Protests by Telecommunications Retirees and Nurses in Several Provinces of Iran

On Monday, December 5, protests over living conditions in Iran continued with gatherings of telecommunications retirees in at least three provinces and a strike by nurses in Ahvaz. According to reports received by the Persian section of Voice of America and published on social media, the protests by telecommunications retirees, which have been held on Mondays for over a year, took place today in several provinces including Tehran, Gilan, and Kurdistan. Concurrently with reports of large-scale and organized fuel smuggling abroad and the handling of the financial corruption case of Chai Dabbesh, protesting retirees in Tehran chanted: 'If one embezzlement is reduced, our problem will be solved.' In Rasht, the capital of Gilan province, protesting retirees also gathered holding placards with their demands written on them. The protests in Sanandaj, the capital of Kurdistan province, included demands for welfare and insurance, with slogans such as: 'Medical demands are our legitimate right.' The executive regulation of Article 24 of the Civil Service Law, passed in 2010, concerns the assignable duties and how to purchase services from the private sector, stating that 'until the obstacles to assignment are removed,' the provision of services to the workforce remains the responsibility of the executive body, namely the government. However, after 14 years since the approval of this regulation, and considering the repeated and ongoing protests of these retirees, it seems that neither the 'obstacles to assignment' have been removed nor has the executive body fulfilled its duties towards the protesters. Weekly protests by telecommunications retirees have been ongoing for months. The lack of updates to welfare allowances in 2022 and 2023, the management's disregard for the 1989 regulation, issues with supplementary insurance, and the non-payment of past claims at current rates are among the reasons for these retirees' protests. Simultaneously with the weekly protests of telecommunications retirees, protests over living conditions by nurses also took place on Monday, December 5, in several cities, with healthcare workers in Ahvaz walking off the job and gathering. According to union sources, 400 nurses and staff from Khomeini Hospital in Ahvaz staged a sit-in at the healthcare center, chanting: 'Promises are enough, our table is empty.' These protesters also marched around the hospital chanting: 'Staff shout, demand your rights.' The intensification of nurses' problems in August of this year led to a continuous and ongoing nationwide strike, where hundreds of nurses and healthcare staff from public hospitals began protests and strikes emphasizing their professional and living demands in at least 16 provinces in Iran, continuing until September. Reports indicate that the persistence of nurses' problems has led the head of the Nursing Organization to write to the Minister of Health of the Islamic Republic, listing demands such as 'increasing the number of nursing service packages,' 'increasing the relative value of services in some sectors,' and 'realistically increasing the monetary coefficient of nursing tariffs.' The expansion of protests by various groups including retirees, workers from various industries, teachers, defrauded investors, and nurses and healthcare workers indicates a rise in living problems in Iran and the indifference of the Islamic Republic officials. The continuation of living protests in Iran coincides with escalating disputes between Israel and the Islamic Republic, and financial market volatility in Iran continues. In this context, economist Hassan Mansour previously told the Persian section of Voice of America that next year's budget plan 'will increase inflation and tighten the living circle.'