Iran is witnessing a steep rise in child labor, particularly in urban centers like Tehran, as economic hardship intensifies and state protection systems continue to falter. On the World Day Against Child Labor, June 12, we shed light on the tragic situation of child laborers in Iran.

In May 2024, Soudabeh Najafi, a Tehran City Council member and head of its Health Committee, described the presence of children working on the streets as a “serious red flag” being ignored by authorities. In an interview with Shargh Daily on May 14, 2024, Najafi warned that the number of child laborers in Tehran had noticeably increased in recent months and that “children’s presence on the streets is a crisis that must not be normalized.”

Najafi explained that the issue is being addressed in a fragmented manner by multiple institutions—including the Welfare Organization, Tehran Municipality, and the Governor’s Office—without unified oversight. “The main perpetrators of child labor in the city are those who take children from their parents and then deploy them for work under harsh and exploitative conditions,” she said.

The clerical regime avoids giving accurate statistics regarding the number of children involved in child labor. Moreover, occasionally, officials announce false statistics to downplay the gravity of the situation.

Support the show

The Iranian legal system not only fails to protect women from gender-based violence—it actively enables it. Survivors of domestic abuse face a maze of bureaucratic obstacles, from police inaction to ineffective forensic procedures, all within a system that places the burden of proof entirely on the victim. Legal provisions that should help women are routinely ignored, while courts and police refuse to intervene meaningfully.

Women are shuffled between institutions, often without support or protection. Forensic evidence, while technically available, is easily dismissed by abusers and rarely leads to convictions. Cultural taboos, fear of retaliation, and lack of legal safeguards ensure that witnesses remain silent and victims give up.

The ultimate consequence is fatal: since early 2025, dozens of Iranian women have been murdered by male relatives, many after failed attempts to seek help. With no protective infrastructure—no shelters, no follow-up, no legal enforcement—many women are sent back to abusive homes, reinforcing a cycle of violence.

The article concludes that the Iranian regime is not just failing women—it is structurally complicit. Gender-based violence is not an unintended flaw but a deliberate result of a system built to uphold patriarchal control.

Support the show

Derrière les discours de progrès se cache une crise d’épuisement, de discrimination de genre et d’émigration massive dans le système de santé iranien
Le gouvernement affirme une baisse de l’émigration des infirmières en pleine crise
Selon les médias officiels, le ministre iranien de la Santé, Mohammadreza Zafarghandi, a déclaré lors d’une réunion du cabinet, le mercredi 28 mai, qu’il y avait eu une « baisse significative de l’émigration des infirmières, des médecins et des spécialistes au cours du second semestre de l’année 1403 (calendrier persan), par rapport à la même période en 1402. »
(Fararu – 28 mai 2025)
Le lendemain, le vice-ministre des Soins infirmiers, Abbas Ebadi, a attribué ce prétendu progrès à des « politiques de soutien et génératrices d’espoir ».
(YJC – 29 mai 2025)

Ebadi a affirmé que, « selon l’Organisation des infirmiers, environ 2 000 infirmières avaient demandé des certificats d’émigration en 1402, mais que ce chiffre était tombé à moins de 1 300 en 1403. » Il a ajouté que cette baisse avait été « particulièrement marquée dans la seconde moitié de 1403, période durant laquelle la tendance à la hausse de la migration des infirmières aurait presque cessé ».

Support the show

Behind the Claims of Progress Lies a Crisis of Burnout, Gender Discrimination, and Mass Emigration in Iran’s Healthcare System
Government Claims Drop in Nurse Emigration Amid Crisis
According to state-run media, the Iranian Health Minister, Mohammadreza Zafarghandi, claimed during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, May 28, that there has been a “significant reduction in the emigration of nurses, doctors, and specialists in the second half of the year 1403 (Persian calendar), compared to the same period in 1402.” (Fararu – May 28, 2025)
The next day, Deputy Minister of Nursing, Abbas Ebadi, attributed this alleged achievement to “hope-building and supportive policies.” (YJC – May 29, 2025)

Ebadi asserted that, “According to the Nursing Organization, only around 2,000 nurses applied for emigration certificates in 1402, but that number has dropped to under 1,300 in 1403.” He further stated that this decline has been “especially noticeable in the latter half of 1403, where upward trends in nurse migration have nearly stopped.”

Experts Call Government Statistics ‘Unbelievable and Misleading’
These claims have sparked a wave of disbelief, even among officials and analysts within the regime itself. Mohammad Sharifi-Moqaddam, Secretary-General of the House of Nurses, criticized the numbers:
“The Ministry of Health and the Nursing Organization are jointly presenting statistics to deflect from the real problems nurses are facing. They want to paint a picture that nurses are now satisfied and no longer migrating—when this is clearly not true.” (Khabar Online – June 6, 2025)

Sharifi-Moqaddam continued:
“When we stated that at least 3,000 Iranian nurses had emigrated, officials challenged our data—yet we relied on multiple credible sources. The fact is that nurse migration is not channeled through one official pipeline. There is no unified registry, so no one can accurately claim a ‘35% drop.’ We ask: how did they come up with this figure?”

Health policy expert Seyed Mohammad Alavi reinforced this skepticism:
“Assessing nurse migration solely based on the number of certificates issued by the Nursing Organization lacks any scientific validity. It risks grossly misrepresenting a complex and multifaceted issue.” (Hamshahri Online – May 31, 2025)

According to international data from destination countries, Iranian nurse migration between 2020 and 2024 has not decreased—in fact, it has grown faster than regional averages.

