Iranian Families Incur More Costs As Prices of Basic Goods Continue to Increase
According to the latest report on inflation and price trends by the Iranian regime’s Statistical Center, the consumer price index (CPI) for households reached 217.0 in December 2023, representing a 2.9% increase compared to the previous month and a 44.4% increase compared to the same period last year.
Based on this report, the year-on-year inflation rate for households in December exceeded 40%, meaning that on average, families have spent 40.2% more than in December of the previous year on purchasing an “identical basket of goods and services.”
Consequently, the month-over-month inflation rate in December 2021 also increased by one percentage point compared to the previous month.
In a report published on Thursday, December 28, the state-run Etemad daily wrote about the examination of the inflationary situation in Iran and the new report by the Statistical Center, stating, “This report shows that after five months of implementing the strictest recessionary policies in the monetary sector, known as stabilization policies, inflation has returned to over 40%, and monthly inflation has also shifted its eight-month record.”
According to Etemad, statistical evidence indicates that the monthly and point-to-point inflation increase is primarily due to the rise in the prices of food, beverages, and tobacco products. In December, monthly inflation for food exceeded 4%, surpassing the overall inflation rate. Furthermore, the average inflation rate in this sector has also surpassed 50%, with a significant portion of food inflation occurring in the two categories of protein products and fruits and vegetables.
According to the Statistical Center, in December 2023, the average monthly inflation rate for households in the country was 2.9%. For the major group of “food, beverages, and tobacco,” this figure was 4.1%, while for the major group of “non-food goods and services,” it was 2.3%.
In this report, hotels and restaurants, clothing and footwear, tobacco, entertainment and culture, education, food and beverages, and miscellaneous goods and services were all above the average point-to-point inflation rate. However, housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels decreased below the average index line in December, unlike in November.
However, the inflation trend is not uniform across income deciles and has not been the same for December. For example, the inflation rate for food in the first decile was 5.2% on a monthly scale, whereas for the tenth decile, which represents the wealthiest income group, this figure was 3.5%.
According to the definitions of responsible institutions, an inflation rate exceeding 2% per month indicates a critical increase in commodity prices.
The increase in the official inflation rate occurs under conditions where the Minister of Economy of the government claims that the government’s monetary policies, which have led to a reduction in liquidity in recent months, have brought down the inflation rate.
Under this pretext, the government has prevented an increase in the wages of workers and retirees, and in the draft budget for the persian Calendar year 1403 (March 2024-March 2025), it has only envisaged an 18% increase in the salaries of employees and retirees. In this regard, some media outlets have stated that this amount may be considered for increasing the minimum wage for workers covered by labor law.
In the current situation of Iran’s economy, the point-to-point inflation can indicate the depth of the country’s economic crisis in a more transparent way.
500 Textile Workers in Iran’s Borujerd Dismissed in Past 9 Months
Reports from Iran indicate that 500 textile workers in Borujerd (western Iran) have been dismissed since the beginning of the current Persian calendar year (beginning from March 21). In the meantime, Moslem Moradi, the governor of Borujerd, has called for a “comprehensive inspection of the company” by the provincial auditors.
The dismissal of 500 workers from the textile industry in Borujerd comes as, according to reports, workers in some industrial units have faced actions such as dismissal or wage deductions after protesting against wage conditions or demanding the implementation of job classification plans.
The state-run ILNA news agency has written about whether blocking workers’ entry cards, as happened in the recent case of protesting workers at the National Steel Company in Ahvaz, is legal or not.
The news agency has also asked the Ministry of Labor to intervene in the punishment of employers for personnel without the formation of a “committee.”
The critical living conditions of workers have led to increased dissatisfaction among the workforce in society, and workers from various units have resorted to protest gatherings to pursue demands such as the implementation of job classification plans, job benefits, and payment of delayed paychecks.
The critical conditions of the workers have also had consequences such as “suicide,” and in this regard, in recent days, two workers in the Chovar petrochemical company committed suicide.
