Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, January 4, 2021—The Iranian people’s patience regarding the economic situation is running thin, state-run media outlets are warning, and the consequences can be devastating for the regime. “We should be worried,” Sharq Daily wrote its weekend edition, and quoted the head of the Social Aid Workers Association as saying, “The continuation of [the coronavirus situation] will have destructive effects and cause many troubles for the country’s economy and society.”
The official added, “In the current coronavirus situation, causing false hopes is useless. The coronavirus and a failed economy… are having a massive impact on making people’s livelihoods harder. Not only did we don’t see oil revenue affecting people’s lives, but the lights of homes are going out.”
These worries are well placed, as the Iranian people continue to demonstrate in many different cities despite the threat of coronavirus and the regime’s repressive forces. The protest poor economic conditions, some stemming from the regime’s mishandling of the coronavirus outbreak, other deeply rooted in four decades of corrupt and destructive policies of the ruling mullahs.
On Sunday, theater workers and artists held a protest rally in front of the regime’s majlis (parliament).
Facing livelihood difficulties due to the closure of theaters in the Covid-19 crisis, the protesters have the following demands:
- Receiving unemployment benefits and insurance, treatment, and medicine facilities
- Compensation for the Covid19 damages
- Granting lowinterest loans and financial aid
- Allocating support budgets to prevent the closure of private theaters
- Determining a pension for the lowincome families
- Payment of rental duties
Protest rally by street vendors in Sanandaj
On the same day, vendors in the city of Sanandaj, west of Iran, held a rally on Ferdowsi Street and Azadi Square for the second consecutive day.
The vendors are protesting regime officials preventing them from continuing their job activities on Ferdowsi Street in the city of Sanandaj.
Protest by workers of Oil Company in the city of Gachsaran, southeast of Iran
Also on Sunday, workers of the Gachsaran Oil Company held a rally in front of the company's headquarters, protesting delayed paychecks.
These protesters spread their empty tablecloths in the street as a symbol of their miserable life conditions caused by the regime’s policies.
Workers of the Water and Sewage Department in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province held a rally
The workers of the Yasuj Water and Sewage Department held a rally in front of the department’s offices, demanding several-month delayed paychecks and protesting their job status remaining in limbo.
Protest rally of nurses and contract workers of Yazd University of Medical Sciences
On Sunday, January 3, a group of nurses and contract employees of Yazd University of Medical Sciences held a protest rally in front of Yazd Governor's Office demanding a change to their employment status and protesting discrimination in the payment of salaries and job benefits.
Protest rally by workers of Bafgh Health Center, Yazd province
A group of contract workers of Bafgh Health Center held a rally in front of the governor's office in the city of Bafgh, Yazd Province, on Sunday.
These protesters are demanding a change in their employment status and full payment of their job benefits.
They have worked with the official health employees but have the lowest salaries.
Protest rally by workers of Bafgh Health Center, Yazd province
