Protests by Social Security Pensioners and Steel Industry Workers Ahead of Nowruz; Gold Coin Prices Reach 38 Million and 100 Thousand Tomans

In the last days of the current solar year and just three days before Nowruz, protests continue on Sunday, March 18, with gatherings of Social Security pensioners and steel industry workers in several cities across Iran, while the price of gold coins has surpassed 38 million tomans. According to reports received by Voice of America and shared on social media, Social Security pensioners took to the streets in cities including Arak, Ahvaz, and Shush. Protesters in Arak chanted: 'Forget Palestine, think about us,' 'Their work is lies and theft, Hussein Hussein is their slogan,' 'Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, think about us.' In Ahvaz, protesters shouted: 'They have plundered our security, they have made us miserable,' and 'The government is submissive, bringing poverty and corruption.' Additionally, pensioners from the steel industry gathered in Tehran, Isfahan, and Ahvaz in front of the Steel Pension Fund building in these cities, demanding attention to their grievances. In Isfahan, protesting steel industry pensioners chanted 'Pensioners, shout out, demand your rights.' Protests regarding living conditions in Iran continue, with only three days left in the year, and 'the status of wages' for the upcoming year remains unclear. Despite multiple meetings held by the Supreme Labor Council, the IRNA news agency reported on Sunday, March 18, that these meetings 'have not yet yielded any publicly reportable results.' Meanwhile, the upward trend in the prices of foreign currencies, gold, and coins in the Iranian market continues, with the price of each US dollar at around 60,000 tomans and the price of each gold coin known as 'Imami plan' at 38 million and 100 thousand tomans. Jamsheed Asadi, an economist, previously told Voice of America that the real value of the dollar in the Iranian market is even higher and 'there is no encouraging outlook.' According to him, the price increases are never a bubble but merely the tip of the iceberg of what we will see more of during Nowruz. Protests by pensioners, workers, and protesting drivers have held at least four gatherings. The campaign for a minimum wage of 15 million tomans has gathered around 70,000 signatures. The Supreme Labor Council has failed for the third time to determine the minimum wage for workers. Gatherings of workers and nurses protesting occupational and living issues have taken place in several cities in Iran. The regulation of the market for the New Year's Eve and Ramadan is in a coma; the engine of inflation has been ignited. The competition between the poverty line and people's livelihoods; one economist states that 70% of Iranians are either below the poverty line or at risk of falling into it.