According to media reports, the workers tried to take their lives by hanging themselves after the employer banned them from entering the workplace. Workers at the Chovar petrochemical factory in Ilam province also claim that the factory manager carried out a mass dismissal and told 13 workers that they were no longer needed, which led to the suicide of two contract workers on December 21 in protest against the dismissals.
In another incident, workers from all sections of the Iranian National Industrial Group’s steel factories in Ahvaz went on strike on December 23 following the CEO’s ban on the entry of 21 workers and the failure to fully implement the job classification plan.
The strike has continued for a week, and Ali Mohammad, the CEO of the group, announced in response to the strike that the ban on the employment of 21 workers was carried out “in coordination and with the decision of the Khuzestan Supply Council” so that, according to him, “production lines are not disrupted.”
According to Article 48 of the Labor Law, the job classification plan must be implemented for all workshops that are covered by the Social Security Law and have more than 50 employees.
According to this legal article, in order to prevent the exploitation of other jobs, the Ministry of Labor is obligated to prepare and implement the job evaluation and classification system using the job standards and customs in the country.
IRGC Commander Walks Back Comments Claiming Oct 7 Attacks Were Retaliation to Killing of Qassem Soleimani
In a statement released on its Telegram channels, Hamas denied the remarks of Ramazan Sharif, the spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), regarding the “Al-Aqsa Storm,” the name Hamas uses to refer to the October 7 attack on southern Israel.
Ramazan Sharif, the spokesperson for the IRGC, stated in a press conference in Tehran on December 27 that the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 was “one of the retaliations of the resistance axis for the killing of Qasem Soleimani,” in which Israeli forces “lost over 200 commanders and suffered more than 1,500 casualties.” Qassem Soleiman was the notorious commander of the IRGC Quds Force, who was killed in a US drone strike near Baghdad, Iraq, in September 2020. Soleimani was killed along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the commander of the Iran-backed Hashd al-Shabi terrorist militia group in Iraq.
Hamas, in its statement, “denied the credibility of Ramadan Sharif’s remarks” and wrote:
“We have repeatedly reiterated the motives and reasons behind the Al-Aqsa Storm, which primarily involves the threats to Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
“We also affirm that all acts of Palestinian resistance in response to the Zionist occupation and continued hostilities against our people and sacred sites are justified.”
Hossein Salami, the Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, walked back Sharif’s statements and said, “We have not yet taken revenge for the killing of Qasem Soleimani.”
Salami stated that contrary to the spokesperson’s remarks, the Islamic Republic has not yet avenged the killings of Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, adding that “we will do it in due time.” He further added that the revenge for Soleimani’s killing “will be carried out in its own specific domain.”
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, Iran’s regime has been trying to play a dual game where it tries to claim credit for attacks against Israel and U.S. allies while at the same time rejecting any responsibility. The regime is afraid of the implications of a widespread war that might it in direct confrontation with other nations, especially as it is trying with little success to contain the pent-up anger of the Iranian people, which manifests itself in daily protests.
Iran’s Gold Traders Continue Strike for 6th Day
Reports from various markets in different cities of Iran indicate that the gold traders’ strike continued for the sixth consecutive day on Thursday, December 28.
Gold traders in Tehran, Isfahan, Hamadan, Mashhad, Qom, Yazd, Arak, Tabriz, and several other cities went on strike on Thursday, similar to the previous days.
The strike in this sector began when gold traders were required to register their information and gold inventory on the National Trade Website (NTSW). Alongside this obligation, the registration of buyers’ information in government online systems has also become mandatory. These measures collectively led to the discussion of imposing a 25% capital gains tax, eventually resulting in the strike.
On December 26, the third day of the strike, the spokesperson of the Tax Organization denied these claims and alleged that those who have been able to evade taxes for years by exploiting non-transparent and shadow economic spaces have spread rumors like a 25% gold tax.
