Iran’s Recent Protests Is Merely the Beginning of the Story!

By Pooya Stone

Little more than a month ago, the Iranian government passed the heaviest political crisis its rulers have experienced in the past 40 years. Officials still warn each other about upcoming protests that will be much deeper and stronger due to the roots of people’s complaints not being resolved.

On December 14, the state-run newspaper “Arman” underlined that the increase of people’s problems “can have dangerous consequences in the future.” This newspaper continued, “Raising the rate of inflation and unemployment in any society leads to an increase in social harms. When the people fail their hope for the future and citizens cannot imagine a bright future for themselves and their children, nervous and psychological problems of that society reach their highest levels. Nowadays, news of embezzlements and distrust toward officials in their decision-making resulted in the reduction of people’s tolerance.” Subsequently, Arman warned authorities that “This [public anger] could be the greatest threat to our young society,” if the problems won’t be resolved.

However, while Iran has no substantial option to compensate for next year’s budget deficit and has ignited a new round of infighting among different factions, the government has doubled the budget of missile production. On December 14, state-run Mehr News Agency quoted the head of Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Morteza Barari as saying that the budget of the space sector of the country has doubled for the next year. The Iranian space agency is developing while the Iranian people suffer from lacking their essential needs and hard struggle to make ends meet. Barari emphasized that this increase has been considered for the next two years. It is worth noting that the Iranian government’s missile program, under the pretext of space activities, yielded very disastrous results during recent months.

Notably, on August 29, the Associated Press reported that the Iranian government’s rocket that was to conduct a satellite launch exploded on its launch pad at the Khomeini Space Center in Semnan Province. It was the third failed attempt by the ISA this year alone. These investments on adventurous projects are taking place while Tehran’s former mayor admitted earlier that more than half of the capital’s population pass their nights hungry.

On the other hand, the latest report of the Statistical Centre of Iran revealed that the country’s misery index had increased to 39 percent in the winter of 2018 while it was  19.4 percent in the winter of 2016. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) envisaged Iran’s inflation rate at 37.2 percent for the current year. IMF also announced that the unemployment rate was 13.9 percent in 2018 and prospected it to spike to 15.4 percent for this year and peak to 19.4 percent in 2024.

In conclusion, Iranian authorities not only haven’t taken any step toward resolving the people’s problems but are also insisting on their miserable mismanagement policies that resulted in vast poverty and disaster for the people. Factually, the government hasn’t left any option for Iranians except revolt against the corrupt ruling system that pays the cost of its malign behavior in the region at the expense of the poor and deprived segments of Iran’s society.

“Today, society is full of crises… Today, neither reformism nor principlism can be the political reference. None of these polarizations represent ordinary people. This is the reason for chaos by the lower classes of the society and this is merely the beginning of the story!” Sociologist and Analyst of Social Issues Ebrahim Fayaz said on December 15.