As the Iranian regime continues to fail to address the demands of various social groups, nurses in Ahvaz and Mashhad, permanent employees of the Behregan oil region, army retirees in Tehran, poultry farmers, and municipal workers in Ilam gathered to protest the authorities’ neglect of their demands.
A video obtained by Iran International on Wednesday, November 5, shows a group of nurses from Qaem Hospital in Mashhad protesting officials’ disregard for their demands, low service rates, and delayed payments.
Low tariffs, delays in wage payments, and increasing exhaustion among healthcare staff are among the main reasons behind the nurses’ protests.
Retired Oil Industry and Social Security Workers Hold Protest Gatherings in Several Iranian Cities
These nurses told the state-run ILNA news agency: “We can’t make ends meet with these salaries.”
Images circulating on social media also show a group of nurses in Ahvaz holding a simultaneous protest.
Nurses and healthcare workers in Iran have repeatedly held demonstrations, sit-ins, and strikes in recent years to protest the authorities’ failure to address their grievances.
Protest by permanent oil workers in the Behregan region
The state-run ILNA news agency reported that permanent employees of the Behregan oil region protested on Wednesday, November 5, against unfulfilled promises and the government’s failure to meet their professional demands.
Their demands included an increase in the minimum wage, complete removal of salary caps for operational staff, elimination of the retirement ceiling, and reimbursement of excessive taxes collected in violation of existing laws.
Oil workers in Behregan had previously staged several protests over similar unfulfilled demands in past months.
Protest by army retirees
A group of army retirees gathered on the morning of Wednesday, November 5, in front of the central Army Association building in Tehran to protest the unfulfilled promises regarding their rights.
They demanded transparent reports on how the association spends retirees’ membership fees, as well as clear information on the association’s construction projects in Iran’s northern cities and Kermanshah.
According to ILNA, the retirees also insisted that receiving war compensation is their legitimate right and called for transparent and fair handling of their legal entitlements and justice in payments.
Protest by poultry farmers in Tehran
A group of poultry farmers from across the country held a protest on Wednesday, November 5, in front of the main building of the Ministry of Agriculture in Tehran, decrying the shortage of livestock feed required for chicken and egg production.
The farmers said they had not received feed supplies for about two months, putting production and jobs in the poultry sector in serious jeopardy.
Representatives of the protesters stressed that during this period, no feed shipments had been distributed and officials had ignored their follow-ups.
Protest by contract workers of Ilam Municipality
A number of contract workers of Ilam Municipality protested on the morning of Wednesday, November 5, first in front of the municipality building and later in front of the governor’s office, objecting to unfulfilled promises regarding their unpaid wages.
The protesting workers said that contrary to the promises made by city officials, their two to three months of back pay had not yet been settled.
One of the workers told ILNA: “The main problem is the two to three-month delay in our wages and insurance payments. Contract-based workers haven’t been paid for three months, and permanent and fixed-term employees for two. At the same time, due to the nature of our contracts with private contractors, we have no job security.”
At the same time, farmers from Mazandaran and Golestan provinces held protests in front of rice mills over unpaid debts of 2 trillion rials (approximately 1.739 million dollars) from last year’s harvest.
According to other reports, a group of pharmacists and pharmacy owners in Fars Province gathered in front of the Social Security Office in Shiraz.
The demonstrators demanded the settlement of overdue payments and resolution of bounced insurance checks.
The deteriorating living conditions of retirees, pensioners, nurses, and workers have led to a sharp rise in the number of protest gatherings in recent years.
