Protests by Telecommunications Retirees in at Least 8 Provinces; Gold Coin Prices Increased by 600,000 Tomans

On the eve of Nowruz and just one day before the end of the solar year, telecommunications retirees once again took to the streets in several cities to protest their poor living conditions and the indifference of Islamic Republic officials to their professional demands. Simultaneously, in just one day, the price of gold coins increased by 600,000 tomans. According to videos received by Voice of America and published on the Telegram channel of the Iranian Retirees Council, the protesting retirees, who have gathered and marched every Tuesday throughout the year in various cities across Iran, also gathered on Tuesday, March 18, in at least the provinces of Tehran, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Lorestan, East Azerbaijan, Hamadan, Khuzestan, and Gilan. The protesting retirees chanted slogans such as "Only on the streets can we get our rights," "Incompetent minister, we don’t want you," "Implementing the regulations is our legitimate right," "Telecom, shout out, claim your rights," "Our livelihood dignity is our legitimate right," "We will not sit down until we get our rights." The lack of updates to welfare allowances in the years 1401 and 1402, management's disregard for Regulation 89, issues with supplementary insurance, and the failure to pay past claims at current rates are among the reasons for the protests by the telecommunications retirees. Regulation 24 of the Civil Service Law, passed in 1389, concerns the assignable duties and how to purchase services from the private sector, stating that "until the obstacles to assignment are removed," providing services to the workforce remains the responsibility of the executive body, namely the government. However, 13 years after 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. Protests by retirees in Iran resumed in the early hours of this year and have continued in various cities and on different days of the week. Telecommunications retirees have chosen Tuesdays as "Protest Tuesdays" and have taken to the streets every week on this day to demand their rights. Meanwhile, as protests by retirees continue, the price of each gold coin known as the "Imami plan" increased by 600,000 tomans in just one day, reaching 38 million and 700 thousand tomans. According to the website Banasb, which reports real-time changes in foreign currency and gold and coin prices in the Iranian market, the price of the US dollar is still fluctuating and at the time of this report has reached 60 thousand and 750 tomans. Protests over living conditions in Iran continue, while just three days before the end of the year, "the status of wages" for the coming year remains unclear, and despite multiple meetings held by the Supreme Labor Council, the IRNA news agency reported on Sunday, March 17, that these meetings "have not yielded any publicly reportable results so far." Economist Jamshid Asadi recently told Voice of America that "the Islamic Republic has long been unable to repay its financial obligations to many funds and contracting companies that work with the government." According to this expert, the Islamic Republic's efforts to repay its obligations through the banking system are also unfeasible due to the banks' incapacity, and "scientifically, this system is bankrupt." Jamshid Asadi views the government's sale of ancient artifacts as indicative that the regime "does not even have a budget for its essential tasks."