April 2025

A Silent Crisis: Rising Occupational Deaths and Diseases in Iran’s Workforce

Recent data from Iran’s Forensic Medicine Organization reveals a troubling surge in workplace fatalities, with at least 1,900 people losing their lives in occupational accidents in the past year. This figure is nearly four times higher than the 455 deaths reported by the Social Security Organization for 2022, exposing a stark discrepancy between official agencies and raising serious concerns about the accuracy of government statistics and the effectiveness of occupational safety monitoring in Iran. The Social Security Organization’s data is based...

January 2025

Iran’s Aging Population: A Looming Crisis

On January 28, the state-run website Eco Iran published a report titled “Iran’s Population Is Getting Older,” highlighting the significant demographic shifts in Iranian urban households over the past decade (2014–2024). The report reveals a troubling trend: the decline of the young population and the rapid aging of society, posing serious economic and social challenges. Demographic Shifts: A Declining Young Population A review of official statistics underscores a clear decline in the birth rate. The share of children under one year...

Iran Protests: Nationwide Demonstrations Highlight Economic Injustice and Suppression

Today, January 27, 2025, protests erupted across multiple cities in Iran today, as retirees, farmers, workers, and defrauded citizens rallied against the regime’s economic mismanagement, systemic corruption, and oppressive tactics. Demonstrations highlighted a variety of grievances, from pensions and wages to access to water rights and freedom from arbitrary arrests. In Zanjan, northwest Iran, retirees from the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) resumed their protests, calling for higher pensions and an end to mismanagement. Similar protests were held in Ahvaz, southwest Iran,...

November 2023

Iran Lawmakers Pass Bill Raising Retirement Age for Men

Iranian lawmakers have approved legislation raising the retirement age for men to 62 and increasing the years of employment required to qualify for a full pension, state media reported. The bill, which requires approval by the Guardian Council, a conservative-dominated vetting body, aims "to reduce pension fund shortfalls," according to the official IRNA news agency. In Sunday's vote in the 290-seat parliament, 127 lawmakers voted in favor, 78 against and eight abstained, with the remainder absent. The speaker of parliament, Mohammad Baqer...

October 2023

Iran’s Health Ministry Warns of Ageing Population

Iran's Deputy Health Minister Hossein Farshidi issued a warning about the country's ageing population, claiming it will double within the next 20 years. Speaking on World Elderly Day Farshidi said the demographic change is happening much faster than in many developed countries, where it took over a century to see such a rise in the elderly population. He attributed the trend to global increases in life expectancy and significant reductions in fertility rates during the 20th century. He stressed that Iran has experienced similar...

July 2023

Irán. Elderly to Account for 30% of Population by 2050

The percentage of people over the age of 60 will constitute 30% of Iran’s population by the year 2050, Mohammad Tabatabaei, a health official with the Iran University of Medical Sciences, stated on Tuesday. “By 2050, the country’s demographic window of opportunity will close; therefore, considering the age of fertility, we have less than eight years to solve this crisis,” Tabatabaei was quoted as saying by ISNA. He said that the first three years of the eight were key as the...

August 2022

Iran raises pensions for retired workers by over 38%

The Iranian government has approved a raise in monthly pensions paid to millions of retired workers in the country. Caretaker labor minister Mohammad Hadi Zahedivafa said on Thursday that monthly pensions for retired workers who are on the payroll of Iran’s Social Security Organization (SSO) will rise by 38% plus a fixed monthly handout of 5.15 million rials ($17.5) as of September. The raise will be applied retroactively to pensions paid since the start of the calendar year in March, said...

Iranian Pensioners Continue Protests Amid Economic Woes

Pensioners and retired government employees have continued protests in more than a dozen Iranian cities for a second day as they seek a hike in pensions to offset rising prices amid the country's growing economic woes. Reports from eyewitnesses from 16 cities, including Mashhad, Shushtar, Ilam, Yazd, Qazvin, Karaj, Bandar Abbas, Kermanshah, Abadan, and Isfahan, showed protesters on June 7 demanding more money, saying their pensions aren't enough to live on. In the city of Ilam, retirees spread an empty tablecloth...

July 2022

Iranian Pensioners Protest Again, Demand Full Hike In Pensions As Promised

Pensioners and retired government employees have again taken to the streets in several cities across Iran shouting anti-government slogans and demanding a full 38 percent increase in their pensions, which was promised by the Supreme Labor Council. The recent wave of protests by pensioners and retirees comes after the government announced on June 6 that it would increase the monthly incomes of non-minimum-wage retirees by 10 percent, far below a previous pledge to raise them by 38 percent plus 5.15...

June 2022

Iranian Pensioners Return To Streets, Say Government Failing To Meet Promises

Iranian pensioners and retired public employees showed no signs of letting up in their protests against what they say is the government's failure to address deteriorating living conditions. Videos posted on social media on June 27 showed retirees gathering in at least four cities, Ahvaz, Kermanshah, Arak, and Rasht, chanting slogans against the government of President Ebrahim Raisi. The recent wave of protests by pensioners and retirees comes after the government announced on June 6 that it would increase the monthly...