From Tehran and Yasuj to Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Ilam, and Arak, teachers, retirees, workers, nurses, and delivery drivers are taking their grievances to the streets
The third week of Shahrivar has brought another broad wave of protests across Iran, with teachers, retirees, workers, nurses, railway employees, and motorcycle delivery drivers taking to the streets over unpaid wages, inadequate pensions, inflation, deteriorating living standards, and official corruption.
The protests, reported from Tehran, Yasuj, Ahvaz, Shush, Dezful, Kermanshah, Isfahan, Kurdistan, Ilam, Arak, and other cities, reveal how economic grievances are increasingly converging with demands for accountability, freedom, and an end to repression.
Teachers refuse to remain silent
On Sunday, September 6, teachers gathered in Tehran to protest unpaid claims and arrears, inadequate insurance coverage, and mounting economic pressure. Their slogans demanded accountability from officials and emphasized solidarity between employed and retired teachers.
In Yasuj, teachers also held a solidarity protest in support of colleagues who had traveled to Tehran. The simultaneous actions underscored the growing willingness of educators to coordinate their demands rather than confront their problems individually.
The teachers’ protests reflect grievances that extend beyond salaries. Unpaid benefits, inadequate insurance, and the broader deterioration of living standards have become persistent sources of anger among educators.
Retirees: “Our tables are empty”
Retirees were among the most visible protesters during the week.
In Ahvaz, Social Security retirees protested despite severe heat, condemning official policies and demanding action over their economic conditions. Their slogans centered on the widening gap between government promises and the reality of household finances, including the refrain that promises were no longer enough because their tables were empty.
In Shush, retirees took to the streets despite temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius. They demanded their rights and protested what they described as disastrous living, healthcare, and medical conditions. Their slogans called on retirees to raise their voices and refuse to accept continued injustice.
The protesters also objected to the increasing commercialization of medicine and healthcare, highlighting the difficulty of accessing essential services as household purchasing power continues to erode.
In Dezful, Social Security retirees gathered outside the organization’s offices, declaring that the streets had become the “battleground” of working people. Their slogans went beyond pensions and called for the release of imprisoned workers and teachers, an end to poverty and corruption, and accountability from officials.
They also linked inflation, unemployment, corruption, and economic hardship to the policies of the government, while calling for peace, prosperity, and freedom.
Economic demands merge with demands for freedom
A particularly significant feature of the protests in Tehran was the convergence of different groups.
Social Security, education, and telecommunications retirees demonstrated together outside the Social Security Organization. Their slogans connected inflation and economic hardship with opposition to war and the death penalty.
The message was explicit: economic survival cannot be separated from broader political and social rights. Protesters rejected the idea that their grievances could be addressed simply through promises of future economic relief while repression and executions continue.
This convergence is important because it shows that the protests are not confined to isolated disputes over wages or pensions. Different sectors are increasingly expressing overlapping grievances against corruption, mismanagement, repression, and deteriorating living conditions.
Telecommunications retirees challenge institutional plunder
The protests continued among telecommunications retirees.
On Monday, September 7, telecommunications retirees and veterans in Kermanshah protested policies they blamed for the loss of their rights and benefits. Their slogans accused the institutions controlling telecommunications assets of failing to honor retirees’ claims and demanded that their rights be restored.
In Isfahan, telecommunications retirees demanded fair implementation of pension adjustments and supplementary health insurance. They accused officials of replacing justice with empty promises and insisted that their rights could only be secured through continued street protests.
Telecommunications retirees in Kurdistan likewise demonstrated over outstanding claims, directing their anger at officials whom they accused of incompetence and deception.
Workers and railway employees join the protests
The wave also reached industrial workers.
Workers at the Pouyanakh factory in Ilam protested outside the provincial governorate over a year of unpaid wages. Meanwhile, workers on the sixth national gas transmission line in Bidboland and Ahvaz continued a strike that had begun on September 7, demanding concrete answers rather than another round of promises.
On Wednesday, September 9, current and retired railway workers gathered outside the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development in Tehran. They protested their living conditions and unpaid demands, warning that if their problems remained unresolved, they would launch further strike action.
Their slogans stressed that empty household tables cannot be answered with police pressure and demanded the resignation of incompetent officials.
Delivery drivers protest low pay and high commissions
Even workers in the expanding gig economy have begun organizing against deteriorating conditions.
On Monday, September 7, motorcycle delivery drivers in Arak stopped work over low fares and high commissions. Drivers working for Snappbox, Snappfood, and Snappmarket gathered outside the provincial governorate and called for a nationwide strike.
The protest subsequently extended to Semnan, where drivers declared that they were standing together and refusing to work. Their grievances included low delivery rates, high commissions, and fuel costs.
The protests demonstrate the vulnerability of workers who depend on motorcycles and delivery platforms for their livelihoods. With operating costs rising and commissions cutting further into earnings, even long working hours no longer guarantee an adequate income.
Nurses and defrauded landowners demand justice
The protests also included more than 300 nurses and healthcare workers in Kurdistan and Kermanshah, who demonstrated over a year of unpaid overtime compensation. Their slogans rejected further promises and demanded the resignation of officials they held responsible for the situation.
In Arak, people who said their land had been confiscated by the authorities protested outside the housing and urban development offices, demanding the return of their property.
A widening social protest
The breadth of this week’s protests is striking. Teachers, retirees, factory workers, railway employees, nurses, delivery drivers, and people seeking the return of confiscated property are raising different immediate demands, but their complaints increasingly converge around the same issues: unpaid income, inflation, corruption, insecurity, inadequate public services, and official indifference.
The protests from Yasuj to Ilam, Shush, Arak, Tehran, and Khuzestan show that economic pressure has not pushed society into silence. Instead, it is driving more groups into the streets.
The central message emerging from these protests is increasingly difficult for the regime to contain: economic hardship is no longer being expressed solely as a demand for higher wages or pensions. It is becoming a broader challenge to corruption, mismanagement, repression, and the denial of basic rights.