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Iran’s Nurses Resume Protests, Demand Improved Wages and Working Conditions

Sia Rajabi
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Iran’s Nurses Resume Protests, Demand Improved Wages and Working Conditions

The nursing sector in Iran is currently grappling with intensifying challenges, including staff shortages, high work pressures, and low wages. This has sparked a wave of protests and demands for enhanced professional and living conditions.

Currently, around 220,000 nurses work in Iran’s medical facilities, expressing frustration over insufficient pay and inadequate benefits. Despite approximately 20,000 trained nurses remaining unemployed, authorities have been unable to address staffing shortages, further increasing the workload on active nurses.

Legislation regarding nurses’ rights, such as the right to retirement after twenty years of service, paid annual leave, and increased compensation, remains unimplemented. This neglect of promised rights has only heightened discontent among Iran’s nursing workforce.

Given these difficult circumstances, many nurses are opting to migrate to Gulf countries, Europe, Australia, Canada, and the United States in search of better opportunities. Those who remain in Iran continue to protest daily, garnering significant support from the community. This collective action reflects a strong desire to bring about positive changes in the health system.

On November 2, major protest gatherings were held in the cities of Mashhad and Yazd, where nurses and other medical staff from various hospitals united to voice their demands. Key demands highlighted by the protesters include:

  1. Implementation of Nursing Services Pricing Law: Establishing a clear law to determine fees for nursing services, especially for pre-hospital emergency care, with financial backing from the Ministry of Health and insurance companies, as these services are currently offered free of charge.
  2. Increased Compensation for Emergency Nurses: Should an independent compensation package remain unapproved, protesters demand an increase in emergency nurses’ compensation by at least four times the current level, factoring in workload intensity, population density, and challenging work conditions.
  3. Reduced Retirement Age and Increased Hardship Points: Under the “hard and strenuous” job category, they are demanding a reduction in retirement age for emergency workers, along with an increase in hardship points from 1,500 to 3,000 as previously announced.
  4. Enhanced Productivity for Emergency Workers: Full application of the Productivity Improvement Law to pre-hospital emergency staff, aligning with its implementation for laboratory and night clinic staff.
  5. Special Allowance at Triple the Basic Salary: Allocation of a special allowance, amounting to three times the basic salary, for nursing staff from the national budget, to be included in employment contracts.
  6. Full Implementation of Additional Benefits and Welfare: Enforcing directives for additional benefits and welfare packages for Ministry of Health and emergency staff, without requiring approval from governing boards, in line with other government employees.
  7. Improvement of National Emergency Organizational Structure: Revamping the organizational structure of the national emergency services and granting broader decision-making powers to pre-hospital emergency managers. Additionally, allocating a separate budget for provincial emergency centers to prevent fund transfers by university boards.
  8. Dedicated Budget for Ambulance Purchase and Maintenance: Allocating a separate budget for 2025 to acquire new ambulances and maintain the aging fleet, which currently relies on private revenue and sometimes personal funding, putting the lives of medical staff and patients at risk.

 

  1. Amending the Nursing System Organization’s Charter: Amending the nursing organization’s charter to allocate at least one seat for emergency nurses on provincial boards and three seats on the national nursing system council.
  2. Replacement of Ineffective Administrators: Replacing underperforming emergency department managers and their deputies at hospitals and health centers nationwide, as their inefficacy in addressing nurses’ demands has contributed to the accumulation and delay of unresolved issues.

These protests underscore a deep-seated frustration within Iran’s healthcare workforce, particularly amid mounting work pressures and the physically and mentally demanding nature of their jobs. They also highlight a significant gap between healthcare staff and sector leadership, indicating an urgent need to reconsider management policies and structures to ensure efficient and stable operations in the healthcare sector.

Flu Vaccine Shortage Causing a New Health Crisis in Iran

Mehdi Hosseini
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Flu Vaccine Shortage Causing a New Health Crisis in Iran

In Iran, the flu vaccine shortage this winter is raising serious public health concerns. State media reports indicate that approximately 3 to 4 million high-risk Iranians are being deprived of access to the vaccine. Meanwhile, various types of flu vaccines are circulating on the black market, with prices reaching up to 12 million rials—several times the standard cost.

This shortage brings back memories of the COVID-19 vaccine crisis that plagued the country at the height of the pandemic, highlighting severe shortcomings in Iran’s healthcare system. During that period, delays and ineffective policies in vaccine procurement and quarantine measures led to a sharp rise in death rates, placing Iran among the countries with the highest mortality rates. Today, the lack of flu vaccines escalates the risk, particularly for vulnerable groups, in the absence of effective policies to secure public health needs.