The official IRNA news agency, while denying the implementation of a tax at this stage, implied that local taxes in this sector would be intensified and stated, “According to the latest statistics from the Tax Organization, the tax on gold traders’ earnings is zero for 34% of them, and 20% of gold traders pay approximately 50 million rials (approximately $100) in taxes annually. These figures are incomparable to the taxes paid by employees and other trades considering the profits gold traders make.”
According to IRNA, “All purchases, sales, and profit-making must be registered on the government tax website, as local taxes are levied based on this system.”
With the continuation of the strike, Mohammad-Hadi Sobhanian, the head of the Tax Organization, also reacted to the issue and stated that currently, gold is taxed like other businesses and trades based on their operational profits, and there is no new tax on the agenda.
On Wednesday, December 27, the Minister of Economy, Ehsan Khandouzi, in response to the ongoing strikes on its fifth day and its expansion to more cities, said, “There is false news circulating about the gold traders’ tax, which is not true. We do not have any new policies in this regard.”
Regarding the obligation to register information on the comprehensive trade website, Khandouzi also stated that this system is under the supervision of the Ministry of Industry, and the Minister should provide explanations regarding it.
The gold market strike has entered its sixth day today, while domestic media remained silent about it in the past days. However, today, the news website EcoIran, affiliated with the Donyay-e-Eghtesad Institute, addressed the issue in a report and wrote, “On Wednesday, the fifth day of the gold market strike, it was said that the gold markets in Isfahan, Mashhad, Kashan, Arak, and Qom are still closed.”
With the approval of Article 12 of the capital gains tax bill in the regime’s parliament, gold has been introduced as one of the targeted assets for tax collection from buying and selling profits. Some analysts believe that with increasing pressure in the tax area, a tax on the capital gains of gold will also begin.
Currently, the capital gains tax on housing and automobiles is being implemented.
US Concerned Over Iran’s Increased Uranium Enrichment Activities
Adrienne Watson, the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council stated on Tuesday, December 26, that the United States is deeply concerned about the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding Iran’s increased production of highly enriched uranium.
According to Reuters, Watson mentioned that the escalation of Iran’s nuclear tensions continues as Iran-backed proxy groups engage in dangerous and destabilizing activities in the region, including drone and rocket attacks in Iraq and Syria, as well as the ongoing attacks by the Houthis on commercial vessels in the region, which is worrisome.
Shortly before that, the International Atomic Energy Agency had issued a warning about Iran’s renewed increase in the production of highly enriched uranium.
The agency had announced that the Iranian regime had once again increased the speed and quantity of its production of 60% enriched uranium.
According to the statement by this international body, the amount of Iran’s 60% enriched uranium, which had been reduced to 3 kilograms per month, has increased again.
IAEA had confirmed that Iran has increased its production of 60% enriched uranium hexafluoride to approximately 9 kilograms per month since the end of November. 60% enriched uranium is close to weapons-grade.
According to the IAEA, the Iranian regime has violated the specified conditions in the JCPOA agreement and the 60% enrichment is “close to the level required for weapons production.” This has no justification for a country that claims not to have a nuclear weapons program.
The IAEA has been warning about the nuclear program of the Iranian regime for years, and the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions on the Iranian government and officials due to the suspicious nuclear program and uranium enrichment that has military applications.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of the regime’s Atomic Energy Organization, claimed that the reactions to the Iranian nuclear program in the past day were a “media frenzy” to divert public attention from Gaza. Mohammad Eslami stated that media reports about Iran’s nuclear activities are not a new issue.
Earlier, on December 19, Western powers involved in the nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime accused the Iranian government of “developing and testing ballistic missiles,” “transferring hundreds of drones to Russia,” and “enriching uranium to an unprecedented level of 60%” during a six-month session of the Security Council.
Protests Over Air Pollution in Iran’s Ardakan, Yazd Province
Hundreds of residents of Ardakan city in Yazd Province (central Iran) took to the streets on Tuesday and Wednesday, December 26 and 27, to protest against the air pollution in the city.
