Iran's social security pension arrears remain unpaid after five months amid an 820 trillion rial shortfall

Five months into the Iranian year 1405, the pension-increase arrears owed to Social Security Organization retirees for the months of Farvardin and Ordibehesht have still not been credited to pensioners' accounts. The report was published on Friday, 31 July 2026.

Mostafa Salari, chief executive of the Social Security Organization, said the third stage of the pension adjustment scheme has been implemented, but that payment of the arrears for the year's first two months depends on securing funding, and that no precise payment date can be announced until the necessary credit is in place. He said the organisation faces a funding shortfall of about 820 trillion rials (82 thousand billion tomans) to settle these arrears.

Salari also set out the organisation's resource position: the Social Security Organization carries a monthly obligation of roughly 1,420 trillion rials (142 thousand billion tomans) for pension payments, while a falling number of contributors and limited premium income have put it under heavy strain. More than 5.3 million retirees are covered by the organisation.

Representatives of retirees say the delay erodes the real value of what they are owed as inflation runs on, and have called on the government to settle its own debts to the fund and speed up debt-offset arrangements to provide the necessary resources. The issue compounds pressure on lower-income households, whose food basket cost rose 133 percent in Tir 1405 compared with a year earlier.