State media admits shrinking livelihoods and security crackdowns as laborers face deepening hardship after January 2026 protests
Iran’s workers are enduring one of the harshest periods in their history. Poverty is expanding, inflation continues to erode purchasing power, and job security has largely disappeared. At the same time, any voice of protest is met with intimidation and repression. Even state-affiliated media outlets are now acknowledging the severity of the crisis.
On February 18, 2026, the state-run Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), wrote bluntly that “all officials acknowledge the shrinking of Iranian workers’ tables, and the statements of authorities resemble slogans more than solutions.”
The report described workers grappling with runaway inflation, soaring medicine prices, and widespread job insecurity.
“Bread Is Expensive. Rent Is Astronomical.”
ILNA admitted in unusually direct language:
“Bread is expensive. Rent is astronomical. Medical costs increase every day. Workers struggle even to buy two kilograms of meat per month. Many cannot afford new clothes for their children. Some are forced to borrow money to pay for the medicine for a simple cold. In some cases, they even sell their one-million-toman food vouchers for less than their value.”
These statements confirm what millions of Iranian families experience daily: wages that cannot keep pace with inflation, and a standard of living in free fall.
Most Iranian workers labor eight hours a day. Many take on double shifts, working up to sixteen hours in physically demanding conditions. Yet even after exhausting days, they remain uncertain about paying rent or securing basic food supplies. This grinding cycle has transformed life into a constant field of anxiety.
Repression as a Labor Policy
The economic crisis is compounded by systematic repression. ILNA acknowledged that workers who protest face severe consequences:
“If workers protest, they face security encounter. Dismissal from work is the first tool of pressure. Many names are placed on contractors’ blacklists. Some are summoned to court on charges such as ‘disrupting production’ or ‘disturbing factory order.’ Prison and fines await protesters.”
In other words, labor activism in Iran is criminalized. The absence of safe, legal channels for protest leaves workers vulnerable to both economic exploitation and political retaliation.
Workers in the January 2026 Protests
During the January 2026 uprising, large numbers of workers joined demonstrations across the country. Their participation was driven primarily by economic hardship — what many described simply as “the grief of bread” — alongside the broader demand for political voice.
However, no official, disaggregated statistics have been released regarding how many workers were killed during the protests. The silence has created a climate of ambiguity and fear.
In Mahshahr, 23-year-old unemployed worker Hossein Salehavi lost his life while searching for work. In Shush, 26-year-old Amin Sepehri, a worker at Paksho Company, was killed during the protests. His family now faces uncertainty regarding compensation and pension rights. In Isfahan and Tehran, the names of workers and street vendors have also appeared among the victims.
ILNA further reported:
“Injured workers refused to speak. Fear of arrest and unemployment casts a shadow over labor cities. This heavy silence has pushed the narrative of workers’ deaths into a haze of uncertainty.”
Promises Without Accountability
Following the protests, regime president Masoud Pezeshkian claimed he was listening to the people and described himself as a “servant of the people.” Yet beyond a single meeting with guild representatives, little changed on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — the powerful military force operating under the authority of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — carried out a violent crackdown to preserve the regime’s hold on power. The gap between rhetoric and reality widened further.
A labor activist quoted by ILNA emphasized that workers seek nothing extraordinary:
“Workers want a calm life. They want a table that does not shrink every day. They demand the right to participate in determining their own destiny. Yet no safe path for protest has been defined.”
A Structural Crisis
The reality is stark. Iranian workers live below the poverty line while carrying a significant share of the country’s productive burden. They contribute to national output but are excluded from meaningful decision-making. Repression of protests and opacity surrounding casualties have deepened public distrust.
Four decades of promises and slogans have culminated in today’s convergence of poverty, insecurity, and fear. The governing structure has shown neither the will nor the capacity for substantive reform.
For many workers and broader segments of society, the conclusion is increasingly clear: the roots of the crisis lie in the system itself. Without fundamental political change, the cycle of economic hardship and repression is unlikely to end.