According to reports on social media, the protesters chanted slogans against the provincial authorities of Yazd, stating that the city does not have the capacity to accommodate more industries.
On most days of the year, the air quality index in Ardakan is in an unhealthy and dangerous state for sensitive groups.
Mostafa Mirzadeh, the deputy of the Environmental Organization in Yazd Province, attributed a significant portion of this air pollution to the establishment of 80% of the province’s industries in this area.
Iranian media reports indicate that despite the protests by environmental activists and Ardakan residents, none of the responsible executive officials have announced any solutions to reduce air pollution in the city.
Large cities in Iran, especially Tehran, have been plagued by air pollution in the past decades, but now this pollution has also spread to small and even desert cities in Iran.
Ardakan County is located in the northern part of Yazd Province, about 60 kilometers away from the province’s center, in a desert area.
Media reports indicate that in half of the days of this year, the air in this city has been heavily polluted due to industrial pollution.
This pollution has led to the closure of schools in Ardakan on many days.
For example, in early December, due to air pollution, preschool centers and all educational levels in the cities of Ardakan, Ahmadabad, Turkabad, Meybod, and Bafruiyeh in this county were operating remotely.
Furthermore, the authorities of this city have approved measures such as banning the traffic of trucks and dealing with all public and government vehicles without a valid technical inspection label.
Preventing all construction activities in the city, turning off buses and minibuses at terminals, and special monitoring to prevent the burning of waste, tree branches, and debris by the relevant municipalities were among the resolutions in this regard.
The protests by the people of Ardakan against air pollution continued today, Wednesday.
On Tuesday, air pollution caused all schools in Mashhad to switch to remote learning. The air pollution index in Mashhad was reported to be at its highest and in a hazardous level.
According to regime’s Mehr News Agency, Jafar Jandaghi, the head of the Environmental and Occupational Health Center of the Ministry of Health, described the air quality situation in the country on December 23 as “very inappropriate” and stated, “An examination of polluted cities has shown that from 2021 to 2022, the number of deaths due to air pollution has increased by more than 30%.”
Dariush Gol-Ali-Zadeh, the head of the National Air and Climate Change Center of the Environmental Protection Organization, stated in early December that in the past year, more than 26,000 people lost their lives in various cities of Iran due to air pollution.
According to Gol-Ali-Zadeh, in 2022, in Tehran alone, more than six thousand deaths were attributed to air pollution, causing damages equivalent to three billion dollars.
Iran: Conditions of Workers Continue to Worsen in Final Months of Persian Calendar Year
Workers are facing multiple problems in the final days of the year. On one hand, their meager wages do not cover the cost of living, and on the other hand, any protest leads to their dismissal from work.
The result of this situation is the unfortunate reality that we currently witness in the news: protests, “dismissals,” and “suicides,” which reflect the dark times for workers in Iran.
As we approach the end of the year, the concern over wages and percentage increases in salaries has once again been added to the list of worries. Many past demands remain unanswered, and the tables are becoming emptier every day.
The state-run ILNA news agency has addressed this issue, using the problems and damages that workers face as an excuse. Is blocking the entry cards of workers legal? This happened recently in the case of protesting workers at the National Steel Company in Ahvaz.
The news agency has also urged the Ministry of Labor to intervene in punishing employers without establishing a “committee” for their violations.
This news agency, which is affiliated with the Worker House organization, has emphasized that some managers and employers take unauthorized measures to deal with workers, resorting to “illegal” methods.
It has been announced that the critical conditions of workers’ livelihoods have led to increased dissatisfaction among the workforce in society, and workers from various units have resorted to protest gatherings to pursue their demands, such as the “implementation of job classification plan,” “enjoyment of job benefits,” and “payment of arrears.”
According to ILNA, both public and private sector employers have resorted to closing the workers’ entry cards and preventing their access to the premises in response to workers’ demands and protests about the current conditions.
