According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, a number of protests took place this week in Iran. Read our recap below for details, photos, and videos from the demonstrations
Saturday, May 23
A group of workers and retirees of the Sugarcane Agro-Industry Company Haft-Tappeh gathered in front of the governorate building in Shush City. Recently, these protestors who are living in corporate houses of this company have received an eviction notice. They said that “we will evict the houses, but we have to receive beforehand the renovation expenses. Since these houses are too old, we have spent a lot on renovation”.
A group of poultry farmers assembled in front of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad in Tehran. They protested against a 600% increase in livestock inputs. According to these farmers, the subsidiary companies of the Ministry sell the livestock inputs illegally on the black market.
A group of personnel of the Ministry of Petroleum who have temporary contracts gathered before this Ministry in Tehran to protest again low wages. According to these protestors, a 10 per cent increase in wages can not keep up with current inflation.
A number of workers of the Municipality of Ahar City walked off the job and went on strike to protest unpaid wages.
Sunday, May 23
A group of pensioners of the Social Security Organization gathered in front of the Planning and Budget Organization in Tehran. In Karaj, Ahvaz, Tabriz, Kerman, Rasht, and Kermanshah, the pensioners held protests before the building of the Social Security Organization in each city.
These pensioners demanded raising their pension to stand above the poverty line, addressing the supplementary insurance issues, the end year bonuses.
A group of workers of the Municipality of Yasuj gathered before the governorate building to protest against 5-month delays in payments. One of the workers complained: “we work 12 hours. However, we cannot even afford the travel expenses so we have to walk to work. If we protest, they threaten us with termination.”
A group of citizens, who have not lost their money by the fraudulent acts of Negin Khordo and Irtoya, held protests before Tehran Public Prosecutor’s Office. They asked for transparency and responsibility from the judiciary in examining the legal case against these companies.
Monday, May 23
Following the collapse of a tower in Abadan, dozens of people rallied and protested. 27 people died in this accident. On that day, at least 80 people were still trapped under rubble.
In Tehran, a number of taxi drivers working for taxi app Snapp protested against low fares, lack of insurance coverage and other issues.
Tuesday, May 24
A group of students of Allameh Tabataba’i University protested against the suppression of students and prison sentence against Hasti Amiri, one of the law students at Allameh Tabataba’i University.
Recently, the Court of Appeals upheld a one-year sentence against Hasti Amiri.
Similarly, a group of students of the Babol Noshirvani University of Technology gathered on campus to protest against the prison sentence against Hasti Amiri as well as other imprisoned civil activist Farhad Meysami and jailed teachers Mohammad Habibi and Esmail Abdi.
In Abadan, hundreds of residents gathered and protested before the collapsed tower known as Metropol. They chanted slogans against the incompetency of officials and shortcomings in rescue operations and equipment. At least 26 people died in this accident. The experts of the Abadan Engineering Organization had already warned about the construction defect of this unfinished building.
A group of workers of the Ministry of Petroleum, who have temporary contracts gathered before this Ministry in Tehran. They said that a 10 per cent increase in wages is less than the minimum wage enacted by the Ministry of Labor. Also, they have not received yet the end year bonuses.
A number of ranchmen brought some of their livestock in front of the governorate building in Mehran city to protest against the shortening of forage for livestock.
Wednesday, May 25
A group of physicians held protests in front of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education in Tehran. With placards in their hands, they protested that the government and insurance take as high as 70 per cent of their revenue.
A number of residents of a district in Fanuj City gathered at their district to protest against Natural Resources Office’s attempt to confiscate their lands to construct a mine. They also warned about the irreparable damage this mine will bring to the environment.
Thursday, May 26
In protest against the incompetency of officials led to the collapse of a tower and the death of 26 people, hundreds of people in Abadan rallied. Also in Ahvaz and Shahinshar, people rallied in support of Abadan’s protest. People chanted anti-government slogans and the police shoot tear gas into the crowd in order to scatter them.
On May 23, 2022, the unfinished 10-story Metropol building collapsed and dozens of people were killed, injured or trapped in the debris.
