Some human rights groups said on Monday that Iran had executed Alireza Sepahi and Alireza Raeisi, two men detained during the nationwide January protests.
Iran’s judiciary has not commented on the reports.
Messages sent to Iran International by employees at companies spanning the automotive, energy, pharmaceutical and aviation industries describe wages arriving weeks or months late, with some workers saying they have taken second jobs to cover everyday expenses.
Several employees said their salaries were being paid in installments rather than on schedule. Others described losing workplace benefits or being told to resign if they objected to payment delays.
Delayed wages and disappearing benefits
Two workers at Megamotor, a subsidiary of automaker Saipa, criticized the company's wage and benefit payments in messages to Iran International.
Salary payments became irregular after the 40-day war, one worker said.
“We are suffering greatly and do not know how we can provide for our families.”
Another Megamotor employee said some wages and benefits, including overtime and meal allowances, were no longer being paid to workers, while managers and supervisors continued to receive overtime and other benefits.
Low pay at Saipa Yadak has forced most employees to work for the Snapp ride-hailing service from the afternoon until late at night, an employee of the auto-parts company said.
Some of the company's resources are spent on government ceremonies or large payments to senior managers, the employee added.
Workers at Bahman Motor are also facing financial and psychological pressure, an employee of the automaker said.
The company has declined to make payments to employees even as it continues constructing new industrial buildings, according to the employee.
The accounts come as Iran's economic problems have deepened in recent months alongside the Islamic Republic's regional policies, tighter sanctions and a sharp decline in the value of the national currency.
Rapid inflation and declining purchasing power have increased pressure on household budgets and made basic goods harder to afford for a broad section of the population.
Iran International reported in August that workers at mines and companies had gone months without receiving wages.
Workers say complaints put jobs at risk
Employees at other companies described wages being divided into installments and said challenging the delays could put their jobs at risk.
Salaries at Imen Tak Pishro in Jajrud are paid in installments and employees who object are warned they could be dismissed, one worker told.
Another employee previously told Iran International that their employer paid three months of overdue salaries in two installments.
Mapna has not paid workers at 25 power plants for 40 days, an employee of the company said.
At pharmaceutical company Arya Tinagen, salaries remained unpaid 11 days into the month, an employee said.
“The company has cut all employee benefits, from meals to the monthly benefit card. If we complain, they tell us to resign and leave.”
Messages in recent days have also described overdue wages, unpaid insurance contributions and warnings of dismissal across a range of workplaces.
An employee at Yasuj University of Medical Sciences said at the time that staff had gone three months without salaries and were warned they could lose their jobs if they pursued their demands.
Second jobs and unemployment fears
For some workers, irregular wages and rising living costs have made additional employment a necessity. For others, the concern is whether their main job will survive at all.
An employee at Ata Airlines said inflation, the rising exchange rate and aviation sanctions had led the carrier to cut jobs.
The airline had previously borrowed billions of tomans in an effort to avoid dismissing employees, according to the worker.
Employees at Kish Air said they had been instructed not to report for work until further notice and had not received a year's worth of performance-related payments.
Concerns extend beyond individual companies.
Large numbers of factories at the Shamsabad industrial estate have shut down, one person familiar with employment conditions there told Iran International.
The person said they had filled out around 50 job applications for factories in the industrial estate without receiving an offer.
The accounts follow broader signs of concern about employment. In an Iran International survey published in August, 92% of respondents said they had witnessed unemployment among people around them.
Iran reviews US response
Iran’s seven-day proposal, outlined by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York, was sent to Washington through intermediaries and the United States subsequently provided its views on the plan, Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Sunday.
“The proposal that Mr. Araghchi outlined in New York, Iran’s seven-day plan, was sent to the United States through intermediaries, and they provided their views on the plan,” Gharibabadi said.
The US response is being reviewed inside Iran and Tehran will communicate its final position through the appropriate channel once that process is complete, Gharibabadi said. Iran was also maintaining readiness for “other scenarios,” he added.
Parliament deputy speaker Hamid-Reza Haji Babaei separately said negotiations with Washington were taking place, while expressing little confidence that they would ultimately produce an understanding.
“Negotiations with the United States are in fact underway now,” Haji Babaei said.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said US proposals had recently been conveyed through Qatar, although he did not know their details.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said US proposals remained focused on the nuclear issue and Iran had already responded. He also rejected President Donald Trump’s remark that Washington did not know who represented Iran in negotiations, saying a six-member committee under the Supreme National Security Council was overseeing the process.
Lawmakers differ on further talks
Despite the exchanges, parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi said there were no unresolved substantive issues requiring new negotiations.
“We are, in my view, at a post-negotiations stage both on the Strait of Hormuz and on the conditions,” Ghashghavi said.
Another committee member, Ebrahim Rezaei, said Iran would not retreat from its conditions and presented diplomacy and military pressure as the alternatives facing Washington.
“The Americans must either surrender to our diplomats or surrender to Iran’s missiles. We have no other proposal for them,” Rezaei said.
Nuclear debate continues as rial falls
The nuclear program remained part of the diplomatic debate. Baghaei said Iran remained bound by its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons for as long as it remained a member.
Parliament will consider a possible withdrawal from the NPT while maintaining uranium enrichment, parliament board member Alireza Salimi said.
Iran is also considering a Russian offer to take custody of its uranium enriched to 60%, with a final decision to be based on its national interests, Baghaei said.
The diplomatic maneuvering coincided with further pressure on Iran’s currency, with the US dollar rising above 2.7 million rials on the free market on Sunday.
The statements put the focus on Tehran’s review of Washington’s response, with Iranian officials differing over whether the next step requires further negotiations or a decision on proposals already exchanged.
The dollar traded at 2.723 million rials on the open market earlier on October 4, up 1.3% from the previous day.
The euro climbed above 3.06 million rials and the British pound surpassed 3.59 million rials.
US pressure targets oil revenue
Washington has sought in recent weeks to restrict the Iranian government's financial lifelines through a naval blockade, efforts to prevent Iranian oil exports and measures targeting channels used to move oil revenue.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on October 3 that Iran would have no oil cargoes on the water this week and would earn no revenue from such shipments, describing it as a first.
Bessent described the US military campaign, naval blockade and economic isolation of the Islamic Republic as interconnected elements of Washington’s strategy.
Iranian parliament deputy speaker Ali Nikzad had earlier said the United States would “never” be able to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.
Government moves to curb currency slide
Iranian authorities are seeking ways to contain the currency’s decline and inflation as economic pressure increases.
Tasnim news agency, which is affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported on Sunday that five Iranian banks were selling up to $10,000 to each person over 18 at a rate of 2.57 million rials per dollar on the second day of an official foreign currency program.
The banks participating in the program are Mellat, Tejarat, Melli, Saderat and Saman, according to Tasnim.
Lawmaker Mehdi Kouchakzadeh criticized the central bank program during an online parliamentary session on Sunday, questioning why it had been introduced at what he described as a time of severe foreign currency shortages.
“Other than their friends, dealers and thieves, who can afford to buy this $10,000?” Kouchakzadeh said. “This is money for butterfly skin patients and struggling people that is going into the pockets of capitalists and thieves.”
Kouchakzadeh called the policy a “crime” and urged parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to prevent its implementation.
The physical management of foreign currency was of “fundamental importance,” Ghalibaf said in response, promising to pursue the issue.
Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei attended a meeting of the government’s economic coordination headquarters on October 3 and said the country was going through one of its most difficult periods.
Despite the deepening economic crisis and growing pressure on citizens, the Islamic Republic continues to pursue policies that have fueled confrontation, particularly its standoff with the United States and its nuclear program.