It has also been announced that in some units, workers have faced severe consequences such as dismissal or salary cuts after protesting wage conditions or demanding the implementation of the job classification plan.
The critical conditions of workers have resulted in consequences such as “suicides,” and in this regard, in recent days, two workers in the “Chovar” petrochemical company have committed suicide.
According to the media reports, this action was taken in response to the prohibition of entering the workplace by the employer. The workers of the Chovar petrochemical factory in Ilam Province also claim that the factory manager carried out a mass dismissal and told 13 workers that they were no longer needed.
In another incident, workers from all sections of the Iranian National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz went on strike on Saturday, December 23, following the managing director’s action of prohibiting the entry of 21 workers and failure to fully implement the job classification plan.
The strike continued for two consecutive days, and Ali Mohammad, the group’s CEO, announced in response to the strike that the prohibition of 21 workers from work was done in “coordination and decision of the Khuzestan Provincial Supply Council” so that, according to him, “the gatherings would not lead to the shutdown of production lines.”
According to Article 48 of the Labor Law, the job classification plan must be implemented for all workshops with more than 50 employees covered by the Social Security Law.
According to this legal article, in order to prevent the exploitation of other jobs, the Ministry of Labor is obligated to prepare and implement the job evaluation and classification system using the job standards and customs in the country.
7.4 Million Absolute Illiterate People in Iran
Alireza Abbasi, the head of the Literacy Movement Organization, stated that there are 7.4 million “absolute illiterate” individuals in the age group of six years and above.
This statement contradicts Alireza Abbasi’s previous statement on December 23, where he claimed that literacy development in Iran had reached 98%, which is inconsistent with the figure of 7.4 million absolute illiterates.
Alireza Abbasi announced the number of absolute illiterates in the age group of 10 to 49 as 1.707 million and for the age group of 6 years and above as 7.4 million.
The literacy trend in Iran, especially among children and adolescents, is facing a serious threat from “increased poverty.”
In this regard, the Statistical Center of the Iranian regime announced in October 2023 that at least “556,000 Iranian adolescents” were forced to “drop out of school” before entering high school due to reasons primarily related to “poverty and deprivation.”
Ali Asghar Fani, the former Minister of Education, also cited the statistics from the Research Center of the regime’s Parliament on September 10, stating that the number of “school dropouts” in Iran is “930,000 individuals,” who are considered the “illiterate future.”
The Statistical Center emphasized in its report that due to the expansion of poverty and further reduction in children’s access to educational resources and facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, the deprivation of Iranian children from education has intensified.
Every year, at the end of September, millions of students in Iran go back to school. But unfortunately, every year, many families were forced to send their children to work instead of school because they are not able to pay the costs of their child’s education.
The Iranian regime’s treacherous policies towards the education system has created a real national crisis.
Presently, the question is, in circumstances that the country is suffering from lack of teachers and poor education management and infrastructure, why does the mullahs’ regime employ the millions of university graduates who are living in the streets and are begging to make ends meet?
Truly, why do Iranian officials steal from the budget of the education ministry under different pretexts, while they should be concerned about educating the future generations of Iran? Why are they spending the country’s assets to wage war in the region and carry out terrorist plots, while they should be spending it on building the country, building schools for kids and hiring teachers to educate them?
The answer to all those questions is that the mullahs have one priority, and that is preserving their own rule at all costs, even the cost of destroying the country’s present and future.
Senior IRGC Commander Killed in Syria Strike
News agencies reported the killing of a senior commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in Israel’s attack on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria on Monday, December 25. Tasnim News Agency, close to the Revolutionary Guards, referred to the deceased as “Seyyed Razi Mousavi, known as Seyyed Razi, one of the experienced advisors of the Revolutionary Guards in Syria.”
Al-Mayadeen News Agency, linked to Hezbollah in Lebanon, also confirmed the killing of this “high-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Guards” as a result of an Israeli attack.
