By Pooya Stone
There were over 400 protests and strikes across 104 cities, towns, villages, industrial compounds, and business areas in Iran during March, including a three-day strike by teachers and various protests surrounding the government’s dire response to the devastating flash floods. This exceeded February’s total by 166 and equates to an average of 13 protest movements every day.
Breaking down the 415 protest movements
Teachers
There were 212 protest movements by teachers in 59 cities across Iran – which is nearly seven per day. The majority of this came from the three-day nationwide teachers’ strike, but there were seven other protests outside of these.
They were protesting the lack of government response to their demands in previous protests across the last Iranian year.
Workers
There were 85 protest actions in 36 cities, business areas, and industrial compounds by workers. This is roughly three per day.
Main reasons included:
• unpaid wages, ranging from a few months to a year-and-a-half
• insurance non-payment
• living conditions
• lay-offs
• insecure jobs
• wages below the poverty line
Prisoners
There were 21 protests by prisoners, including 14 hunger strikes. That is one every 1.5 days.
Plundered investors
There were 12 protests in two cities by people who had their savings stolen by government-run financial institutions. It’s roughly one every 2.5 days.
This included people who had been robbed by the Caspian institution in Tehran and Mashhad, the Padideh financial institution in Mashhad, the Alborz financial institution in Tehran, and several other government-affiliated financial institutions.
Pensioners
There were 11 protest movements by pensioners several places across Iran, including Markazi province, Arak, Gilan, Azerbaijan, Shush, Ahvaz, Isfahan, and Tehran. This is one every three days.
Farmers
There were seven major protests in 5 cities – Isfahan, Bandar-Abbas, Naghade, Minab, and Oshnavieh – by farmers demanding a pay raise. Some of these continued for days. That’s one every 4.5 days.
Students
There were five protests by students in three cities, including at Tehran Khajeh Nasir University. It’s an average of one every six days.
Bazaar merchants
There were four protests by bazaar merchants in four cities – Tehran, Tabriz, Ahvaz, and Khorramabad. That’s one every week.
They were protesting:
• high cost of living
• unstable value of Iran’s currency
• below average sales
Other
There were 58 protests by other sectors of the society, including:
• victims of the destructive flash floods angry at the government’s inaction
• truck drivers in Saveh, protesting the high costs of parts and insufficient gas rations
• hospital workers, including nurses and doctors, protesting low wages
