Eleven Protest Gatherings Held
6-October-2025
Category: Labor and guilds
5 October 2025
News Group: Protests – Workers and Trade Unions –
Breathing in Confinement – At least eleven protest gatherings were held across various parts of the country by different social groups.
According to Breathing in Confinement, the news outlet of the Prisoners’ Rights League in Iran, steel and mine retirees in Isfahan and Ahvaz held demonstrations in protest against the government’s failure to properly and fully implement the pension equalisation plan, the worsening living conditions, and the authorities’ neglect of their demands. They called for the removal of the salary cap, prevention of the merger of the Steel Pension Fund with the National Pension Fund, and resolution of problems related to healthcare services. During the gathering, protesters chanted slogans such as: “We’ve seen no justice, only lies.”
Meanwhile, Social Security retirees in Shush, Haft-Tappeh, and Karkheh gathered in front of the Shush Governor’s Office; Social Security retirees, teachers, and telecommunications employees protested in Tehran; Social Security retirees and teachers gathered in Kermanshah; and Social Security retirees rallied in Ahvaz and Rasht. The main themes of these protests were low pensions, discrimination, inequality, poverty, and inflation. Protesters demanded that the Social Security Organisation be freed from government control, Article 89 of the Social Security Act concerning healthcare services be reformed, pensions be increased, and welfare benefits be improved.
In Rasht, the protesters, while marking World Teachers’ Day, sang a protest anthem and shouted: “Cry out, cry out, against all this injustice!”
In Tehran, staff at Mardom Hospital went on strike in protest against two months of unpaid wages and benefits, and the management’s failure to respond to their grievances.
Employees of the Offshore Oil Company in the operational region of Bahregan also staged a protest over incomplete salary payments, discrimination in pay structures, inflation, and the authorities’ failure to implement pay equalisation. Their demands included full implementation of operational area allowances, removal of the salary cap, full payment of severance entitlements, cancellation of pension deductions, reimbursement of unlawfully deducted taxes, and enforcement of Article 10 of the Law on the Duties and Powers of the Ministry of Oil.
In Mashhad, a group of bakers held a protest over non-payment of three months’ bakery subsidies and neglect of their professional issues, including their inability to pay workers’ wages and other operational expenses.
In Zahedan, a group of residents gathered in front of the provincial governor’s office to protest against the closure of the Roudak border crossing, the halt in cross-border trade, and the livelihood problems resulting from it.