Spring of freedom

Shahroud,  Karaj, Qazvin, Tabriz and other cities across Iran witnessing protests on Tuesday  As living conditions continue to become more difficult and more than 80 percent of Iranians are living in  poverty , protests by people from all walks of life are  mushrooming  across the country. Employees of a ball-bearing factory in  Tabriz , northwest Iran, rallied on Tuesday protesting not receiving their paychecks for the past four months. This is the country’s largest ball-bearing factory. Tabriz – Ball-bearing factory workers holding a protest rally A group of farmers in  Qazvin , also in northwest Iran, rallied on Tuesday, protesting the authorities’ measures of closing down a water pumping station and depriving locals of water for their farms. This rally was held outside the  Qazvin  Province Water Department.  Qazvin – Protesting farmers rallying outside the provincial water department In  Karaj , west of T...

Homeless people, labor children and drug addicts in the streets In a cold, cloudy November morning in Tehran, a chill breeze sweeps the leaves in one of the main streets of Tehran, drawing the gazes of passersby to a man lying on a piece of cardboard beside the pavement. Seeing homeless people, labor children, and drug addicts wandering and lying in the streets has now become a common scene in Iran. “70 percent of the population is under the poverty line.” These are statistics that even official state-run media cannot hide and have to reveal in a bid to maintain a modicum of a reputation as news sources. On October 31, state-run news agency ILNA revealed, “In the recent circumstances almost 70 percent of the population lives in a vulnerable situation that will extremely affect the low-income strata of the society. However, mid-class strata will suffer as well.” Tasnim, a news agency with ties to the terrorist IRGC Quds force, talked about the collapse of the middle and ...