Israeli media have referred to Seyyed Razi Mousavi as the “highest-ranking member of the Revolutionary Guards after Qasim Soleimani, killed in a targeted attack.”
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the attack on Monday was the 70th Israeli attack on Syria in this year, targeting the positions of Hezbollah in Lebanon and “Iranian paramilitary forces.”
Iranian regime’s media have reported that Mousavi has been responsible for “support and logistics of the Quds Force in Syria” since the 1990s and played a significant role in supporting the Bashar al-Assad government after the start of the Syrian civil war. Since 2011, the Iranian regime has dispatched tens of thousands of forces to Syria and spent billions of dollars from the Iranian people’s pockets to keep Bashar al-Assad in power.
The regime’s media also described Mousavi as the “support coordinator of the Resistance Front in Lebanon and Syria.”
Hossein Akbari, the Iranian regime’s ambassador to Syria has provided details about the commander’s killing.
Hossein Akbari told the regime’s state television news that Seyyed Razi Mousavi was at the embassy in Damascus until 2 p.m. on Monday, and “after finishing his work, he headed towards his home and was targeted by Israel with three missiles at 4:10 p.m. today at his residence and martyred.”
According to Akbari, this IRGC commander was alone at home when he was targeted, and his wife was working as a teacher at a school.
In response to Mousavi’s killing, the Revolutionary Guards stated in a statement that “undoubtedly, the usurping and savage Zionist regime will pay the price for this crime.”
The regime’s President Ebrahim Raisi also expressed his condolences in a message and considered Mousavi’s killing as “another sign of Israel’s frustration, helplessness, and inability.” He added that this country “will certainly pay the price for this crime.”
The regime’s officials have repeatedly stated that Israeli attacks on Syria will not go unanswered, including the Iranian Foreign Minister’s condemnation of Israel’s aerial attack on Aleppo International Airport in Syria on August 30, 2023, stating that these actions will be responded to.
Furthermore, the US Central Command in the Middle East, CENTCOM, announced early on Tuesday, December 26, that US forces conducted attacks against positions of the “terrorist” group Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq at 8:45 p.m. on Monday evening. This paramilitary group is supported by the Iranian regime.
According to CENTCOM’s statement, preliminary assessments indicate that the US airstrikes destroyed the intended facilities and likely resulted in the killing of several Kata’ib Hezbollah militants.
The US attacks came after the location of the coalition forces led by the United States in Erbil, Iraq, was targeted by a suicide drone, which injured several coalition soldiers.
How Misery in Iran has Changed in the Past Three Decades
International official statistics indicate that in 2022, Iran ranked as the eighth country in the world with the highest recorded misery index. In less than two decades, the misery index in the country has more than doubled.
In the past calendar year, the misery index for Iran reached 57, marking the highest level recorded in the country’s three-decade history. This index is only surpassed by Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Lebanon, Sudan, Turkey, Argentina, and Suriname in 2022.
However, this is not the first time that Iran has ranked high on the misery index. Analysis of data from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank shows that over the past twenty years, Iran has ranked among the top 12 countries with the highest misery index for 14 years.
The misery index is the sum of inflation and unemployment rates and has been used in political economy since the mid-1970s as a measure of economic health in countries.
Over the past two decades, the unemployment rate has not changed significantly and has remained relatively stable. However, severe inflation fluctuations have led Iran to spend approximately the past 15 years in the “most miserable” state possible.
The misery index is also one of the most common indicators in political economy to measure living standards crises. This index was first introduced by Arthur Melvin Okun, an American economist, and quickly gained attention from policymakers, including Jimmy Carter, who repeatedly referred to this index during the 1976 US presidential campaign and eventually reached the White House presidency.
In Iran, during the 2009 presidential election campaign, former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaee referred to the misery index during a televised debate with his electoral rival and then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which brought this economic indicator into the public discourse.
Currently, the misery index in the country has more than doubled the level in 2009.
