The release of various videos depicting long queues for “government-subsidized meat” in Iran during the month of Ramadan has sparked significant reactions. Now, the regime’s media outlets report insufficient meat supply for distribution to the applicants, stating that people, despite hours of waiting, return home empty-handed.
The state-run Khabaronline website has announced that these long queues reflect a bitter reality that has been witnessed for months. With reference to economic indicators and statistics presented by the Statistical Center, it is predicted to persist.
The report emphasizes that while officials claim economic improvement, the reality is that “people’s purchasing power has sharply decreased, and their food basket has shrunk.”
The coupon plan illustrates the depth of the catastrophe, forcing people to wait in these long lines to obtain food.
Reviewing reports published in other media outlets also indicates that the government’s target in this plan is more than 60 million out of Iran’s 85 million population.
On March 12, Ham-Mihan newspaper criticized the government’s supportive policies, stating that the supply of “regulated market meat” is much less than the existing demand. The newspaper questions, “Why do people have to stand in line for hours to get meat, only to sometimes return home without receiving any?”
Media outlets have compared images of various queues, including meat queues in Iran, to the era of the eight-year war between Iran’s regime and Iraq.
In many of these reports, a partisan approach is evident, attempting to attribute existing problems to the government of regime President Ebrahim Raisi. However, a review of reports and economic indicators during the regime’s rule in Iran shows that the economy has never been on a balanced and scientific development path. It is clear that the economic situation has worsened during Ebrahim Raisi’s term.
Statistics indicate that Iran’s economy has been in a downward spiral over the past four decades, and despite reductions in the pace of this decline in various governments, the trajectory has not changed.
Experts believe that given the macroeconomic policies, often considered “mistakes” by many specialists, and the entrenched inflation in the near future, we might witness people lining up for all goods.
