On Tuesday the demonstrations are fuelled by grievances such as poor living conditions, economic woes, and unpaid salaries. The latest protests were led by retirees and pensioners of the regime’s communications company, with workers from different companies also joining the demonstrations.
Protesters are holding the mullahs’ Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accountable for their miseries and condemning the oppressive Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and paramilitary Basij units, as well as other security forces suppressing the peaceful demonstrators. Sources from the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI/MEK) claim that over 750 people have been killed, and more than 30,000 have been arrested by the regime’s forces.
Protests have expanded to at least 282 cities, with locals in Tehran’s Narmak district chanting anti-regime slogans, including “Death to the dictator!” Retirees and pensioners from the country’s medical sciences universities and other medical institutions protested in Tehran, while store owners in the city of Baneh in Kurdistan Province went on strike due to the nosediving national currency and skyrocketing prices of basic goods.
Disabled citizens rallied in Mashhad, demanding pensions that have been denied to them for months and, in some cases, years. The regime has been deducting from their allocated state budget. Municipality workers in Khuzestan Province gathered in Ahvaz, demanding clarification of their employment status, while workers of a local petrochemical plant in Masjed Soleyman in Khuzestan Province protested for not receiving their paychecks and insurance pensions for the past six months.
Truck drivers in Nur in Mazandaran Province have been on strike since yesterday, demanding answers to their grievances and protesting poor economic conditions. Teachers rallied outside the regime’s Education Ministry in Tehran, demanding officials address their ongoing issues, while bakery owners in Neyshabur in Razavi Khorasan Province protested local officials’ refusal to address their demands.
Contract workers of the East Azerbaijan Province held protest rallies in Tabriz, demanding answers from regime officials to their dilemmas. Retirees and pensioners from the regime’s telecommunications industry in Lorestan Province rallied in many cities.
February 20 – Chabahar, southeast #Iran
Workers and engineers of the Kanrood Sazeh Company in a local petrochemical plant are on strike, protesting not receiving their payments for the past four months.#No2ShahNo2Mullahs#مرگ_بر_ستمگر_چه_شاه_باشه_چه_رهبرpic.twitter.com/29CBzsNNbL— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) February 20, 2023
Workers from companies involved in lead and other metals were on strike in Yazd and Zanjan. Workers of the Kanrood Sazeh Company involved in a local petrochemical plant in the city of Chabahar in Sistan & Baluchestan Province were also on strike, protesting not receiving their payments for the past four months.
Iranian opposition President-elect Maryam Rajavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) criticized the regime’s misogyny:
“The catastrophic poisoning of high school girls in the city of Qom continues as the regime’s prosecutor acknowledges the possibility of deliberate criminal actions. Like acid attacks in Isfahan, this implicates the roles of the IRGC, the Intelligence Ministry and other official agencies. An international investigation is needed,” the NCRI President-elect explained.
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