One could look at the Persian year 1400 (the Persian calendar) in the areas of the economy, social justice, and freedom. Regardless of the many different angles, these matters may be analyzed, an undeniable fact reveals itself in total clarity and absolute distinction.
The year 1400 was a year of hardship for the ordinary citizens of Iran, a year of challenges for the regime of the ayatollahs, and a year of progress for Iranians who want regime change.
In the Persian year 1400, the protests and social unrest became more widespread, both in terms of geographical dispersion and in terms of the diversity of protest groups. News outlets inside and outside Iran recorded a total of 2,769 trade union-labor protests and 760 strikes throughout the year 1400.
Teachers, retirees, ethnic groups, environmental activists, women, students, contract and non-contract workers, government employees, nurses and doctors, farmers and stock market investors, or depositors of financial and credit institutions were among the protesters. In brief, more than 13,000 protests in 1400, a threefold increase in protests across Iran.
Although the news of these protests reached people, especially through cyberspace, Iran’s mainstream media, as expected, played a deceiving role in covering these popular protests. A look at the covers and contents of the local pages of the most widely circulated newspapers and the pages of the official news agencies proves this reality.
It should be noted that Article 27 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic recognizes the right to protest and hold rallies, and the third chapter, which is known as the chapter on the rights of the nation, deals with the issue of the right to protest.
However, holding rallies in Iran faces a variety of security risks, including clashes with police or security forces and plainclothes agents, imprisonment, torture, and execution.
About 8,000 of the protests of the Persian year 1400 were related to the diligent workers of Iran. The strike by workers in the oil and petrochemical industries is one of them. In the last days of last spring, contract workers on oil and gas projects and refineries went on strike to protest the exploitation of workforce contractors, low wages, harsh working conditions, and discrimination between contract and non-contract workers.
The workers’ strike quickly spread to more than 100 projects and refineries, and protesting workers in some centers left their workplaces and returned to their cities.
Teachers’ protests
Iranian teachers staged at least 1,900 protests in the past year according to the Persian calendar. These protests include the teachers’ and educators’ strikes in Fars province and two two-day strikes in different cities.
In addition to union and subsistence demands, teachers also raised demands such as the release of imprisoned teachers, the right to free education and the cessation of the commodification of education, the right to education in the mother tongue, and a non-ideological education system.
In the second half of this year, teachers’ protests were met with widespread repression. The spokesman for the Coordinating Council of Trade Unions reports the summoning of hundreds of teachers to security and judicial institutions during the protests.
In the Persian year 1400, Iran’s teachers 1,900 organized nationwide rallies and protests, which led to many arrests and convictions. However, these rallies continued until the end of the year and are still going on.
Pensioners protests
At least six out of ten social security pensioners receive a minimum wage and earn less than the poverty line. A large proportion of retirees are forced to work for a living after retirement but are unable to support themselves.
Social security retirees took to the streets in various cities at least 52 times in the Persian year 1400 to protest the government’s impoverishment policies. Equalization of pensioners’ salaries, full and free health insurance, cessation of the commodification of government services, and increased wages to 12 million Tomans (Iran’s currency) was among the most important demands of the protesting retirees. Other demands included the repayment of government debt to social security, the participation of retirees in the board of directors and the board of trustees of pension and social security centers, and the transfer of shares of social security companies to retirees.
The water crisis in Iran is becoming more widespread and uncontrollable year by year. According to government agencies, in the Persian year 1400, more than a hundred cities faced water problems.
In some cities, tensions have crossed the critical line, and the government has been unable to even supply water by water tankers. Sistan and Baluchestan, and Khuzestan provinces were among the regions that endured the most difficult conditions.
In Khuzestan, the government, unable to supply water, has banned the cultivation of some crops, resulting in an increase in the number of unemployed. In summer, thirsty people revolted in Khuzestan. Their voices were heard in several other provinces, including Lorestan, Kohgiluyeh, Boyer-Ahmad, and Azerbaijan. The government responded by firing on protesters, killing at least eight people.
Iran protests all have one message
The nature of these protests was characterized not only by their frequency and breadth but also by the connection between the protesting groups and the reflection of the demands of one group in the voices of other groups. Teachers’ demands were represented in the workers’ protests, and the voices of retirees were heard in the teachers’ protests.
Oppression of women was highlighted in teachers’ demands and protests, and women participated in numerous and prominent protest movements. The presence and role of women in the protests of retirees, teachers, and health workers have been more prominent than ever in recent decades.
The voices of Khuzestan protesters were heard in neighboring and distant provinces, and widespread protest was formed in solidarity with the uprising of the thirsty people of these provinces. The repression of protesters and farmers in Isfahan and the shooting in their eyes were reflected in the teachers’ gatherings across Iran.
Although small and incapable in general, examples of the connection of protest groups or social movements indicate the beginning of a new era. In the new Persian year, there will be further protests due to the explosive state of society. After 43 years of corruption in the mullah’s regime, Iranians wish for a free, democratic, secular, and nuclear-free Iran.
Source » irannewswire