The pensioners of the Social Security Organization continued their protest against low pensions in Ardabil, Kermanshah, Ahvaz, Shush and Shushtar. They chanted slogans asking for the president’s resignation.
A group of medical staffers gathered in front of the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences to protest against layoffs and other issues.
The retirees of the Telecommunication Company of Iran held protests in front of the company headquarters in Tehran, Khorramabad, Qazvin, Shiraz, Hamedan, Javanrud, Shahrkurd, Yazd, Urmia, Tabriz, Ahvaz, Rasht, Sari and Arak.
The retirees protested against low and unpaid benefits, delays in payments and not complying with recruitment regulations.
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Continuing their protests against low pensions, Iranian pensioners held a protest in front of the Governor-General Building in Shush.
A group of workers of the Tabriz Petrochemical Company gathered in front of the company’s entrance to demand closing disparities in wages and elimination of discrimination.
Continuing their protests against low pensions, the pensioners rallied in front of the Governor-General Building in Ahvaz. A similar demonstration took place in Shushtar. The pensioners chanted slogans against the government, such as “the government betrays, the Parliament supports”, “they are lying that our enemy is America, our enemy is right here,” and “All three Branches of Government are just puppets, why the supreme leader is silent.”
For the second time, a group of minibus drivers in Bandar Abbas went on strike to protest against the recent decrease in fuel portions and crowded gas stations.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, in a phone call to her family, Rezai informed about her relocation from an IRGC detention facility to Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz. Currently, she is held in a quarantine section.
Rezai’s lawyer, Farzaneh Zilabi, said that she was charged with “propaganda against the regime.” Rezai’s attorney has also stated that so far, she doesn’t have access to her client’s documents.
In early June, security forces arrested Rezai, which may be related to the recent protests following Abadan’s Metropol building collapse.
Numerous activists have asked for Rezai’s release.
On May 23, 2022, a 10-story building which was known as Metropol collapsed in the city of Abadan in Khuzestan Province. Over 30 individuals were killed, injured or trapped in the rubble. Following the collapse, hundreds of citizens in Abadan and several other cities demonstrated against the government and its failure to impose safety standards on the construction which led to the disaster.
Continuing their protests against the insufficient annual pension increase, the pensioners rallied in Shushtar, Shush, Zanjan, Isfahan, Sari, Dezful, Karaj, Ahvaz, Abadan, Khorramabad, Hamedan and Kerman. They chanted slogans against the government and called the president a liar for failing to keep his promises. In Arak, the protest turned violent by security forces.
A number of citizens, who have lost their money in the recent robbery of Iran Safe Deposit Boxes of Melli Bank, protested in front of the central building of the Judiciary in Tehran. They demanded the return of their stolen money.
On June 6, 2022, dozens of safe deposit boxes from Melli Bank were stolen by some burglars. One day after, a protest took place, which turned violent by security forces. According to some witnesses, the police and security agents used live ammunition against the protestors.
In Ahvaz, a number of pensioners continued their protest in front of the Governor’s office. They chanted slogans against the government and called the president a liar. According to the protestors, the government is obliged to increase the pensions in compliance with the Supreme Labour Council’s enactment.
A number of farmers and tractor drivers parked their tractors and gathered before the Governor’s office in Gatvand city, Khuzestan Province, to protest against decreasing fuel rations.
In recent days, the personnel of Keshavarzi Bank gathered in front of the headquarter of this bank as well as a chapel inside the building to protest against their poor living conditions.
A number of the medical staff of the Allameh Karami Hospital in Ahvaz held a protest to ask for their unpaid wages and benefits.
The citizens who lost their money in the cryptocurrency exchange Cryptoland gathered in front of the Public and Revolutionary Court in Tehran to ask for the return of their money. Reportedly, their deposits in the form of cryptocurrencies have been frozen.
In 2008, Porkar was arrested by security forces and later sentenced to death by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court of Tehran on the charge of “enmity against God through cooperation with The People’s Mujahedin Organization of Iran (MEK).” This verdict was commuted to 20 years in prison on appeal.
Nasrin Sotoudeh, his attorney at the time of trial, stated that the arguments for his conviction were based on his beliefs rather than actions.
Porkar is currently serving the fourteenth year of his sentence in exile, in Sheyban prison in Ahvaz. During the entire fourteen years, he has not been granted any furlough.
In Mashhad, a number of taxi drivers went on strike to demand increasing fares and protest against their poor living conditions.
