The New York Times reported on Sunday, 4 October 2026, that in recent days a growing number of public- and private-sector employees in Iran, including nurses and teachers, have announced on social media that they are leaving their jobs because their salaries no longer cover the cost of living. According to Voice of America, the report comes as the rial has collapsed to unprecedented lows and the Islamic Republic's oil exports have practically stopped following the US naval blockade.
Meanwhile Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, described the current situation on Saturday, 3 October, in a meeting of the government's economic coordination headquarters as one of "the most difficult moments for the country". According to Khabar Online, the meeting reviewed the currency market, the budget, falling oil and tax revenues and the management of the economy in wartime, and Rezaei said the Supreme National Security Council was ready to provide any cooperation needed to manage the country's economy. He also stressed that the negotiation process was serious.
Resignation videos and the Education Ministry's denial
In recent weeks numerous videos have circulated on social media of teachers and nurses announcing their last working day, citing economic hardship, work pressure and the disregard for their profession. According to Iran International, Ali Farhadi, spokesman for the Ministry of Education, on Friday, 2 October, called reports of teachers resigning false and a "rumour", and claimed that some people intend to undermine in-person education.
By contrast, the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers' Trade Associations has said that many videos and reports of teachers resigning in different parts of the country have been published in recent weeks. The organisation cited below-poverty-line wages, deteriorating living conditions, administrative pressure and the securitisation of the teaching profession, including dismissals, suspensions, arrests and cases opened against union activists, as the reasons for quitting.
Pay of nurses and pensioners
The situation of nurses is similar. Mohammad Sharifi-Moghaddam, secretary-general of the Nurses' House, had earlier said that at the current dollar rate the average nurse's salary has fallen to about $100 a month and that some 70,000 nurses have left the profession. Government pensioners have also rallied in several cities in recent weeks, saying their pensions have not been paid in full.
The US dollar has passed 270,000 tomans on Tehran's open market, and this collapse of the national currency, together with the naval blockade and the Islamic Republic's inability to sell oil, has sharply reduced the purchasing power of wage earners.
As nurses and teachers quit in waves, one of the Islamic Republic's most senior security officials has admitted that the economic situation is unprecedentedly difficult.
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