The nationwide protests of nurses over harsh working conditions and unaddressed demands have reached the capital of Iran after more than two weeks.
According to images shared on social media, nurses in Tehran gathered in front of the Ministry of Health, Treatment, and Medical Education on Wednesday, August 21.
At this gathering, nurses chanted slogans such as “Overtime pay of 200,000 rials (approximately $0.33), shame, shame,” “Promises are just slogans, poor nurses,” and “Without nurses, the system will collapse.”
Simultaneously, other protest gatherings were held in cities like Isfahan, Tabriz, Rasht, Ahvaz, Marivan, Dehdasht, and Kermanshah.
The nurses’ protests have been ongoing for months, but the latest wave began on August 3 with protests and strikes at hospitals in Shiraz, which then spread to other cities.
Nurses at Shiraz hospitals have been on strike since Saturday, August 3, in protest against “mandatory overtime, non-implementation of laws, low wages, heavy and demanding work, insults, and threats,” and have demanded direct attention from Massoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran’s regime.
In some cities, including Shiraz, nurses have stopped working, and in other cities, like Isfahan, nurses have threatened to strike if the authorities continue to ignore their demands.
The state-run Ham-Mihan newspaper reported on Sunday, August 11, that 90% of nurses at Shiraz hospitals have stopped working, and instead of hospital managers contacting these nurses, “security agencies and head nurses have contacted them, threatening them with dismissal, legal action, and summons.”
Previously, professional associations had also reported threats against nurses in this city by security agencies.
Mohammad Sharifi Moghadam, Secretary of the Nurses’ Home, said on Thursday, August 15, that due to the nurses’ strike in recent days, operating rooms in five or six hospitals in Shiraz have been completely shut down.
Sharifi Moghadam, pointing out the extreme difficulties of the nursing profession, stated that the suicide rate among nurses is “significantly higher than other groups, but it is not publicized.”
