The current economic situation in Iran is the worse one that the country has experienced in the last century. With the Iranian regime’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, and his administration promising that they will resolve Iran’s crises, the question remains as to whether they will be able to.
Iran’s economy has long been monopolized by Khamenei and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). But Raisi’s administration is full of IRGC commanders and Khamenei’s inner circle men whose main task is to plunder Iran’s national wealth and prolong the regime’s life.
When Raisi announced the nominees for his cabinet following his inauguration, Iranian dissidents described the chosen candidates as the embodiment of four decades of the religious and terrorist dictatorship of the mullahs, whose mission is to counter popular uprisings, plunder national wealth and resources, step up terrorism and warmongering, and expand the unpatriotic nuclear and missiles projects.
Khamenei has also handpicked the regime’s parliament and put one of his closest officials and a corrupted element, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, as the parliament’s speaker. As the mayor of Tehran, Ghalibaf is accused of stealing over billions of dollars.
Ghalibaf formerly served as one of the top commanders in the IRGC and was later succeeded by Alireza Zakani, another IRGC commander who is close to Khamenei. The IRGC is notorious for using its headquarters and ‘front’ companies to plunder the nation’s wealth, with their top corrupt organization being the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters.
This company began as an industrial and construction contractor in 1989, with the goal of the organization to “efficiently utilize the available construction and economic resources, capacities and talents of the IRGC to continue the Islamic Revolution.”
The Khatam Headquarters contracting services acts as a huge intermediary between the government and small engineering and technical companies, which have a major portion of their revenues seized by Khatam. Ownership of many of these companies occurred unilaterally or through intimidation and force.
Back in September 2019, former government minister, Behzad Nabavi explained that in Iran, 60% of the national wealth is controlled by four main institutions, which are the Executive Headquarters of Imam Khomeini’s Directive (Setad), Khatam al-Anbiya Base, Astan-e Quds, and the Foundation of the Oppressed and Disabled.
Between 2007 and 2011, the current Minister of Urban and Road Development in Raisi’s cabinet, Rostam Ghasemi, served as the commander of Khatam al-Anbiya, before becoming the Minister of Oil in then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration between 2011 and 2013. During his service, financial irregularities, cases of embezzlement and bribery, as well as other financial crimes, all took place.
These facts highlight once again that Ebrahim Raisi and his ilk are not going to solve Iran’s economic problems. Iran’s state media also confirmed the latter on Tuesday.
The state-run Hamdeli daily wrote on October 19 that the Iranian economy has yet to change following Raisi’s inauguration. The worst problem faced by the Iranian people is the rising inflation rates which are directly affecting their lives.
Daily protests are taking place across Iran, attended by people from all walks of life as the worsening crises are turning society into a powder keg. The frustration and restiveness are set to grow even more if the regime is still reluctant to find solutions.
They have realized that Raisi’s hollow promises are part of the regime’s deceptive measures to postpone another major uprising. The regime’s ongoing corruption and its devastating effects on people’s lives have indeed created a danger towards the regime.
