Economic protests in Iran continued on Sunday with a strike and gathering of nurses and healthcare staff at Milad Hospital in Tehran, as well as demonstrations by retirees in several provinces.
According to reports on social media on Sunday, February 16, in addition to the strike by Milad Hospital’s healthcare staff and a protest gathering by its nurses and employees in Tehran, a group of retirees also gathered in protest against economic conditions in the provinces of Isfahan, Khuzestan, and Kermanshah.
Nurses and staff at Milad Hospital in Tehran, protesting the lack of response to their demands and the worsening economic crisis, chanted: “Without nurses, the system collapses,” and “Where did our tariffs go? Look whose pockets they filled.”
The nurses’ strike at Milad Hospital, now in its third day, is in protest against the reduction of base wages in their pay slips and overall economic hardships. The protesters have demanded the resignation of officials.
Simultaneously with the nurses’ strike in Tehran, a group of retirees from the steel and mining industries gathered in Isfahan.
Protesting retirees in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan province, chanted, “How long will you keep lying to the nation?” as they voiced their opposition to the Iranian regime’s officials.
Retiree protests also took place in Kermanshah. The protesters, chanting “From Kerman to Tehran, the killing of our children,” reacted to the death of Amir Mohammad Khaleghi, a 19-year-old student at the University of Tehran, as well as the deaths of several students in a school trip bus accident.
Protesting retirees in Shush, another city in Khuzestan province, expressed their frustration with economic conditions by chanting, “Inflation and high prices are the people’s disaster.”
Amid a sharp rise in inflation and currency exchange rates, the minimum cost of a household’s essential living expenses has surpassed 300 million rials (approximately $323), while the minimum wage for a worker with two children is around $120. Economic conditions in Iran have triggered protests from various professional groups, including workers, teachers, and retirees.
The expansion of professional group protests—including retirees, industrial workers, teachers, defrauded investors, and nurses and healthcare workers—reflects the worsening economic struggles in Iran and the neglect of the regime’s officials.
