Apr 06 2021

According to collected reports by sources affiliated with the Iranian Resistance in March, there were at least 193 recorded protests in 70 cities.

Protests were held despite the spread of COVID-19, the regime’s brutal crackdown and the Nowruz holiday.

Pensioners held 61 protest in 29 cities, workers held 54 protests in 24 cities, farmers held eight protests in five cities and teachers held three protests in three cities. Other protests included livestock farmers who held two protests in two cities, students who held two protests in two cities while defrauded creditors held one protest.

Poultry farmers also held one gathering, while other Iranians held 56 protest gatherings in 28 cities. Amongst prisoners, there were two protests and three hunger strikes.

Pensioners

Pensioners held 61 protests in 29 cities and 22 provinces in March. Their protests were held in three organized gatherings in Tehran and other cities. They want higher pensions, which are currently below the poverty line. After their gatherings, they marched in the city streets.

Pensioners and retirees gathered despite the cold weather and risk of COVID-19 infections.

Workers

Workers staged 54 protest gatherings in 24 cities and 12 provinces in March. Their demands were months of delayed paychecks, the non-renewal of their work contracts, work conditions, layoffs, not receiving insurance, shutdown of factories, as well as the decrease of their wages.

Protesting workers included municipality workers, railroad workers, oil and steel workers, sugarcane workers, wastewater workers, and construction workers among others.

Farmers

Farmers gathered in eight protests in five cities in March. They protested the lack of water, the state not buying their products, the low prices of their products, and other economic problems.

Teachers

Teachers staged three protests in March. They gathered to protest their employment laws and expressed their economic grievances.

Livestock Farmers

Livestock farmers gathered in two cities in March to protests the increased price of fodder, the low price of milk and meat in the market, the state not supporting them, and other economic grievances.

Students

Students gathered in two protests to express their anger over the killing of fuel carriers and the merging of universities.

Other protests

Other Iranians including defrauded creditors, car and home buyers held 56 protests. Poultry farmers in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran also protested their many problems in the production of poultry and eggs.

On March 24, locals clashed with security forces in the northern city of Gonbad Kavus after a security guard was only charged with kidnapping two girls despite accusations of rape and sexual abuse.

In another case in the southern town of Sirik on March 12, angry protesters burned several security force boats after a fatal shooting of Baluch fuel carriers. A man identified as Mehdi Raisi was shot and killed while another man identified as Rashed Torkanami was wounded in the leg.

On March 30 and 31, Iranians took to the streets to protest the Iran-China 25-year agreement in Tehran, Karaj, and Isfahan. Footage circulating in social media showed Iranians gathered outside the parliament, chanting “Iran is not for sale” and “Iranians support us!”

Prisoners

Political prisoner Esmaeel Abdi went on hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin Prison to protest a ban which prohibits him from visitation and phone rights. Political prisoner Hamzeh Darvish went on hunger strike in the Central Rasht prison in northern Iran, to protest psychological torture, lack of security, and the non-separation of prisoners according to their crime. Political prisoner Khaled Pirzad also went on hunger strike in the Greater Tehran Penitentiary to protest the lack of medical treatment and not being allowed a leave on parole.

Source » irannewswire

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