Retirees and pensioners across Iran are protesting poor living conditions as the country’s economy sinks further into crises. The situation has become so drastic that even areas in the country’s capital Tehran, with a population of at least nine million people and rising, has been experiencing severe water shortages in the past week. These issues are all thanks to the mullahs’ devastating economic policies, or lack thereof, that have left the country in shambles while the ruling elite continue their plundering. More regime officials are inevitably warning about escalating protests as a result of these dire circumstances.
People throughout Iran continue to specifically hold the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei responsible for their miseries, while also condemning the oppressive the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units, alongside other security units that are on the ground suppressing the peaceful demonstrators.
Protests in Iran have to this day expanded to at least 282 cities. Over 750 people have been killed and more than 30,000 are arrested by the regime’s forces, according to sources of Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). The names of 675 killed protesters have been published by the PMOI/MEK.
#IranProtests at a Glance on Wednesday, June 14, 2023 pic.twitter.com/UBh2MFmkvg
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) June 15, 2023
Coal miners in the town of Hojadk in Kerman Province, south-central Iran, rallied outside the Kerman Coal Mines Company on Thursday protesting their poor work and living conditions. Regime officials have refused to provide any responses regarding their paychecks and pensions.
June 15 – Hojadk, Kerman Province, south-central #Iran
Coal miners rallied outside the Kerman Coal Mines Company protesting their poor work and living conditions.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/nHoUGxI5ZL— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 15, 2023
Regime authorities are dispatching anti-riot units from neighboring cities and province to Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan & Baluchestan in southeast Iran, according to local activists who are posting footage on social media. This is prior to the weekly rallies of Friday following prayers that have regularly been followed by brave protests and demonstrations by the people of Zahedan and other cities of Sistan & Baluchestan Province.
At least 50 military vehicles and seven busses transferring different units were seen on a road from Kerman in south-central Iran to Zahedan, according to local activists. During the past two days activists say a large number of military and security units have been dispatched to Zahedan and the Sistan & Baluchestan Province in general from neighboring provinces.
Additional reports indicate at least 50 military vehicles and seven busses transferring different units were seen on a road from Kerman in south-central #Iran to Zahedan, according to local activists. pic.twitter.com/j41jbpVyGf
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 15, 2023
Pensioners and retirees of the regime’s Social Security Organization in the cities of Ahvaz and Kermanshah, southwest and western Iran, respectively, were holding rallies on Wednesday, protesting high prices, poverty, corruption, inflation, poor living conditions and officials’ refusal to address their demands. A similar rally was held in Ardabil, northwest Iran, where retirees were also demanding the release of unjustly detained workers and teachers.
Pensioners and retirees are among the worst-hit segments of Iran’s society. They depend on government stipends to make ends meet, but the regime has refused to increase their pensions in correspondence with growing inflation and the depreciation of the national currency.
The government has long provided many hollow promises of increasing pensions. It was also supposed to settle unpaid pensions remaining from previous years. So far, it has yet to deliver on both demands.
Interestingly, the regime’s own media reported that The Social Security Investment Company (SHASTA), the financial institution that is supposed to fund retirees, has seen a significant increase in its profits in the past years. However, these profits have yet to materialize in the lives of pensioners and retirees.
June 14 – Ahvaz, southwest #Iran
More footage of retirees and pensioners of the regime's Social Security Organization outside the governor's office of Khuzestan Province protesting and voicing their economic woes.#IranProtests2023 pic.twitter.com/pdFzv2qznHpic.twitter.com/R9uGf3HeW9— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 14, 2023
Local railway workers in the city of Bam in Kerman Province, south-central Iran, were on strike yet again on Wednesday protesting officials’ refusal to address their demands. Many of them have had many paychecks delayed for a very long time, some even years.
June 14 – Bam, south-central #Iran
Local railway workers are once again on strike protesting officials' refusal to address their demands. Many of them have had paychecks and pensions delayed for a very long time.#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/U3F4JIdGnn— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 14, 2023
An inmate by the name of Milad Ghobadi was executed early Wednesday morning in Yasuj Central Prison located in southwest Iran, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights. This individual was sentenced to death four years ago, according to the Iran Human Rights Organization. State media and outlets affiliated to the regime’s so-called judiciary have yet to report on this execution.
Regime authorities in Iran executed an inmate by the name of Hadi Al-Naser in Sheyban Prison of Ahvaz, southwest Iran on Monday. This follows the execution of at least six inmates on Sunday, including 33-year-old Dariush Rahimi in Vakil Abad Prison of Mashhad in northeast Iran, two inmates by the names of Hossein Amaninezhad and Hamed Bavari in Hamadan Prison of western Iran, a member of Iran’s Baluch community by the name of Ibrahim Gomshad-Zehi in Kerman Central Prison of south-central Iran, and Heydar Chashti and another inmate in Torbat-e Jam Prison of northeast Iran.
On Saturday regime authorities hanged two inmates in Karaj Central Prison located west of the capital Tehran. The names of these two inmates were Masoud Sasani and Saeed Nasiri. A member of Iran’s Baluch community by the name of Hassan Barahuie, held behind bars for five years, was executed on Wednesday, June 7, in Amir Abad Prison of Gorgan in northeast Iran. In total, the mullahs’ regime executed at least 59 inmates in the span of three weeks from May 22 to June 11.
The protests in Iran began following the death of Mahsa Amini. Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old woman from the city of Saqqez in Kurdistan Province, western Iran, who traveled to Tehran with her family, was arrested on Tuesday, September 13, at the entry of Haqqani Highway by the regime’s so-called “Guidance Patrol” and transferred to the “Moral Security” agency.
She was brutally beaten by the morality police and died of her wounds in a Tehran hospital on September 16. The event triggered protests that quickly spread across Iran and rekindled the people’s desire to overthrow the regime.
June 14 – Berlin, Germany
Freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the #Iran opposition PMOI/MEK holding a photo exhibition in solidarity with #IranRevolution.pic.twitter.com/7a9lZwB9pq— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) June 15, 2023
