In recent years, and especially over the past year, Iran’s retirees have taken to the streets to demand their rights. The streets of cities across Iran have repeatedly witnessed the large and persistent presence of retirees protesting their dire living conditions. This movement continues and is growing by the day. These honorable and hardworking people, who dedicated years of their lives and energy to service to the country, now in their old age and time of need, are facing enormous economic hardships, rampant inflation, and the neglect of the corrupt officials of the clerical regime. Their widespread protests, which initially had professional and livelihood-related themes, have now clearly shifted toward political demands. They see the root of their problems not only in the corrupt management of pension funds but also in the entirety of the regime’s plundering economic policies and its inherently corrupt structure.
A voice from the depths of suffering
The retirees’ movement is a cry from the heart of the pain and suffering of a hardworking sector of society. Words like “high prices,” “inflation,” “meager wages,” and many more like these have been repeatedly seen on retirees’ placards from Ahvaz to Mashhad, from Kermanshah to Tehran. The monthly pensions of many retirees do not even cover one-quarter of the basic daily living expenses.
On February 8, the state-run Shargh newspaper reported the poverty line in Iran, according to many estimates, has surpassed 350 million rials some retirees’ pensions are less than one-third of this amount. For people who have served for years, this situation is a disaster and is regarded as a form of social humiliation.
In the Persian calendar year 1403 (March 2024–March 2025), these protests expanded significantly. Retirees not only protested low wages and unfair payment systems but also began directly addressing the country’s thieving officials with bold and explicit slogans. Entering the new year of 1404, we are witnessing a peak in these rightful protests by the retirees, with slogans such as: “Our useless government and parliament are a disgrace,” “Ghalibaf, be ashamed, leave the parliament” (referring to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the regime’s parliament), “From Khuzestan to Tehran, shame on these managers,” “Oh president, you lied to the people,” “Both the parliament and the government oppress the people.”
These slogans show that the retirees’ patience has run out. They have come to understand that the problem does not lie in a single office or ministry but in the overarching decision-making and structural incompetence of the clerical dictatorship.
In many countries around the world, retirees hold a respected status. They are seen as a treasure trove of experience, expertise, and professional ethics. In societies where human dignity and social justice hold any value, retirement is not the beginning of poverty, but the start of a peaceful and respectful phase of life. However, in Iran under the rule of the clerics, the ruling policymakers only think of two fundamental strategies: repression and plunder.
Despite their advanced age and physical limitations, the retirees of Iran have repeatedly taken to the streets. They chant: “Only in the streets, can we claim our rights.” This reflects the depth of their dissatisfaction and the seriousness of their demands. The response of the oppressive clerical regime to these cries has always been force, beatings, and bullets. On Monday, January 20, Khamenei’s suppressive forces attacked a peaceful gathering of retired teachers in Tehran with pepper spray and brutally beat the poor and elderly retirees. As a result of this savage assault, the physical health of some retired teachers who were demanding the payment of their overdue salaries was put in danger.
Retirees, a nationwide movement
Some of the rebellious cities where retirees have risen include Rasht, Ahvaz, Shush, Bandar Abbas, Sanandaj, Tabriz, Bijar, Isfahan, Tehran, Shushtar, Ilam, Zanjan, Kermanshah, Damghan, Kerman, Urmia, Semnan, Bojnourd, Hamedan, Shiraz, Khorramabad, Takestan, Marivan, Ardabil, Haft Tappeh, Qaemshahr, Dezful, and many other cities across the country. Now, deprived retirees have risen against the oppression and injustice of the decaying regime across all corners of the nation, preparing for the great uprising of the people. A massive fire smolders beneath the ashes, the flames of which are already visible in the powerful blaze of the Resistance Units.