Although flu vaccines are available on the black market, the authorities’ failure to regulate distribution and control prices underscores the government’s inability to safeguard citizens’ health, which some see as a form of “silent killing” due to random policies and administrative corruption.

According to the state-run Alef website, the black market emerged as soon as winter approached and demand for the vaccine rose. ISNA news agency also reports complaints from local officials about vaccine shortages, with the head of the Infectious Diseases Department at Yazd University of Medical Sciences noting that the province’s vaccine allocation is insufficient to meet the needs of high-risk groups, forcing some to turn to the black market.

This situation highlights the dominance of factions linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) over the pharmaceutical industry, where these entities use their influence to advance financial interests at the expense of citizens’ health. The pharmaceutical sector is controlled by figures and groups close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, enabling them to reap substantial profits by monopolizing production, distribution, and even resources intended to support the healthcare sector.

This control became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, when authorities insisted on supporting local vaccine production while restricting the import of internationally recognized vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna. Billions of tomans were allocated to support companies closely associated with the ruling circles. Meanwhile, the ban on foreign vaccines led to a worrying increase in death rates in a health crisis that could have been mitigated if international vaccines had been permitted.

Instead of focusing on improving public health and protecting citizens’ lives, officials exploited the crisis for personal gain. Reports indicate that influential figures in the pharmaceutical sector, connected to regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei, see this industry as a source of wealth, disregarding their duty to safeguard the health of the Iranian people.

Germany Closes Down All Iranian Regime Consulates

Jubin Katiraie
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Germany Closes Down All Iranian Regime Consulates

Germany ordered the closure of all Iranian regime consulates in response to the execution of Jamshid Sharmahd, an Iranian-German citizen.

On Thursday, October 31, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock ordered the closure of Iranian consulates in Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Munich, leaving only the Iranian regime’s embassy in Berlin operational.

Ms. Baerbock stated in New York that her country’s relations with Iran had reached their lowest point following Mr. Sharmahd’s execution.

She added that the killing of Jamshid Sharmahd, a dual Iranian-German citizen, indicates that Iran’s unjust regime continues its “brutal” behavior.

The German foreign minister also stated that Iran’s regime understands primarily the language of extortion, threats, and violence and we have repeatedly and clearly informed Iran that the execution of a German citizen would have serious consequences.

On October 29, after her strong condemnation of Sharmahd’s execution, Ms. Baerbock recalled Germany’s ambassador from Iran, and the German Foreign Ministry announced the following day that the ambassador had left Iranian territory.

On October 28, the Iranian judiciary announced the execution of Jamshid Sharmahd on charges of “planning multiple terrorist operations,” one of which allegedly included the “bombing of the Seyed al-Shohada Mosque in Shiraz” on April 12, 2008.

Ms. Baerbock had previously stated that Jamshid Sharmahd’s execution once again highlighted the inhumane nature of the government in Tehran, which uses capital punishment against its youth, its people, and foreign citizens.

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, also strongly condemned Jamshid Sharmahd’s execution on October 29 and indicated that the EU is considering measures in response.

Iran’s regime has a long record of detaining and imprisoning dual nationals and opponents residing outside Iran.

The Price of Food in Iran Continues to Rise

Mehdi Hosseini
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The Price of Food in Iran Continues to Rise

Naser Nabi Pour, the regime’s chairman of the Poultry Union, has warned that the prices of chicken and eggs will see a significant increase next year.

In a report on rising prices of certain food items, including eggs and chicken, Didbaniran website quoted market activists stating that due to rising costs of feed and veterinary medications essential for poultry farming, an increase in the market price of these products is imminent.

In this context, Naser Nabi Pour told the website that the recent significant rise in foreign currency exchange rates will begin affecting the prices of chicken and eggs in approximately six months.

Didbaniran reported concerns that the increase in the subsidized exchange rate in the spring of 2025, along with the long-term impact of recent fluctuations in the free-market dollar rate, will raise the prices of essential goods such as chicken and eggs.

Ali Ebrahimi, the director of Iran’s National Union of Meat Poultry Farmers also told Didbaniran that with the increase in the dollar rate in the free market, the national currency’s value drops, potentially fueling the smuggling of chicken and eggs.

