Iran saw many protests by workers on Monday, July 26, 2021, all across the country, which quickly became political in nature and any of these might be the spark that sets off the fire of the next uprising.

With that in mind, let’s look at the protests, what happened at them, and what the demonstrators were demanding.

The Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Company workers continued their strike in Shush, Khuzestan, for the 14th consecutive day on Monday.

Their main demands for returning to work are:

• Immediate payment of delayed wages
• Extension of their insurance booklets
• Rehiring of their colleagues who were fired recently
• The firing of all company officials who have been involved in corruption
• Return to the workers all money embezzled from the company
• Free coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccinations rolled out quickly across the country

Also that day, nurses and other staff from the Khomeini Hospital in Karaj held a protest over long-delayed wages, and their chants showed the political nature of their protests.

The demonstrators chanted:

• “Down with the dictator”
• “If one embezzlement is reduced, our problems will be solved”
• “We are fed up with the corruption”

At the same time, the pensioners of the state-run Broadcasting Organization protested in Tehran, asking for officials to answer the demands that they’ve been making for some time. Two of the banners seen at the protest include “How can we believe news coming from a media outlet that does not know the status of its employees?” and  “90 per cent of Iran Broadcasting Organization’s retirees are below the poverty line. Pay attention to our situation.”

Meanwhile, water and sewage company workers in Izeh continued their strike over the officials’ refusal to pay long-overdue wages for the third day in a row.

Also on Monday, July 26, oil sector workers continued their mass strikes for the 38th day, which has been expanding to more workers and more companies, all the while affecting the most important sectors of the economy. Currently, several thousand workers from over 114 refineries and power plants are on strike across the cities of Arak, Assaluyeh, Ahwaz, Abadan, Isfahan, Jask, Mahshahr, Tehran, and more.

These protests are examples of bigger issues in Iran, from state control over the economy to the regime’s repression of all people. Simply, the regime has destroyed the economy in order to line their own pockets and plug their budget deficit to finance their terrorism and warmongering across the region. These problems will not be fixed unless the regime is overthrown.