Support the show

Within the oppressive walls of Dowlatabad Prison in Isfahan, a harrowing tale of suffering and exploitation unfolds, largely hidden from the public eye.

Located near venues like Fadak Hall and the Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Center, this prison is not only plagued by dire sanitary conditions and inhumane living circumstances but has also become a site of systematic exploitation of female inmates.

According to a former detainee, women prisoners endure an unbearable and unsanitary environment, where 40 to 50 individuals are crammed into small spaces, some even deprived of a bed to sleep on. The lack of basic necessities, the spread of diseases such as lice among mothers and children, freezing cold showers, a shortage of cleaning supplies, and arbitrary restrictions are just a fraction of the hardships these women face daily.

But the story does not end there. Amidst their compounded suffering, incarcerated women are subjected to forced labor in a company called SNOVA. Under lucrative contracts with prison authorities, this company exploits the unpaid labor of inmates, reaping financial benefits that do not contribute to improving prison conditions but instead flow into the pockets of those in power.

Among the beneficiaries of this exploitation is Mohammad Reza Diani, a figure with a background in seminary studies and past ties to the Rouhani administration.

Support the show

Adelabad Prison, located in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz, is notorious for its long-standing violations of human rights. This grim institution houses political, ideological, and general prisoners under conditions that reflect a systematic disregard for human dignity. Reports from former inmates reveal inhumane treatment, rampant torture, and appalling living conditions, especially in the women’s ward. These accounts provide a stark illustration of the clerical regime's widespread and systematic human rights abuses.

The Women’s Ward: A Microcosm of Injustice

The women’s ward in Adelabad Prison consists of eight rooms, one designated for political and financial prisoners, separated from the others. Currently, three female political prisoners—Hoda Mehreganfar, Maryam Deris, and Hakimeh Honarmand—are held in this ward under harsh and degrading conditions.

• Hoda Mehreganfar, arrested alongside her father Mohammad-Ali Mehreganfar, endured 40 to 50 days in solitary confinement.
• Hakimeh Honarmand, a political prisoner from the 1980s, has faced years of imprisonment and security pressures. She was arrested with her son.
• Maryam Deris, a master's student from the southwestern city of Kazerun, was detained during the nationwide protests of 2022.

The ward is overcrowded, forcing many prisoners to sleep "book-style" (side by side, with barely any room to move) on cold, unheated floors.

Poor sanitation exacerbates the dire conditions, with toilets and showers inside the rooms, emitting foul odors that permeate the air. The lack of heating during the winter months makes survival even more challenging.

Support the show

New official statistics reveal a deepening employment crisis in Iran, particularly for young women. The figures—published by the state-run Eghtesad News on May 15, 2025—show that unemployment among women aged 20 to 24 has reached a staggering 34.9%.

The data, compiled by the National Statistical Center (NSC), underscores a bleak labor market that disproportionately penalizes the country’s youth and women, exposing the long-standing failures of the clerical regime’s economic policies.

With youth unemployment drastically higher than the national average, the report serves as yet another warning sign of systemic dysfunction under the Iranian regime.

Unemployment Soars Among Iran’s Youth

According to the report, the national unemployment rate in winter 2025 (December 2024 to March 2025) stood at 7.8%. But this average figure masks the crisis faced by younger Iranians. For those aged 20 to 24, the overall unemployment rate was an alarming 23.1%—three times the national average.

The next group most affected was the 25–29 age range, with a jobless rate of 17%. The 15–19 age group followed, registering a 15.8% unemployment rate.

These numbers reflect a growing demand for jobs among young Iranians as well as the regime’s failure to create sufficient employment opportunities.

The joblessness crisis is exacerbated by systemic issues like nepotism, the prioritization of regime loyalists in hiring, and widespread corruption.

Women Bear the Brunt of the Economic Collapse

Unemployment among women was even more catastrophic. The overall jobless rate for women in winter 2025 was 14.2%—more than double that of men, whose unemployment rate stood at 6.5%. But the most shocking figure was the unemployment rate for women aged 20 to 24, which reached a staggering 34.9%. Girls aged 15 to 19 weren’t far behind, with 30.7% unemployed. The third-highest group was women aged 25 to 29, with a 29.1% unemployment rate. This means that one out of every three young women seeking employment is unemployed.

In a country where women make up a significant portion of university graduates, this high unemployment rate is not only a cause for concern but also a sign of a dysfunctional system—one that has not only severely limited job opportunities but also institutionalized gender discrimination.

Iranian women face numerous economic, cultural, and legal challenges, all under the shadow of a patriarchal and repressive regime.

Support the show

Rural women migrants in Chabahar are trapped between environmental collapse and a regime that refuses to see them. Their suffering is systemic.

Chabahar’s women aren’t asking for much—just survival with dignity.
After fleeing drought and devastation, they were promised jobs and housing.
Instead, they got slums, silence, and shame.

In Chabahar’s slums, 70,000 migrants live in sewage-lined streets.
Kids play among open wires and disease.
Women face hunger, illiteracy, and addiction.
This is not a natural disaster. It’s a political one.

Setareh’s story is one of thousands in Chabahar.
Women heads of household, abandoned by the state, are surviving—but barely.
This is not migration. It’s displacement with no way back.

Support the show