Ebrahimi added, “Currently, the price of chicken per kilogram in Iran’s neighboring countries ranges between $2 to $2.20, or approximately 1.4 to 1.5 million rials, whereas in the Iranian market, the price is under 800,000 rials. This price gap already encourages smuggling of chicken to neighboring countries through various methods.”

These warnings come as, in recent days, Iran’s Statistical Center published food inflation data for October, indicating that the “milk, cheese, and eggs” category led in one-month inflation.

Accordingly, for the month in question, the “milk, cheese, and eggs” category recorded a monthly inflation rate of 4.7 percent, leading to food price increases, while inflation in the “bread and grains” category was 3.7 percent.

Reports indicate that the Iranian regime, by pursuing a policy of unifying exchange rates, aims to align the government-set currency rate with the free-market rate, which will impact the final prices of imported goods.

The government also intends to increase the rate of 285,000 rials per dollar for essential goods, which will drive up the prices of food items, including meat and chicken, in the coming year.

Analysts believe that these government decisions, combined with currency fluctuations and inflationary pressures, will ultimately lead to a sharp rise in prices.

Oil Stolen Directly from A Refinery Pipeline in Iran “Over Several Years”

Esmaeil Mohades
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Oil Stolen Directly from A Refinery Pipeline in Iran “Over Several Years”

On Tuesday, October 29, Malek Shariati, a Member of Majlis (Parliament) Energy Commission, revealed in a television program that oil has been stolen directly from beneath a refinery pipeline in Iran.

He did not specify the name of the refinery or the exact duration of the theft. According to Shariati, refinery officials “for several years” were unaware that a branch had been tapped under the pipeline, allowing oil to be siphoned off.

Criticizing the lack of adequate oversight, Shariati questioned, “Why did the person responsible for monitoring the pipeline from start to finish not detect this?” He emphasized that a careful examination of the refinery’s input could have easily prevented this theft.

The MP noted that the cost of this theft comes “out of the public’s pocket” and added that the theft was ultimately discovered by law enforcement. The main motivation behind thefts from oil, diesel, and gasoline pipelines in Iran is described as the “difference between domestic and regional oil product prices.”

Significant Increase in Oil Theft in Iran  

This is not the first time reports of oil and petroleum product theft in Iran have surfaced. Last year, Arsalan Rahimi, CEO of the Iranian Oil Pipelines and Telecommunications Company, reported a “tenfold increase” in theft due to rising energy prices.

In April 2021, the head of Tehran’s Preventive Police announced that two brothers had purchased land near a gasoline pipeline in Tehran with the intent to steal gasoline, ultimately losing their lives due to gasoline leaking into a well they had dug.

In March 2024, state television aired footage of a professional team that had tunneled into the Tehran Oil Refinery over two years. The report claimed that the thieves had tapped the main output pipeline of the refinery to begin siphoning off petroleum products.

In response to the report, the Tehran refinery claimed that all its facilities are installed above ground and that the company does not have any underground oil pipelines.

The theft of five kilometers of unused oil pipeline along the Bushehr provincial border is another example of damage to Iran’s petroleum equipment and products. After arresting those responsible, a local law enforcement official stated, “The stolen pipelines were valued at 170 billion rials (approximately 250,000 dollars), but they appear to be worth significantly more.”

Canada Declares Iran’s Regime As Major Cybersecurity Threat to National Security

Mehdi Hosseini
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Canada Declares Iran’s Regime As Major Cybersecurity Threat to National Security

On Wednesday, October 30, the Canadian government released a new assessment identifying Iran’s regime, along with Russia and China, as a major cybersecurity threat to national security, warning that Iran’s digital influence has extended beyond the Middle East to target Western countries.

According to the Canadian government’s new assessment, the Iranian regime’s ongoing efforts to track and monitor regime opponents through the internet have created an escalating cybersecurity challenge for Canada and its allies.

Canada’s National Cybersecurity Threat Assessment indicates that actors affiliated with Iran’s regime have used high-profile events, such as the downing of Flight 752 in Tehran, as themes in phishing campaigns targeting the Iranian diaspora and Canadian officials. These campaigns have targeted key sectors, including aerospace, defense, and telecommunications, to achieve intelligence goals.

In recent years, Iran’s regime has become a major player in global cyber warfare, executing more complex attacks against its regional and international adversaries. Over the past decade, Iran’s regime has expanded its cyber capabilities, with government-backed groups targeting various sectors, including government, finance, energy, and media, in the region and the West.

