Government Forces Attack Protest Gathering of Steel Retirees in Tehran

Reports indicate that government forces have attacked a protest gathering of steel retirees in Tehran. The Telegram channel 'Civil Protest Market' announced that on Sunday, October 7, steel retirees held a protest in front of the Presidential Office near Pasteur Square. Published videos show that the protesters' gathering turned violent due to the intervention of security forces, who not only beat the protesters but also arrested several of them. On the same day, a number of steel retirees in Ahvaz also gathered in front of the Khuzestan Steel Retirement Fund building, demanding attention to their grievances. The ILNA news agency also reported on the gathering of labor retirees in various cities in Iran on Sunday, including Shush, Ahvaz, and Mashhad. According to this report, retirees at these gatherings complained about the insignificance of their pensions and the livelihood crisis, stating that their repeated gatherings in recent months have been fruitless. ILNA did not mention the authorities' treatment of retirees or the arrest of some of them in its report. Following the continuous rise in inflation rates and the decrease in citizens' purchasing power in Iran, protests from various professions against low wages and livelihood issues have significantly increased over the past year or two. Steel retirees are among these protesters who have held numerous gatherings in recent months to demand attention to their grievances. Their demands include increasing pensions, implementing the wage equalization law, resolving supplementary insurance issues, paying end-of-year bonuses, and calculating the records of hard and hazardous jobs in the relevant calculations. According to official statistics, currently, 60% of the country's population is considered to be below the poverty line.