Reported by PMOI/MEK
Iran, Feb. 26, 2019 – Retired government employees, along with retired military personnel, rallied on Tuesday outside the regime’s Majlis in Tehran, the capital of Iran, protesting poor living conditions, discrimination and the violation of their rights. These retirees have long been demanding the mullahs’ regime provide the pensions they are entitled to under law.
The protesting retirees were holding signs reading:
“Enough with cruelty, we have nothing to eat”
They were also heard chanting:
“Our paychecks are in rials, our expenses are in dollars”
“No nation has witnessed such injustice”
“Our pain is your pain; people, join us and unite”
In other reports of protests, a group of teachers in the town of Qaleh Ganj of Kerman Province, south-central Iran, rallied outside the local Friday prayer imam’s office, seeking answers to their demands. Friday prayer imams are known as representatives of Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
In Tabriz, northwest Iran, workers of two auto production lines and a foundry company went on strike, protesting officials’ policies and procedures aimed at plundering their earnings. These measures are all being carried out under the pretext of “privatization.”
Privatization in Iran is a new and modern form of plundering. According to official statistics, since 2002, thousands of Iranian factories and companies have been transferred from the public to the private sector.
Retirees from across the country seen protesting in front of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) in Tehran, Iran – February 26, 2019
Retirees from across the country seen protesting in front of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) in Tehran, Iran – February 26, 2019
Retirees from across the country seen protesting in front of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) in Tehran, Iran – February 26, 2019
Also on Monday, clients of the Caspian credit firm held a gathering in Tehran outside the city’s prosecutor general office. They were protesting and demanding their stolen savings returned.
Caspian credit firm clients holding a protest rally in Tehran, Iran – February 25, 2019
Caspian credit firm clients holding a protest rally in Tehran, Iran – February 25, 2019
Caspian credit firm clients holding a protest rally in Tehran, Iran – February 25, 2019
Caspian credit firm clients holding a protest rally in Tehran, Iran – February 25, 2019
Caspian credit firm clients holding a protest rally in Tehran, Iran – February 25, 2019
On the same day, clients of the Badr Toos & Peyvand credit firm, known to be a subsidiary of the Caspian firm, were holding a rally in Mashhad, northeast Iran, protesting officials’ refusal to respond to their demands. This gathering was held outside the city’s provincial governor office where they laid a symbolic tablecloth to say they have nothing to eat.
Clients of the Badr Toos & Peyvand credit firm, held a rally in Mashhad
The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) affiliated Caspian has been officially recognized and authorized by Iran’s Central Bank and has absorbed the savings of thousands of Iranians across the country. However, last year, the institution filed for bankruptcy, taking away all the investments of its customers.
Caspian is one of several credit institutions with shady backgrounds and disastrous outcomes that have stolen the savings of middle-class Iranians. All of these institutions have close ties to government officials and institutions and have been running Ponzi schemes for years.
At the same time, in Mashhad, the customers of the Badr Toos, another financial institution with ties to the IRGC, demonstrated in protest to the theft of their deposits. The protesters demanded the return of their deposits.
Protestors also gathered outside a branch of the institution throughout the country, including Neyshabur in northeastern Iran. A similar protest was also witnessed in the city of Rasht.
The defunct IRGC backed Caspian Credit Institute, founded in the 1990s claiming to be a local low-interest-rate loan fund, attracted thousands of investors by paying higher interest rates but later failed to fulfill its promises.
There are hundreds of similar funds active across Iran but the regime has failed to regulate them.
The foremost demand of the protesters is to take back their money siphoned off by the IRGC-aligned institution.
Many people across the country had trusted Caspian credit institution enough to decide to invest in it, as its name had been listed in Central Bank’s official website as an authorized institution. Therefore, investors are also saying they can no longer trust the regime’s Central Bank.
