In their most recent protest, Iranian pensioners chanted, “All three branches are maquettes – and the leader is silent,” a slogan reflecting the regime’s reality of the situation. The significance of this slogan has been highlighted after poverty-stricken pensioners in six cities decided to launch a new round of protests in their fight for unpaid wages.
They emphasized throughout their protest that they will not back down until they have achieved their goal. They condemned and mocked the regime’s parliament, which calls itself a revolutionary entity, as well as the regime’s president, Ebrahim Raisi.
Retirees represent the majority of society, and they are the age group that has seen the most protests in recent months. They correctly identified the root cause of their misery and emphasized the rising poverty line affecting the entire Iranian society. “Is this really justice, they’re looting the people,” they chanted.
August 10 – Arak, central #Iran
Retirees and pensioners of the regime's Social Security Organization protesting low pensions and poor economic conditions.#IranProtestspic.twitter.com/6kJY0JHHHa— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) August 10, 2022
In recent months, the regime has chosen to spend billions of dollars on nuclear projects and a drone contract with the Russian government rather than respond to even one of the people’s demands. This clearly shows that the Iranian people are the regime’s last priority.
While the regime’s banks support its nefarious activities, they impoverish people throughout the country. The regime is attempting to prolong this situation in order to demoralize the protesting strata, but such a policy will not benefit the regime in the long run, and it will likely face more and more forceful protests.
In addition to the ongoing pensioner protests, contractor workers at Mashhad Power Plant and Hengam Petrochemical have gone on strike. The piping workers at Mashhad’s Ferdowsi Power Plant joined the strike on Tuesday. On the same day, Rahimi contractor employees working on the Mashhad power plant project stopped working, gathered in front of the power plant, and demanded that their wages be paid beginning in June.
As the protests in Iran continue, it is clear that people’s expectations are shifting from economic concerns to political demands aimed squarely at the regime and the supreme leader. Livelihood conflict has now matured into class and political conflict, while the nation constantly chants, “Our enemy is right here;
The regime’s policies are to blame for Iran’s extreme poverty and for widening the social class divide, with huge income disparities between the rich and the poor.
The truth is that one of the most significant consequences of rising social inequality is an increase in crime. On July 23, Vahid Shaghaghi, one of the regime’s economic experts, said in an interview with the state-run Entekhab daily, “The fact is that there is a topic called crime economy’ in economic literature.
August 10 – #Iran
Retirees and pensioners of the regime's Social Security Organization protesting low pensions and poor economic conditions.Ahvaz – Babol#IranProtests pic.twitter.com/J1cV1yNXLj
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) August 10, 2022
” The economic roots of crime can be explained by unemployment, inequality, and poverty. The economic analysis of the crime phenomenon reveals that, as poverty, inequality, and unemployment have increased in Iran, so has theft.”
According to regime experts and the regime’s media, the risk of economic collapse and poverty spreading has passed its peak. In Iran, class divisions abound, people’s purchasing power is dwindling, and the national currency is losing value.
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