Iranian media and social media users have reported a number of protest rallies on Sunday [Jan. 10] at various locations including in front of the Parliament in Tehran and in other cities staged by pensioners, small investors in stock exchange, unemployed contract teachers and health workers.

Videos shared on social media show tens of retired government workers and pensioners under the coverage of the Social Welfare Organization protesting in front of the Parliament on Sunday and chanting slogans.

Protesters, the Iranian Labour News Agency reported, issued a statement on Sunday after more rallies across the country in protest to low retirement and pension payments and adjustments in step with inflation. Protesters also said funds belonging to the Social Welfare Organization to which they contributed from their salaries should not be used by the government for payment of benefits to non-contributors.

Similar rallies were held by pensioners and retired government workers in Ilam, Isfahan, Gilan, Khuzestan and other province centers. There were earlier protest rallies in December and July.

Retirees protesting low pensions outside the Parliament

On Sunday, tens of small investors in the stock market also gathered in front of the Parliament, demanding impeachment of the minister of economy and holding the managers of the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) legally responsible, Entekhab news website reported. On Saturday protesters in a similar rally tossed eggs at the TSE building and chanted slogans against TSE Chairman Hassan Ghalibaf and "corrupt officials."

In the past Iranian calendar week (Saturday to Friday), the TSE index dropped 6.5 percent and by the end of trading Saturday [January 9], it fell another 1.89 percent to 1.2 million points. The volume of trade on Saturday was the lowest in the past two months.

Protesters allege that the government has failed to stop institutional investors from using their influence to manipulate prices. They blame the government for encouraging people to buy shares in what they now see as a bubble that has now burst and reduced the value of their investments. Institutional investors, many of which are government or quasi-state entities, include pension funds, and entities owned by the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) or religious foundations control around 90 percent of the shares listed on the exchange.

Medical personnel and doctors protest

A third group of protesters in front of the Parliament, ILNA reported, were contract teachers. They said they had lost their jobs after 10 to 15 years of serving in under-developed parts of the country because they failed in an "unfair" and "discriminatory" test. According to ILNA protesters said around 6,000 contract teachers were in a similar position.

Tens of health professionals who rallied in front of the headquarters of the Medical Council, a licensing and regulatory body for Iranian healthcare professionals, protested the decision of the Food and Drug Administration to allow methadone, a substitute for heroine in the treatment of heroin addiction, to be made available in pharmacies. Protesters said this policy could lead to a greater heroin addiction problem in the country and limit access to addicts for treatment.

Meanwhile, the Islamic Student Association of Sharif University of Technology in a harsh statement called the Islamic Republic authorities “liars” for suppressing dissent and killing protesters. The statement also assailed “the lack of accountability” on the part of the authorities and declared that “we are fed up with you” and “we are tired of your lack of sincerity, lying, avoiding responsibility” and “recklessness”.