Iran announces 60% minimum wage hike

Iran's labour minister has announced a more than 60 percent hike in the minimum wage, local media reported Sunday, months after anti-government protests that began as an expression of discontent over dire economic conditions.

The country adjusts its minimum wage yearly to account for inflation, which had skyrocketed under international sanctions in the months leading up to the ongoing war between Iran and its foes Israel and the United States.

A report from the Tasnim news agency citing the minister of labour said that "with the government's approval", the monthly minimum wage would increase from 103 million rials to 166 million in the coming year of the Persian calendar, which will begin in a few days' time.

It also announced a similar hike in child support benefits.

The Iranian currency trades at about 1.47 million rial to the dollar, according to the monitoring website Bonbast.

Economic demonstrations broke out in December of last year, sparked by the high cost of living and the depreciation of the national currency.

They soon evolved into a nationwide movement calling for an end to the country's clerical leadership that has been in place since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Authorities launched a crackdown on the protests that rights groups said killed thousands of people, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten to intervene militarily.

Trump's stated aims for launching the campaign against the Islamic republic have since shifted, though he has repeatedly called on Iranians to take the opportunity to rise up and take control of their country.