In the second week of August 2025, a powerful wave of protests swept across Iran, as citizens from diverse sectors of society voiced their outrage over the regime’s systemic corruption, economic mismanagement, and catastrophic failure to provide basic utilities. From the strategic oil and gas fields to the sweltering streets of Khuzestan, workers, retirees, and ordinary citizens staged coordinated rallies, demanding their fundamental rights and an end to the government’s plunder of national wealth.
Citizens protest crippling power outages and corrupt billing
Public anger reached a boiling point in several cities due to recurring and prolonged power outages, a direct result of the regime’s incompetence and neglect of the country’s infrastructure. In Babolsar, furious residents gathered in front of the local electricity department to demand accountability for the incessant blackouts.
On Sunday, August 10, the protests intensified in Golestan and Salehiyeh districts in Tehran, where fed-up citizens and shopkeepers closed their businesses and rallied in front of the electricity department to protest sudden power cuts that had plagued them since early morning. The situation was even more dire in Chabahar, where on Wednesday, August 13, residents from several districts, including Golshahr and Osmanabad, protested a complete 24-hour blackout.
Meanwhile, in Kashan, citizens took to the streets to protest what they described as blatant “theft and plunder” by the government in the form of exorbitant, multi-million rial water bills, further highlighting the regime’s practice of exploiting the populace to cover its financial shortfalls.
Widespread strikes in oil and gas sector challenge regime’s policies
Iran’s vital energy sector was rocked by extensive and coordinated strikes as thousands of workers protested their deteriorating living and working conditions. On Friday, August 8, official workers of the Iranian Offshore Oil Company on Siri Island held a rally to voice their grievances.
The movement grew significantly on Monday, August 11. Employees at the South Pars Gas Complex chanted, “Our problem is the salary floor and ceiling; every promise they make is a lie,” exposing the regime’s empty pledges. On the same day, workers at the Pars Oil and Gas Company in Kangan, joined by staff from 40 other platforms, demanded the “elimination of the oppressive and unjust salary cap in the operational areas of the oil industry.”
Reports confirmed that the strikes were widespread, encompassing key facilities including the Pars Oil and Gas Company (POGC), the South Pars Gas Complex (SPGC), sites in Asaluyeh and Kangan, the Pars Special Economic Energy Zone, Fajr Jam Gas Refinery, and facilities on Lavan Island. This organized action by workers in the regime’s most crucial economic sector sends a powerful message of defiance.
Retirees lead protests against poverty and corruption
Continuing their relentless weekly protests, retirees once again took to the streets in major cities including Tehran, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, and Isfahan, condemning the regime for pushing them into poverty.
In Ahvaz, on Sunday, August 10, retirees braved scorching temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius to chant, “Refah Bank is ours, it is the fruit of our labor” and “The Social Security Organization must be freed from government monopoly.” Their slogans directly targeted the corrupt institutions that have plundered their pension funds.
In Isfahan, retired steelworkers echoed this sentiment, chanting, “Hey, head of the government, enough with the betrayal!” In Kermanshah, Social Security retirees showed solidarity with other oppressed groups, demanding freedom for imprisoned teachers and workers, demonstrating a unified front against the regime’s widespread repression.
Professionals and victims of financial scams voice their anger
The protests extended to various professional groups and victims of state-backed financial scams. On August 10, radiographers held widespread protests in Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, and at least ten other cities over their poor working conditions, warning that their rallies would continue until their demands were met. Supervising engineers also protested in Tehran against the corrupt policies of the regime’s municipality.
On Monday, August 11, a large crowd of defrauded investors of the “Hakim” housing project gathered in front of a prosecutor’s office in Tehran. They protested the systemic corruption that allowed for the plunder of their life savings, a common story for millions of Iranians who have lost everything to regime-affiliated financial schemes. The collective outrage from all these groups underscores a society on the verge of explosion, united against a corrupt and illegitimate ruling theocracy.