According to Canada’s National Cybersecurity Threat Assessment for 2025, Iran’s regime has used its ongoing cyber conflicts with Israel to bolster its espionage tactics and aggressive cyberattacks, now employing these methods against Western targets.

Canadian intelligence officials state that although Canada may not be the primary focus of Iran’s cyber activities, regime-affiliated actors likely have access to computer networks in Canada, including critical infrastructure.

In recent weeks, major technology companies like Google, Microsoft, and Meta have reported malicious cyber activities linked to Iran’s regime, warning that these efforts may intensify and could even incite violence against political figures to create unrest and influence the upcoming elections in the United States.

The Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), in research related to the U.S. elections published last week, stated that Iran’s regime is preparing to undertake additional influence operations.

The report indicates that Iranian groups tasked with targeting the U.S. elections may attempt—just as they have in the past—to conduct influence operations in the pre- and post-election periods via cyber infiltration efforts initiated weeks or even months in advance.

British Soldier On Trial for Having Ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

Sia Rajabi
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British Soldier On Trial for Having Ties with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

Daniel Abed Khalife, a former British Army soldier “accused of terrorism” and “intelligence ties with Iran,” denied the charges against him in court on Wednesday, October 30.

The former British soldier is accused of sending sensitive information to individuals linked to the IRGC and of planting fake bombs in a military barracks.

Daniel Abed Khalife allegedly collected sensitive information between May 2019 and January 2022, prosecutor Mark Heywood told jurors at the start of the trial at London’s Woolwich Crown Court.  

The 23-year-old former soldier escaped from prison for a week in September 2023 but was recaptured.

Daniel Abed Khalife, who was discharged from the British Army in May 2023 following the revelation of his links to the IRGC, also allegedly attempted to plant “fake bombs” at a British military base.

British prosecutors say he received $1,500 from IRGC-linked individuals and, a week later, sent an email to the MI6 foreign intelligence service expressing a desire to work as a double agent.

Reuters reports that his lawyer, Gul Nawaz Hussain, asked him in court whether he or his family supports the Iranian government.

Khalife, whose mother was born in Iran, replied not having ever met anyone living outside of Iran who doesn’t have hostility toward the Iranian regime. He said his mother despises the Tehran regime and that he and his family are against the Iranian regime.

Khalife also commented on his visit to Iran, saying that he hated it and thought it was a horrible place.

He described his plan as one of spreading false information to advance British national security interests, adding that He knows this scheme may seem a bit strange.

Five Prisoners Executed In Iran’s Ghezel Hesar Prison

Hoshang Amiri
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Five Prisoners Executed In Iran’s Ghezel Hesar Prison

Human rights media outlets report the execution of five prisoners, including an Afghan national, at Ghezel Hesar and Jiroft prisons in the early hours of Wednesday, October 30.

According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRAHA), among the four prisoners executed in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj, two were sentenced to death on drug-related charges, and the other two for “enmity against God through armed robbery.”

The Iran Human Rights Organization previously reported that at least eight prisoners sentenced to death in Ghezel Hesar Prison had been moved to solitary confinement as of Monday, October 28, and their families had been called to the prison for a final visit.

The execution of prisoners convicted on drug-related charges in Iran has sharply and consistently increased over the past four years, with execution statistics for 2023 showing an 84% rise compared to the previous year.

A prisoner convicted of “premeditated murder” was also executed on Wednesday, October 30, in Jiroft Prison, Kerman Province.

According to human rights media, in recent days at least five other prisoners were executed on charges such as “premeditated murder” in Zanjan, Isfahan, Karaj, and Ahvaz.

Meanwhile, coinciding with the 40th week of the “No to Executions Tuesdays” campaign, a group of families of death-row inmates gathered in front of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) on Tuesday, October 29.

In the published videos, the demonstrators, mostly women, chanted “Don’t execute!” demanding a halt to executions.

According to Amnesty International, the Iranian regime was responsible for 74% of recorded executions worldwide last year.

Salaries of Iranian Pensioners Increased by Equivalent of Four Loaves of Bread

Staff Writer
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Salaries of Iranian Pensioners Increased by Equivalent of Four Loaves of Bread

While officials from Iran’s Budget and Planning Organization have announced that, with the issuance of new pension equalization rulings, an average increase of 15 to 20 million rials (approximately $21.6 to $29) has been added to pensioners’ salaries, some pensioners report raises of less than 10 million rials (around $14.4).

A retiree from the Postal Company, earning about 80 million rials (roughly $116), shared his new statement with the state-run ILNA news agency, showing a salary increase of only 430,000 rials (about $0.62).

