Continuing Protests by Nurses in Arak and Chabahar: 'If We Don't Get Our Rights, We Won't Go to Our Shifts'

Nurse protests, which have been ongoing in at least 21 cities across Iran over the past two weeks, continued on Thursday, September 1, in the cities of Arak and Chabahar. According to reports received by Voice of America and published on social media, a significant number of nurses in Arak, located in the central province, demanded the fulfillment of their professional and livelihood demands. During their gathering, the nurses held placards with their demands written on them and chanted: 'If we don't get our rights, we won't go to our shifts.' The Telegram channel 'Civil Market Protest' also reported that nurses and medical staff in Chabahar joined the 'nationwide strikes' and gathered in front of the governor's office in the city, located in Sistan and Baluchestan province. The simultaneous strikes and gatherings of nurses and healthcare workers, which intensified in the second half of Mordad (August), have now occurred in at least 13 provinces, including Tehran, Hamadan, Khuzestan, Razavi Khorasan, East Azerbaijan, Zanjan, Fars, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Markazi, Qazvin, Kurdistan, Gilan, Isfahan, and Sistan and Baluchestan. These protests began in the second half of Mordad in at least 21 cities and spread to Tehran by the end of the month, where several nurses, including Zahra Tamadon, were arrested on Wednesday, August 31. Additionally, two participants in the protests in Arak were arrested on August 29, but police officials labeled these detained protesters as 'disturbers.' Reports from labor and human rights sources indicate that protesters have faced various forms of repression, including 'locking doors to prevent the expansion of protests into the streets,' 'dismissals, threats, and violent confrontations by security forces and police officers,' 'tear gas firing,' 'creating fear and panic,' and 'surveillance by intelligence agents.' Meanwhile, Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi, the Minister of Health, in his first comment on the nurses' protests, stated that he discussed the issue 'yesterday' (Wednesday) in the cabinet and promised that the problems of nurses would be resolved 'as soon as possible' and 'quickly.' He did not specify a timeline for the fulfillment of the demands of the striking and protesting nurses, stating that the costs of resolving the nurses' issues 'have been calculated and approved by the government and gradually this money should be given to universities and insurance companies.' In recent years, Islamic Republic officials have made similar promises in response to labor protests in various regions of Iran, but in practice, some of these promises have been partially fulfilled or not fulfilled at all. For example, recent promises regarding the payment of wheat farmers' debts, where a significant portion of their product sales to the government has not been received. Meanwhile, some analysts emphasize the legitimacy of the nurses' protests, stating that medical universities have long failed to pay nurses' rights under the pretext of delays by insurance companies, and even after receiving money from insurance, resources were allocated to other matters. The Telegram channel 'Volunteer' published a map showing the extent of the nurses' protests in the second half of Mordad. Nurses are protesting against the non-implementation of the pricing law, mandatory overtime, and low wages, stating that the Ministry of Health must hear their voices and meet their demands. According to Mohammad Sharifi-Moghadam, the Secretary-General of the Nurses' House, 'For the first time in the 100-year history of modern nursing in Iran, protests are taking the form of work stoppages,' and 'the situation has reached a point where it doesn't matter to nurses if they are fired for striking.'