Pensioners protest living conditions in several Iranian cities

A group of pensioners protesting their living conditions and low salaries and pensions have once again held rallies in various cities in Iran.

These rallies have been held in the cities of Ahvaz, Tehran, Kermanshah, Damghan, and Isfahan, and protesters have protested the current situation with slogans such as "Leadership, justice, justice," "Adl Ali's rule, all this injustice," and "We have not seen justice, we have only heard lies."

Over the past year, retirees, especially Social Security Organization pensioners, have repeatedly held protest rallies in various cities in Iran. The main demand of retirees from the Social Security Organization is to have a pension commensurate with the average cost of living for an urban family of four and to reform pensions.

In May of this year, during protest rallies, it was announced that pensions should be set at 12.5 million tomans as the base salary and livelihood basket, but given the current level of inflation in Iran, this figure has likely increased.

The response of Iranian government officials to these gatherings has typically been to try to prevent protests, suppress them, and in some cases, arrest protesters.

In this regard, Ismail Gerami, one of the protesting retirees, was sentenced to 5 years in prison and 74 lashes by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court.

Mr. Gerami, who was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards, was charged with gathering and colluding with the intent to commit a crime against national security.

In addition to retirees, teachers have also held widespread protest rallies in recent weeks about their living conditions.

In the latest example of these gatherings, on January 2nd, teachers in dozens of Iranian cities once again gathered to protest the "incomplete" approval of the ranking plan for this class, which was met with clashes by security forces.

The rise in nationwide protests by educators and retirees comes at a time when the Islamic Republic of Iran is grappling with many economic problems, including economic sanctions stemming from its nuclear activities.

According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the annual inflation rate in November was 44.4 percent, and based on official statistics from the Ministry of Labor, the average price of more than 83 percent of food items in Iran has exceeded the crisis level.

Source: Radio Farda