The pensioners of social security organizations continued their protests in the cities of Ahvaz and Kermanshah. They chanted slogans for levelling up pensions in accordance with the Supreme Labor Council’s enactment.
A group of workers of Ilam Municipality gathered and protested against a four-month payment delay, including night-shift wage, and insurance. Following this gathering, the chairman of the Ilam City Council announced that their wages will be paid soon.
A number of building armature fixing workers working gathered in a park in Kermanshah to protest against low wages, the lack of insurance coverage and poor living conditions.
The workers of seven industrial zones across Iran went on strike for the fourth consecutive day.
According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, Ronak Rezai was arrested in Abadan and jailed in Sepidar Prison in Ahvaz.
The reason for the arrest and the charges are unknown so far.
In recent days, a number of citizens were arrested during the protests. HRANA has earlier reported the arrest of the journalist and poet Arash Ghaleh-Golab in Abadan and Mohammad Soveylat, age 22, in Shadegan, in Khuzestan Province.
On Monday afternoon, May 23, 2022, a 10-story building which was known as Metropol collapsed in the city of Abadan in Khuzestan Province. Over 30 individuals were killed, injured or trapped in the rubble. Following the collapse, hundreds of citizens in Abadan and several other cities demonstrated against the government and its failure to impose safety standards on the construction which led to the disaster.
In recent days, following the collapse of a building in Abadan in Khuzestan Province which led to the death of 29 people declared so far, hundreds of citizens in Abadan, Ahvaz, Shahin-Shahr, Shahr-e-Rey, Andimeshk and Khorramshahr demonstrated against the government, more specifically on the issues related to corruption, low safety standards, and mismanagement. People protested against authorities and influential individuals whose corruption, incompetency and failure to impose safety standards on the construction contributed to the disaster. They also blamed shortcomings in rescue operations and equipment for such a high death toll.
Metropol Collapse
So far, a number of protestors have been arrested. Anti-riot forces have been present on the scene, turning peaceful protests into a violent showdown.
On Monday, May 23, 2022, 10-story building which was under construction known as Metropol collapsed in the city of Abadan in Khuzestan Province. Dozens of people were killed, injured or trapped in the rubble. The experts of the Abadan Engineering Organization had already warned about the safety deficiencies and announced that for these safety issues, the building should not be inaugurated. Nonetheless, the construction continued.
Although the causes of the collapse have not been investigated yet, many argue that the lack of construction oversight by the municipal officials who are themselves the shareholders of this project led to this disaster.
Moreover, the government’s failure to provide adequate emergency response and proper rescue equipment caused anger and criticism toward the officials. According to some victims’ families and protestors, the officials’ failure to provide the required equipment hindered the debris removal operation, which led to the death of more people who were trapped under rubble. Moreover, the government did not cancel a state-run celebration in a sports stadium, which further angered the populace.
Protests
Initially, people gathered for mourning after the building collapse which turned into the marching in streets and spread to additional cities. In Abadan, Ahvaz, Shahin-Shahr, Shahr Ray, Andimeshk and Khorramshahr, people marched and chanted slogans against the Iranian regime.
On Friday, the protests turned violent in some cities as the police attempted to scatter the crowds with tear gas and pellet guns. Many protestors were beaten in Ahvaz and Shahin-Shahr .
The protests continued on Saturday and Sunday. In Andimeshk, Abadan, Shahr-e-Rey, and Dezful, people marched and chanted “death to the dictator”, “the clerics must go away”, and other anti-regime slogans.
On Sunday, officials in Abadan attempted to hold a supervised mourning gathering. According to reports of eye-witnesses obtained by HRANA, during the gathering, people began to chant anti-regime slogans, did not allow the assigned cleric to finish sermons, and left to march in the streets.
The map below shows the geographical distribution of protests:
On Friday, Netblocks, a watchdog organization that monitors global access to the internet reported disruption on the internet in Iran. Some local sources have also reported the internet and phone disruption to HRANA. These reports were in Abadan, Ahvaz and Khorramshahr.
Arrests
Dozens of people have been arrested during these protests. So far, HRANA has identified four individuals who were arrested as Ali Fartoosi, Aghil Amoori, Mohammad Fartoosi, and Hamid Fartoosi. These individuals were arrested and transferred to an unidentified location. Also, on Thursday, Karim Aldninawi, an Arab poet and resident of Shush City, was arrested following his criticism of the government in a video post on social media.
The following video is a compilation of 44 verified video reports on current protests.
