Continuous Decline of Rial Value; Protests by Nurses and Oil Industry Workers

As the turbulence in Iran's financial markets continues, news and trade sources reported on Wednesday the ongoing protests by nurses and healthcare staff in several cities, as well as strikes by oil and gas industry workers at oil facilities. According to reports received by Voice of America and shared on social media on Wednesday, March 13, dozens of nurses gathered in cities including Tabriz, Arak, and Isfahan to protest against economic shortcomings and unmet professional demands. The website 'Navasan', which reports on foreign currency and gold rates in the Iranian market, stated that the price of one US dollar is currently over 95,600 tomans, and the price of one gold coin is 78,500,000 tomans. Meanwhile, the protests continue; for instance, protesting nurses in Tabriz took to the streets on Wednesday chanting 'Justice, Justice'. Additionally, the Telegram channel for civil market protests reported on the 'strike of nurses at Arak hospitals ahead of Nowruz' and stated that healthcare staff in Central Province hospitals have gone on strike in protest of 'officials' neglect of their economic and legal issues', declaring that 'they can no longer live on these salaries.' Furthermore, according to a report from the Council for Organizing Oil Contract Workers' Protests on Wednesday, employees working in the second phase of the Kangan Petrochemical Refinery went on strike due to unpaid salaries and benefits. Protests by official oil and gas industry workers at the Iranian Offshore Oil Company in the operational area of Lavan were also ongoing on Tuesday, with these protesters demanding 'the elimination of job segregation in operational areas, the removal of operational area bonuses from salary caps, and full payment of service bonuses to retired employees.' Protests by oil and gas industry workers have also been reported in other areas, including the Pars Energy Special Economic Zone, the South Oilfields Company, and the National Drilling Company. According to another report, some workers at the fifth refinery of South Pars also supported a 70% wage increase. In another report of professional protests, some service committers from the Ministry of Education gathered in protest against the non-issuance of their service completion cards. The protests by retirees, oil and gas industry workers, steel and mining workers, teachers, defrauded individuals, and nurses and healthcare staff, which have been expanding in recent years, indicate the increasing economic problems in Iran and the indifference of the Islamic Republic officials. Iran's economic situation has faced multiple crises for years due to the policies of the Islamic Republic, including what Ali Khamenei calls 'resistance economy', resulting in the collapse of the national currency, rising inflation and prices, and severe recession. Mohammad Machinchi, an economist, attributed this situation to the 'baseless idea' of the resistance economy of the 'leader of the Islamic Republic', stating to Voice of America that this idea 'failed before it began and has imposed heavy costs on citizens', with at least 10 million people in Iran falling below the poverty line.