Protesters: “We hate injustice”, “teachers, students, nurses, workers, unity, and unity!”
On the morning of Sunday March 12, thousands of retirees in Tehran and other cities such as Mashhad, Sari, Tabriz, Orumiyeh, Rasht, Yazd, Khorram Abad, Qom and Ferdows protested against their living conditions. The protests were held in Tehran in front of the office of Rouhani, the regime’s President, in Pasteur Street, regime, and in other cities in front of the buildings of the Organization for retirees. The demonstrators called for the equalization of their pension with other workers, pension reforms and improving their livelihoods.
The protests took place while the suppressive forces continually threatened the demonstrators and prevented them from filming and taking pictures. Also a number of families of educators who had participated in February 28 protest in front of the regime’s parliament had been threatened by the Intelligence agents.
The demonstrators chanted: “Students, workers, teachers, nurses, unity, unity”, “every promise you made was hollow, every point you said was deceitful,” “we are waiting for result, we go nowher and stay here”, “one embezzlement less, our problem will be solved”, “if our problem is not solved, the movement will continue”, “now is the the New year’s eve but we are mourning”. They were carrying banners reading: “we are in pain both from poverty and discrimination”, “we hate oppression”, “poverty and discrimination is enough”, “efficient insurance is our inalienable right”, “accelerate the payment of bonuses for retirees of 2016”, “if you are neutral to injustice, know that you have taken sides with oppressors”, “give us our rights, don’t pass us to each other “.
In their resolution, the demonstrators called for equalization of the salaries of retirees and quick payment of the bonuses owed to retirees of 2016, and declared: “There are many of our fellow retirees who spent all of their retirement years in hardship and died awaiting a bright future. We are looking for our legal rights and will not rest until we get it.” They then sang the patriotic national anthem of “Iran”.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
March 12, 2017
