Iran: Khamenei’s Mundane Propaganda

Annually, Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, announces a name for the new Persian year. For the first few days, the media and government officials weave articles about it, but since the regime has no ability nor interest to solve people’s problems, these mentions have become meaningless propaganda and even the regime’s officials ridicule these titling and pay no attention to them.

On 27 March, the state-run news agency ILNA wrote, “merely naming without considering its real requirements has practically for many years caused the naming to take on more of a propaganda and slogan role and sometimes become a contradiction to itself.”

The wrong policies like the new year’s delusional budget are completely failing to upkeep the remaining production and are sinking the currency value.

The situation is much worse in the area of production and industry. The regime’s Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade derived from the results of last year that Iran was experiencing positive economic development.

“As experts have warned, this policy not only failed to help control inflation, especially commodity prices but also destroyed $54 billion in foreign exchange, according to the latest official figures,” wrote the Eghtesad Online, on 27 March.

In his most recent speech, he declared that amid the intensification of sanctions and the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a growth in 19 industrial divisions giving the foundation for a 7.5 percent increase in the industrial index in the country’s economy.

“Economic experts showed that this statistic is only in Rials and under the shadow of more than 40 percent inflation. In a situation where economic growth is not reflected in the people’s shopping basket, last year’s industrial growth is nothing more than playing with the statistic. As we approach the last months of the government, we will see it more than before, and it will not have a tangible impact on the economic conditions of the people,” wrote the state-run daily Arman, on 27 March.

The minister cited an increase in the production of masks, detergents, ventilators, and other products. He claimed that 22 million masks are made daily and that they are even exporting these. Claiming that these were the most significant successes of his ministry in 2020.

These are figures to misled the people, said Albert Baghazian, a government economic expert in an interview with the state-run daily Arman, on 27 March, “statistics while they are not reliable and can be shown in different ways there has been growing while the effect must be observed, so the decline in the price of masks, which is not primarily production, does not indicate industrial growth and is mostly the playing with statistics of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade in the final year of government.”

As the state-run daily Donya-e-Eghtesad explained in a piece on 27 March, “in simple terms, this means that tomorrow’s generation will not have enough nutrition and health and will not be able to meet their needs.

Reduction of calories and malnutrition and mental disorder of the next generation due to malnutrition and anxiety and social tensions that are transmitted to families and children. Therefore, we will not have a prosperous generation in the next few decades.”