In Iran, the holy month of Ramadan began on the last day of the Nowruz celebrations. Yet, the Iranian people’s tables are still empty as the country faces its worst economic crisis in decades. The regime’s policies are causing deepening economic woes through corruption, ineptitude, and recalcitrance, with the latter increasing the country’s international isolation and thus adding to its deep financial crises.
Some facts, though engineered and downplayed by the country’s tightly controlled state media and ministries, shed light on the situation.”14 million people in the country do not have decent jobs,” the state-run Mardom Salarie daily reported on April 7.
“There are about six to seven million informal jobs and two million underemployed,” the minister of cooperatives, labor, and social welfare said. This is in addition to the millions of young people who are unemployed but have a high level of education. For the first time in August 2021, the regime’s Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare published an official report on Iran’s poverty line and impoverishment.
An analysis of the data shows that the poverty line increased by 38% in 2020 compared to 2019.” Soaring food and housing prices were the most important factors in lowering the poverty line in 2020, according to the report, which was published on April 2 by the state-run Sharq daily. Ebrahim Raisi, best known for his role in the massacre of 30,000 political prisoners in 1988, attempted to portray himself as the “savior” of Iran’s crippled economy.
Counting on an unscrupulous mass murderer like him, whose primary goal is to maintain a regime in the face of a volatile society, is akin to asking an arsonist to put out a fire. Raisi has been making hollow promises, abruptly visiting factories, making irrelevant comments, and issuing ridiculous orders, such as eradicating poverty in two weeks, because he lacks any meaningful plans. In other words, you sour people’s memories of poverty,” the state-run Hamdeli newspaper admitted on April 5.
“Although the government made many promises to rapidly revitalize and improve the country’s economic indicators, after seven months, inflation hovers around 40%, the liquidity increased by more than 46%, the unemployment rate is more than 12%, and we have the ever-widening gap between social classes,” the summed up the outcome of Raisi’s government, in an article on April 2.
“Poor people have had enough of empty promises.” While MPs claim that each minute of parliament costs one billion rials, the result of these pointless meetings is sharp price increases in basic goods.”Despite [officials’] promises of lower inflation and liquidity, as well as increased economic growth, the facts on the ground, as seen by the public, contradict these promises.
Many promises have been made to the Iranian people, including putting the proceeds of Iran’s vast oil wealth “on people’s tables,” “signing a deal with world powers to end economic woes,” and “combatting corruption.” They are aware, however, that their suffering stems from the regime’s disastrous policies.
Protests by people from all walks of life are spreading across Iran, marking the broadest expression of discontent since the country’s recent uprisings. These protests, combined with the country’s economic woes, have alarmed state media and officials, reviving the bitter nightmare of the regime’s foundation-shaking uprising in November 2019.
“Unfortunately, society’s tolerance is eroding on a daily basis as a result of the numerous problems. This has created a fragile situation for society, so much so that I am worried about the possibility of a social eruption due to livelihood crises,” the state-run Sharq daily quoted economist Mohammad Razaghi, as saying on March 27.
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