The danger of demise is greatly scaring the Iran regime’s top clerics, forcing them to confess about it in public, while putting the blame on years of corruption and looting that have brought the regime’s economy to the verge of collapse.
As such, they are desperate to forestall their inevitable overthrow. Ebrahim Raisi’s recent trips to China and Russia and agreements he has made with both countries, seem to be a last-ditch effort to save themselves. What the regime will be gaining from those agreements remains a mystery, however.
Regarding the nuclear talks in Vienna, the outcome remains unclear. Even a positive result will not solve the regime’s problems. The state-run daily Mardom Salari admitted as much in a recent commentary.
“Of course, to say that all the problems will be solved with the JCPOA will not be the case. The problems are so great that the JCPOA, at best, can only provide normal conditions for economic exchanges. Of course, in the current context, due to some issues, the lifting of sanctions alone may not be the solution. In a situation where Iran has not yet adopted the FATF regulations, even if the JCPOA is revived, these issues remain and need further action,” it wrote.
It added, “But the fact is that the shadow of the pressures and problems of the past years will continue to weigh on the people in the coming year. The overall revival of the JCPOA will reduce the pressures, but it is not a realistic idea that cost of living will be lowered and that the purchasing power of the people will increase as inflation rate declines.”
A senior cleric Abdollah Javadi Amoli pointed to the source of the pressures and problems faced by the Iranian people in a discussion with the head of the regime’s Central Bank.
He said, “Sometimes economic problems cause even a big government to fall. The Central Bank has a very serious task, including shielding the Central Bank reserves from legislators who circumvent the law. The embezzlement of billions is not created by ordinary people. They are done by the pen of individuals, not by force of arms. Therefore, embezzlements that have taken place should be examined to find out how they took place in the first place.”
He later expressed his fear about the army of starving people: “Wealth is the cause of a nation’s uprising. If a nation wants to stand, its pocket must be full, poor does not mean weak! Rather, he is the one whose spine is broken, the one whose spine is broken does not listen to the government.”
Hossein Nouri Hamedani, another senior cleric, pointed out the value of the national currency, comparing it with other countries. “The value of our national currency is low compared to many countries, we have to fix the problems in this area. Once you could buy a house for 300,000 rials, but now they do not give a kilo of fruit for that amount,” he said.
What Javadi Amoli and Nouri Hamedani have warned about is a handful of many examples of the country’s economic situation and the living conditions of Iranian people, who are falling below the poverty line every day due to the destructive policies of the Iranian regime. This has subsequently led the regime to become the target of protests, as the Iranian people fight back to claim their most basic rights.
In response, regime officials are struggling to contain the brewing social explosion. With no solutions to offer to remedy the problems within Iranian society, all they can do is show their fear of the prospect of being overthrown and warn others about it.
