On 18–19 October, Social Security, steel, and telecommunications retirees protested in multiple Iranian cities over eroded pensions and lost assets, while investors and housing applicants in Yazd, Mashhad, and Dehdasht demonstrated over missing funds.

The rallies followed earlier October actions by dismissed workers, nurses, farmers, and students, occurring against reported annual inflation of 62.5 percent in July 2026 and accusations that institutions such as the IRGC Cooperative Foundation and EIKO have benefited at ordinary citizens’ expense.

Slogans linking high prices, embezzlement, and diverted oil revenues to domestic authorities rather than foreign pressure have given the protests a political dimension, with the article framing them as a challenge to the regime and calling for its replacement by a democratic republic.

Why should retirees who spent their lives working have to march to demand the pensions and benefits they are owed? Why must workers protest to protect their jobs, students to demand safe food, and families to recover their savings? Across Iran, these questions are being raised in demonstrations by people whose livelihoods are under pressure.

On October 18 and 19, another wave of rallies brought retirees and investors into the streets of several cities, exposing an economic crisis that has become a confrontation with the policies and institutions of the clerical regime.

Retirees and investors return to the streets

On October 18, Social Security........

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