People walk past a billboard about the Strait of Hormuz, on a building in Tehran, Iran, Sept. 16, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

IRAN — Retirees, pensioners, and educators have staged demonstrations across several Iranian cities, protesting rising living costs, inadequate pensions, delayed benefits, and the declining purchasing power of their incomes.

The protests, held on Sunday, come amid mounting US sanctions, which have placed a stranglehold on the Iranian economy in an effort to compel the government, an authoritarian regime hostile to the US and its allies, to change its behavior.

Demonstrators gathered in Tehran, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Shush, Kermanshah, and Rasht, raising demands for better pensions, healthcare services, and the payment of outstanding benefits.

According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and Iran International, the demonstrations drew Social Security retirees, former steel and foundry workers, and educators. Videos circulated from several locations showed protesters gathering outside government offices and pension authorities.

In Isfahan, retired workers from the steel industry and the Isfahan Foundry marched toward the provincial governor’s office, demanding payment of delayed pensions and the implementation of outstanding employment and welfare obligations.

Demonstrators also criticized how the government, part Islamist theocracy and part military dictatorship, handles its financial entitlements, chanting, “Hussein, Hussein is their slogan; lies and theft are their trade.” Hussein, the grandson of Mohammad, was killed in 680 CE. According to Shia Islam, he is a symbol of justice and bravery.

Slogans from Isfahan directly challenged the regime’s attempts to attribute the country’s difficulties to foreign powers. Protesters chanted, “Our enemy is right here; they lie when they say it’s America.” 

In the southwestern province of Khuzestan, Social Security retirees gathered outside the provincial headquarters in Ahvaz to protest inflation, rising prices, and delayed pension payments. Their core demand was captured in the slogan, “Enough warmongering, our tables are empty!”

The chant reflected demonstrators’ frustration over the country’s economic priorities and the belief that national resources should be directed toward improving people’s living conditions rather than financing terrorist groups and proxies.

The US intelligence community has for years designated Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism. Washington has also imposed sanctions on the Iranian regime for abusing human rights and pursuing its nuclear program, which Western governments believe is meant to build nuclear weapons. Iran claims its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian purposes.

In Shush, pensioners gathered outside the Department of Labor, raising concerns about inflation and the distribution of the country’s oil revenues. Protesters questioned why a country with substantial natural resources was unable to provide suitable living conditions for its retired workers.

“Where is the oil money? Only inflation belongs to us!” demonstrators chanted. Protesters also voiced frustration with officials’ indifference to their pleas, chanting, “Neither parliament nor government cares about the nation.”

In Kermanshah, Social Security retirees combined demands for improved living conditions with calls for political accountability and the release of detained protesters. Demonstrators highlighted the widening gap between wages and the cost of living, chanting, “Embezzlement is in dollars, our wages are in rials!”

They also called for an end to rising prices and poverty, with the slogan, “Death to high prices, poverty, war, and destruction.”

The demonstrations in Tehran focused particularly on pension payments, healthcare expenses, and supplementary insurance. Gathering outside the headquarters of the Social Security Organization, retirees demanded expanded medical coverage and an annual bonus equal to two months’ pension payments.

Despite the economic difficulties facing older people, protesters declared that they would continue their protests, chanting, “Neither cold nor heat can stop us.”

They also raised demands concerning public welfare, including free education, which they described as a fundamental right.

In the northern city of Rasht, teachers and retirees held joint demonstrations, protesting overdue pensions, low wages, and the regime’s inability to implement salary adjustments that reflect the rising cost of living. Their participation showed the financial pressures facing both current and former public-sector employees.

For many retirees, healthcare expenses have become an additional burden. Rising medical costs, the price of medication, and concerns over supplementary insurance have further reduced the purchasing power of people who depend on fixed monthly incomes. Retirees have repeatedly demanded better access to healthcare and the implementation of existing pension regulations.

The demonstrations continued into Monday, when telecommunications retirees staged further gatherings in Tehran, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Sanandaj, Bijar, Khorramabad, Ilam, and several other cities.

According to reports, the telecommunications retirees demanded payment of outstanding entitlements and implementation of employment and welfare regulations dating back to 2010. They also criticized the company’s major shareholders, including state-owned Setad (Organization for the Execution of Khomeini’s Orders) and the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) Cooperative Foundation, over the handling of financial claims of the retirees.

“We will fight, we will die, we will take back our rights,” protesters chanted during the second day of demonstrations, according to published reports.

The continued protests come amid broader economic difficulties in Iran, including persistent inflation and currency depreciation that has caused the prices for essential goods to skyrocket. These pressures have particularly affected people dependent on fixed salaries and pensions, whose incomes have struggled to keep pace with the increasing cost of everyday necessities.

Iran’s pension system has faced longstanding concerns over financial sustainability, issuing payments, and the management of funds. Retirees have repeatedly demanded an increase in pensions, the payment of outstanding benefits, and improved healthcare coverage.

In addition, Iranian banks are running short on cash, and government officials and military personnel, including the IRGC and Basij paramilitary force, have been waiting for overdue salaries, with some payments reportedly delayed for more than a few months.

Family of one IRGC member, for example, recently told The Algemeiner that the salaries of the member and his colleagues have been delayed for months.

Washington has intensified efforts to restrict Iran’s oil exports and access to international financial channels. The US recently expanded secondary sanctions that target countries doing business with Iran, and its naval blockade continues to cut off Tehran’s main source of revenue: oil and gas exports.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Iran’s total trade has fallen between 25% and 35%, with imports hit harder than exports.

Meanwhile, Iran’s currency has plummeted. In September, Iran’s rial fell to a record low of about 2.2 million to the US dollar, collapsing from around 1 million rials to the dollar a year ago. Iranian media reports describe limited access to foreign currency and disrupted trade routes as additional obstacles for businesses and importers.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has predicted that the Iranian economy would contract by more than 25% in the 12-month period ending in March 2027.

The latest demonstrations reveal how economic grievances are increasingly being expressed alongside political demands. Calls for the release of imprisoned teachers, workers, and protesters featured alongside demands for better pensions and lower prices.

Although the precise number of participants remains unclear, the reported gatherings across several cities demonstrate the persistence of economic protests among different sections of Iranian society. The demands raised by retirees and educators extend beyond individual salary disputes, reflecting wider concerns about public accountability, social welfare, and the distribution of national resources.

For many pensioners, the central issue is no longer simply the payment of overdue benefits but whether their monthly incomes can provide financial security in an economy where the cost of food, housing, and healthcare continues to rise.