7, 2019.
However, people are grappling with poverty while the regime builds missiles and supports terrorism. On the eve of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year in March, “Visiting fruit markets make you cry, as you see citizens in Tehran purchase single fruits. According to the state-run Tejarat news agency on Sunday.
People are standing in long lines to purchase poultry because the regime-affiliated mafia export people’s daily needs, such as poultry. “The daily need of chicken in Tehran is one thousand tons, but only 200 tons are distributed,” according to the state-run Arman-e Eghtesadi news agency on Sunday.
This why retirees chant during their protests that “enough with oppression.” The ongoing protests in Iran are intensifying, thus terrifying the regime and its officials.
“In my opinion, you should be afraid of these crowds, maybe one day the people will be exhausted. Then acting will be useless. Today, people are worried about society’s future and their lives because society is on the verge of great crises. If crises pile up and the rulers do not listen to the voices of the protesters, the continuation of such a phenomenon can end the patience of the people. If there is no change in Iran soon, the mental state of the society will soon become more dangerous,” Saied Moidfar, a sociologist, warned the regime’s officials in an interview with the state-run Jahan-e Sanat news on Monday.