According to the report by the Iranian opposition, The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), and the People’s Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI / MEK Iran), the Tehran Traditional Bakers Union recently announced an increase in bread pricing, which was then notified to Iran’s chamber of guilds by the regime’s provincial government in Tehran.
The regime covertly raised the price of bread
This declaration comes months after the regime covertly raised the price of bread a few times. While Iranians struggle to make ends meet, the dictatorship continues to reach further into the pockets of the people.
Since the end of 2020, the unsettling news of rising bread prices has been circulating.
The sale of ‘leased bread’
According to the state-run Etemad daily on December 28, “it is a big threat to a large part of the deciles that sometimes can’t buy these goods. A clear example of this is some reports that have been published about the sale of ‘leased bread’ in some impoverished cities and provinces.”
The government has been increasing bread prices unofficially since mid-April 2021. “It has been approved to increase the price of different types of bread by up to 50%,” the leader of the Karaj Bakers’ Union said on May 16.
The hike in prices was quickly denied by regime officials blaming Iran’s poor bakers, claiming that they had raised bread prices personally.
Bakers are unable to make ends meet
Meanwhile, Iranian bakers have claimed numerous times that they are unable to make ends meet due to severe inflation and skyrocketing prices of flour, water, power, and other bakery expenses.
They emphasized that the regime has refused to support them despite their frequent follow-ups and protests over the bakery’s excessive costs.
Iran’s state media confirmed that the regime has raised bread prices indirectly and warned of the implications.
Bread is one of the Iranian people’s main foods
“There have been rumors about increasing the price of bread, which is the red line of the people. We cannot joke with the people’s bread. Because bread is one of the Iranian people’s main foods, and if this happens, it will surely lead to a social explosion,” as per the state-run Eghtesad-e Pouya on May 5.
The semi-official Mehr News Agency highlighted this fact on May 16, “why is the price increase not officially announced?”
The government had waited to publicly announce the price hike in order to avoid a repeat of the terrible experience of raising the fuel price in November 2019, which prompted large anti-government riots in Iran.
Commodities have crossed the critical inflation mark
“Some commodities have crossed the critical inflation mark. Comparing the average price of food items in this month with the same month in the previous year shows that in two cases of selected food items, the changes were more than 100%.
The highest price increase belongs to pasteurized butter (121.4%), chicken (118.8%), and liquid oil (89.0%),” the state-run Jahan-e Sanat daily reported on July 18.
Further social turmoil
Protests in Khuzestan recently demonstrated that Iran’s restive people will no longer tolerate the regime’s plundering.
Increasing the price of bread would almost certainly lead to greater protests. It also demonstrates the regime’s desperation to fund its illegal activities by depriving people of the most basic necessities, which will lead to further social turmoil.
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