From retirees and workers to housing applicants, drivers, and defrauded investors, growing protests expose the breadth of economic grievances across Iran.
Iran’s deepening economic crisis is increasingly visible in the streets, as retirees, workers, housing applicants, drivers, shopkeepers, and defrauded investors continue to stage protests across the country.
The latest demonstrations, reported between September 13 and 15, 2026, took place in cities ranging from Isfahan and Kashan to Sirjan and Rasht. While the immediate demands differ from one group to another, a common thread runs through them: unpaid wages and benefits, declining purchasing power, unemployment, stalled housing projects, inadequate pensions, and anger over economic mismanagement and corruption.
The spread of these protests across different sectors underscores how economic hardship has moved beyond isolated workplace disputes. For many Iranians, basic demands for wages, pensions, housing, employment, and financial security have increasingly become intertwined with broader criticism of the institutions responsible for economic policy and administration.
Retirees Demand Long-Overdue Rights
Retirees remain among the most persistent groups taking to the streets.
On September 15, retired steel and steel-mill workers in Isfahan gathered and marched in front of the provincial governorate, demanding action on their outstanding claims.
Their protest followed demonstrations the previous day by retirees of Iran’s Telecommunications Company in Tehran and several other cities, including Tabriz, Sanandaj, Bijar, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Ilam, and Hamadan.
The retirees say years-old demands remain unresolved, while problems with supplementary health insurance and the implementation of pension equalization have compounded their financial difficulties. During the demonstrations, protesters also pointed to government-affiliated institutions, including the Imam Khomeini Order’s Execution Headquarters and the IRGC Cooperative Foundation, accusing them of contributing to the erosion of retirees’ rights.
Their slogans reflected growing frustration with repeated official promises. Among them were calls for their rights to be returned and denunciations of the authorities’ claim that there is no money available to address their demands.
The protests continued on September 13, when Social Security retirees demonstrated in Ahvaz, Shush, Karkheh, Haft-Tapeh, Dezful, Tehran, Rasht, Tabriz, and Qazvin.
In Ahvaz, retirees gathered outside the Khuzestan Social Security Department, protesting high prices, inflation, declining purchasing power, and inadequate pensions. Steel retirees in Isfahan marched through Imam Hossein Square before gathering outside the provincial governorate, while retirees from the Homa pension fund demonstrated in Tehran over healthcare conditions, unfulfilled demands, and the performance of officials.
Housing Applicants: “They Took Our Money”
The economic crisis is also affecting people who had expected government housing programs to provide greater security.
In Kashan, applicants for the National Housing Plan gathered outside the governorate to protest stalled projects and uncertainty surrounding their payments.
Their central complaint was summarized in a slogan directed at the authorities: “They took our money, but they don’t give us a home.”
The protest illustrates another dimension of Iran’s economic pressures. Families who have already committed substantial sums to housing projects remain uncertain about when, or whether, they will receive the homes they were promised, while housing costs continue to place enormous pressure on household budgets.
Workers Face Unemployment and Unpaid Wages
Workers in several cities are simultaneously confronting unemployment and months of unpaid wages.
On September 14, employees of Pay-Pel Jonoub in Sirjan gathered outside the governorate to protest unemployment and their uncertain employment prospects. Workers said officials had suggested that they apply for unemployment benefits, but argued that such payments would not cover the rapidly rising cost of living.
They also said repeated visits to the governorate and labor authorities had produced no solution. Reports indicate that several other companies in Sirjan have also closed or suspended operations since the beginning of the year, adding to concerns over employment in the area.
In Rasht, workers at Gil-Rad reported months of unpaid wages, 11 months of outstanding social-security insurance contributions, and continued uncertainty over their seniority payments.
Other labor protests have emerged in different sectors. Workers at the Yadavaran oil field in Khuzestan demonstrated over unpaid benefits. Employees of Saman Kashi in Borujerd demanded clarification of their employment status and payment of overdue claims, while Ilam municipal landscaping workers protested a change of contractor and three months of unpaid wages.
These cases point to a recurring problem: workers are not simply demanding higher incomes but payment of wages and benefits they say they have already earned.
Economic Pressure Reaches Drivers and Shopkeepers
The pressure is not confined to formal workplaces.
Drivers operating between Sirjan and Kerman protested against a sharp reduction in their fuel allocation, raising concerns about the impact of fuel shortages and rising operating costs on transportation workers.
In Dehgolan, Kurdistan Province, images circulating on social media showed parts of the local commercial sector closed, with shopkeepers expressing their frustration over inflation, high prices, and recession. The sentiment was captured in the slogan: “We are on strike every day.”
For small businesses already operating under conditions of weak purchasing power and rising costs, the distinction between a temporary strike and simply being unable to sustain normal business activity is becoming increasingly blurred.
Defrauded Investors Confront the Judiciary
Another form of economic grievance appeared on September 9, when victims of the Cryptoland cryptocurrency platform fraud gathered outside Tehran’s Central Prosecutor’s Office.
The protesters demanded clarification over their lost investments and criticized the judicial authorities over their handling of the case. Security forces reportedly attacked the gathering and arrested a number of the protesters.
The incident adds a further dimension to the growing pattern of economic protests: people who have lost their savings are increasingly demanding accountability from state institutions rather than accepting prolonged uncertainty.
From Economic Demands to Broader Grievances
Taken individually, each of these protests has a specific cause. Retirees demand pensions and healthcare rights. Workers seek unpaid wages and employment security. Housing applicants demand delivery of promised homes. Drivers object to fuel allocations. Shopkeepers struggle with inflation and recession. Defrauded investors demand the return or clarification of lost assets.
Together, however, they reveal a much broader pattern.
The protests are occurring across multiple provinces and involve groups with very different occupations and economic circumstances. Their common denominator is the deterioration of economic security and the perception that government institutions are either unwilling or unable to resolve persistent problems.
The slogans heard at many of these demonstrations also go beyond narrowly defined workplace demands. References to corruption, government bankruptcy, economic mismanagement, and state-affiliated institutions indicate that protesters increasingly connect their immediate hardships with the wider economic structure governing the country.
The geographical spread is equally significant. From Tehran and Isfahan to Khuzestan, Kurdistan, Gilan, Kerman Province, and Ilam, the protests demonstrate that economic grievances are not confined to one city or one social group.
Iran’s economic crisis is therefore producing a widening field of social discontent. Every unpaid salary, delayed pension, stalled housing project, lost investment, and reduced fuel allocation adds another layer to an already accumulated burden.
The continuing protests show that the demand for economic security has become one of the most visible sources of social unrest in Iran—and that the grievances extend well beyond any single sector or locality.