He stated that, after months of promises and publicity, his salary increase was just 430,000 rials, equivalent to the cost of four loaves of bread.

Reports indicate that the salary increases for the lowest-paid national pensioners have been minimal, often not reaching even 1 million rials (about $1.50). Pensioners feel that the equalization plan has done little to improve their livelihood.

Some pensioners believe that the formula for salary equalization was improperly implemented or contained calculation errors, leading to dissatisfaction, widespread protests, and pensioners’ union gatherings.

In another report, the Strategic and Coordinating Council of Agricultural Jihad Pensioners issued a statement declaring that it would support any protests organized by pensioners’ advocacy groups.

The council emphasized that the National Pension Fund should hold a meeting similar to that held on September 19, 2020, with pensioners’ representatives and the Plan and Budget Organization. Should these demands not be met within 24 hours before the protest, Agricultural Jihad pensioners will be encouraged to join the gatherings of trusted groups.

Reports indicate that with the issuance of amended rulings in October 2024, the pensions of some retirees increased to a certain extent, while others saw a reduction. This disparity has led to a new wave of pensioners’ protests and increased demands.

The Iranian Regime Increases Military Budget By 200%

Mehdi Hosseini
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The Iranian Regime Increases Military Budget By 200%

Massoud Pezeshkian, the president of the Iranian regime, has called for a “200 percent” increase in the military budget in his first budget proposal since taking office.  

Fatemeh Mohajerani, the government spokesperson, stated in a press conference on Tuesday, October 29, that “the doubling of the budget is to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities.”  

Pezeshkian’s government spokesperson did not specify the total amount allocated for the 2025 military budget.  

The official, non-confidential segment of Iran’s military budget  

The military budget that various Iranian administrations include in the budget bill and present to parliament constitutes the official and disclosed funds allocated to the armed forces and the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. It does not cover classified budget items, with a large portion of the military budget going to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).  

Iran’s 2024 military budget was officially announced at approximately 4.7 quadrillion rials (around $16.49 billion at the official exchange rate and $6.8 billion at the free market rate), accounting for one-sixth of the entire year’s budget. Later, the parliament, at the request of Ebrahim Raisi‘s administration, approved an additional allocation of over 1.32 quadrillion rials (around $4.63 billion at the official rate and $1.92 billion at the free market rate) in crude oil for the armed forces to sell and supplement their budget.  

Iran is the only government globally that officially allows its armed forces to participate in selling the nation’s natural resources and directly acquire a portion of them.  

It is notable that these dollars are provided to military organizations at the official rate, while ordinary citizens must obtain dollars from the free market.  

Iran’s military budget in international reports  

Due to a lack of financial transparency and the presence of multiple military institutions in Iran, various international financial bodies, such as the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, have continually attempted to approximate Iran’s actual military budget. However, these global organizations have never succeeded in providing a definitive report.  

For example, SIPRI estimated Iran’s military budget at $10.3 billion in 2023.  

According to reports, Iran’s 2024 military budget, based on an official exchange rate of 285,000 rials per dollar (while the free market rate currently hovers around 685,500 rials per dollar), was equivalent to $25.3 billion, reflecting a 21 percent increase from the previous year.  

Based on details released so far from Iran’s upcoming budget bill, it is estimated that 47 percent of the country’s oil export revenues will again be directly allocated to the armed forces, as it was this year. This amount equates to 5.61 quadrillion rials (approximately $19.68 billion at the official exchange rate and $8.18 billion at the free market rate), while the government’s own share of these resources is only 43 percent, or around 5.09 quadrillion rials.  

Beyond the country’s oil resources allocated directly to the armed forces for sale, Iran’s National Development Fund has consistently served as an accessible source to meet the government’s urgent needs, preventing it from succumbing to severe economic and military crises.  

During his three years in office and in the few months since Pezeshkian’s administration began, the Iranian government has repeatedly emphasized its access to National Development Fund resources based on the approval of the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and has expressed gratitude for his “benevolence.”  

Pezeshkian’s administration stated that it inherited a relatively empty treasury from its deceased predecessor and still lacks funds to pay wheat farmers and meet nurses’ demands, with some needs met through withdrawals from the National Development Fund.  

Amid Iran’s dire economic and livelihood conditions this year—characterized by continued capital flight, persistent inflation, and a declining stock market—evidence suggests that the Iranian regime has not refrained from using secret budgets for its security operations abroad, particularly to provide financial and military support to its proxy groups.

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