60,000 Toman Dollar and Continued Livelihood Protests; Telecommunications Pensioners Gather in Several Provinces of Iran

Livelihood protests continued on Tuesday, March 14, with gatherings of a number of retirees from the telecommunications company in at least 9 provinces. This comes as the dollar rate in the Iranian market has surpassed 60,000 tomans. This marks the fifty-fourth round of simultaneous protests by telecommunications retirees held in recent months. According to reports received by Voice of America and published on social media, a group of telecommunications retirees gathered on Tuesday, March 14, in the centers of 9 provinces in Iran, including Tehran, Shiraz, Rasht, Khorramabad, Kermanshah, Ahvaz, Sanandaj, Tabriz, and Urmia. According to the Telegram channel 'Union of Retirees,' during the protest in Shiraz, four protesters identified as 'Engineer Oliaei, Alipour, Rahimi, and another unnamed individual' were arrested by the Islamic Republic's intelligence forces. The protesting retirees chanted slogans including 'Implementing the regulations is our legitimate right,' 'The major shareholder has eaten our rights,' 'Retiree, shout for your rights,' 'What has happened to the profitable company,' 'Neither cold nor heat can stop us,' 'Livelihood and food must be updated,' 'The country has become a hundred pieces, it's all about eating,' 'Major shareholder, shame on you,' and 'Unity, unity against oppression and corruption.' The reasons for the protests include the lack of updates to welfare allowances in 2021 and 2022, management's disregard for the 1989 regulations, issues with supplementary insurance, and the failure to pay past claims at current rates. The executive regulation of Article 24 of the Civil Service Law, passed in 2010, concerns the duties that can be delegated and how to purchase services from the private sector, which states that 'until the obstacles to delegation are removed,' the provision of services to the workforce remains the responsibility of the executive body, i.e., the government. However, 13 years after the approval of this regulation, and considering the repeated and ongoing protests of these retirees, it seems that neither the 'obstacles to delegation' have been removed nor has the executive body fulfilled its duties towards the protesters. Protests by retirees in Iran resumed in the early hours of this year and have continued in various cities and on different days of the week. Telecommunications retirees have taken to the streets on Tuesdays as 'Protest Tuesdays.' According to last week's report, the poverty line for a family of four has exceeded 25 million tomans, and the Workers' House, a labor organization affiliated with the government, has also emphasized that living conditions for people have become very difficult, stating that 'we will witness a hundred percent increase in inflation,' and inflation below 50 percent is no longer relevant. Meanwhile, reports indicate that two weeks before the New Year, the price of one US dollar in the Iranian market has reached over 60,000 tomans. On March 14, 2023, the exchange rates of foreign currencies in the Iranian market were reported. Ahmad Alavi, an economic researcher and university professor in Sweden, attributes the fundamental factors such as the flawed structure of the Iranian economy, inefficiency of government agencies, inflation, and the continued budget deficit of the government as reasons for the increase in the dollar and foreign currencies. Reports indicate that the livelihood conditions of various segments of society in Iran have worsened, and the tables have become smaller. According to this economist, 'looting and rent-seeking' by the Islamic Republic has led to 'budget imbalance' and 'widespread corruption' in the Iranian economy.