As the economic and social crises in Iran rise due to mismanagement by the regime, officials and state-run media warn of new anti-regime protests and the mullahs’ looming downfall.
During the public session of the regime’s Parliament on Sunday, and amid their infightings, some of the regime’s Members of Parliament acknowledged the current economic crisis. They also identified systematic and institutionalized corruption as the main reason for the economic challenges. Thus, debunking all efforts and claims by mullahs and their apologists blaming sanctions for Iran’s economic and social problems.
“The country’s economic growth has been negative for eight years. The government that claimed would solve people’s problems is now desperate for a solution. The country’s revenues have decreased by 34% since 2013. People’s purchasing power has decreased to one third of the previous year and prices skyrocket suddenly and continually. Agricultural inputs such as corn, soybeans, etc. increase 10 times overnight, construction inputs increase more than 10 to 20 times, and poultry and meat prices skyrocket,” said Kamal Alipour, one of the regime’s MPs, on Sunday.
The state-run Ebtekar daily wrote on Sunday: “Is it a false claim to say that the citizens of Iran live in the most difficult social conditions in contemporary history? Is it an exaggeration to say that many citizens in different parts of Iran are unable to provide food, housing, education, health, etc.? Is it wrong to say that providing housing and starting a family for most of the young people is more than a dream?”
While identifying the regime’s mismanagement as the real reason for Iran’s economic problems, the state-run Asia daily wrote on Sunday: “It is not possible to blame all the economic shortcomings of the country on sanctions, and an important part of the economic problems must be sought within the country’s management system.”
In addition, Hossain Raghfar, one of the regime’s economists, on Sunday, said: “Our economy is based on friendship, not on competition, that’s why one calls and says give a loan of 3,000 billion tomans to someone without sufficient collateral. Even economic and monetary policies are tailored to the interests of the political parties, and instead of the distribution of justice, we see the distribution of corruption and embezzlement.”
While trying to blame the rival factions, particularly the regime’s president Hassan Rouhani for the economic hardships, Seyed Mostafa Mir-Salim, another regime MP, on Sunday, said: “Mr. Rouhani; his Vice President Mr. Eshag Jahangiri; and Mr. Seif, head of the Central Bank, should answer this question: What happened to 20 billion euros and 60 tons of gold that came out of the nation’s treasury? This scandal has occurred during their management. In any case, they must be held accountable for what happened, which ruined more than 500,000 billion tomans, with today’s exchange rate.”
In addition to the economic problems, Iranian people are now grappling with the coronavirus outbreak and its rising death toll, which is due to the regime’s deliberate cover-up and inaction.
Instead of solving people’s problems, the Iranian regime has increased its oppressive measures. The recent execution of Navid Afkari, an Iranian wrestling champion, despite international outcries against his death sentence, shows regime’s need for suppression to control this restive society.
In this regard, in an interview with the state-run Tasnim news agency, Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moghaddam, a member of the regime’s Expediency Discernment Council, said: “It is not possible to continue managing the country as we have done it within the last three decades. During these years, we always had double-digit inflation, we always had large budget deficits, and we always had double-digit unemployment. In addition to these issues, another thing that has happened is the widening gap between the poor and the rich. Unfortunately, during the seven years of this government, our national income figure, if we balance, has gone from $400 billion to $165 billion, and this is terrible.”
The state-run Sharq daily on Saturday wrote: “So far, none of the current and former government officials and political currents have made any serious reference to the lost trust of the poor, as none of these political currents represents the real interests of the masses.”
Regarding the consequences of people’s outrage, the state-run Arman daily on Thursday wrote: “The level of the society’s tolerance is overwhelmed by a multitude of livelihood problems along with a lack of civil and social freedoms and other challenges.”
The possibility of a new uprising for the regime that saw its foundations rattle during the two previous nationwide protests in 2018 and 2019 is terrifying. And this uprising is not far from happening.
In this regard, the state-run Ebtekar daily on July 31 wrote: “The current situation cannot be continued. We have been through the warning point for a long time. If the starving people’s movement is fully established, there will be nothing left. This society has reached its boiling point many times, but it has stalled for whatever reason. November [nationwide Iran protests] was just the partial rising of the starving people. If there is no positive and fundamental change in the current situation, sooner or later, a fire will ignite; a fire that will burn everything.”