European Powers Condemn Iran For New Ballistic Missile
In a statement released on November 30, France, Germany, and Britain condemned the Iranian regime’s unveiling of a new ballistic missile on November 19.
The statement emphasizes the regime’s continuation of its missile program despite repeated requests from the international community to halt its development. The regime has ignored the limitations imposed by the United Nations for years and continues to develop its missile program.
The three countries, known as the “E3” or the three European powers, stated that Iran’s continued development of its ballistic missile program is “in line with Iran’s nuclear provocation” and “lacks any credible non-military justification.” They added that these tensions also pose a serious threat to global and regional security.
The “E3” countries reaffirmed their commitment to taking diplomatic steps to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to hold it accountable for its destabilizing activities in the region and internationally.
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, stated in a statement on October 18 that the development, procurement, and proliferation of missiles and missile-related technology by the Iranian regime is one of the greatest challenges to international peace and security.
He further stressed the terrifying impact of Iran’s provision of these missiles and drones to terrorist organizations and proxy militias that directly threaten the security of Israel and U.S. partners in the Persian Gulf.
On the same day, the United States and 46 other countries issued a joint statement committing themselves to take all necessary measures to prevent the supply, sale, or transfer of items, materials, equipment, goods, and technologies related to Iranian ballistic missiles.
Blinken also referred to the expiration of UN Security Council Resolution 2231 regarding the restrictions imposed on Iran’s missile activities, stating that the United States once again emphasizes its commitment to using every tool to counter the development, production, and proliferation of Iran’s missiles, drones, and other dangerous weapons.
According to Blinken, these tools include sanctions, export controls, diplomatic engagement, cooperation with private industries, and prohibitions as appropriate and provided for in law and other circumstances.
The US Secretary of State also mentioned that the United States is continuing its efforts to identify individuals and entities involved in Iranian missile activities and conventional arms and Iranian drones, including activities in Russia, China, Venezuela, and other locations.
Based on the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, on October 18, the limitations imposed by the United Nations on some of Iran’s arms programs were lifted. However, the lifting of these sanctions was conditional on the Iranian government not engaging in any prohibited arms activities, including those related to the design of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons, during the eight years from the conclusion of the JCPOA agreement until the expiration of these sanctions. In recent years, the Iranian regime has been accused of violating this resolution by the United States and JCPOA parties.
Do Not Overlook Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions, IAEA Director Warns
Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), urged global powers to resume nuclear negotiations with the Iranian regime and “not lose sight of the risks posed by its stockpiling of enriched uranium while attention has turned to the war between Israel and Hamas.”
In an interview with the Financial Times published on November 30, Rafael Grossi said that “There needs to be some recreation of a system of dialogue with Iran.”
“Attention . . . may of course be on something else. But this doesn’t solve the issue. It may even make them more acute, in the sense that there’s a sense of a certain indifference,…People may not be looking at [Iran’s nuclear ambitions], but the problem exists.” Grossi said
Tensions between the Iranian regime and the West have escalated following Hamas’ devastating attack on Israel on October 7. The regime supports Hamas and several paramilitary groups that are essentially proxies of the Iranian regime throughout the region.
Grossi said that negotiations with Tehran may require a new framework, rather than an attempt to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran is formally known.
Grossi continued,“Trying to put [a nuclear deal] back into the JCPOA box wouldn’t work… You can still call it a JCPOA but it should be a JCPOA 2.0 or something because you have to adapt.”
He also said that the situation surrounding the Iranian regime’s nuclear program is “very uncertain” and called on countries to “sit down and re-engage.”
Five days before Grossi’s recent remarks, the AFP agency reported that Western powers have no inclination to escalate tensions against the Iranian regime.
The AFP wrote that Western powers, fearing further escalation in the Middle East, have no inclination to take a tough stance against the regime at a time when it is advancing its nuclear program and simultaneously reducing cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
According to the report, in a situation where the IAEA Board of Governors of the Agency says that recent actions by the Iranian regime have moved unprecedented boundaries, it has refrained from presenting a mandatory resolution.
Iran’s Regime Claims Buying Sukhoi 35 Fighter From Russia
The Iranian regime has once again claimed that the contract for the purchase of Sukhoi-35 fighter jets from Russia has been finalized. Mehdi Farahi, the deputy defense minister of the Iranian regime, reiterated the definitive nature of the contract for the purchase of several types of military equipment from Russia, including these fighter jets.
On November 28, Mehdi Farahi told the state-run Tasnim News Agency, linked to the IRGC, that “the Mil Mi-28 attack helicopter, Sukhoi-35 fighter jet, and Yakovlev Yak-130 training aircraft” are expected to be delivered to Iran soon.
However, he did not provide further details in this regard and did not specify the exact date of the possible entry of these Russian-made weapons into Iran.
Russian authorities have not provided any details on this matter, and no other independent source has confirmed the claim made by the senior official of the Iranian Ministry of Defense.
The Iranian regime has been pursuing the purchase of Russian Sukhoi-35 fighter jets for a long time and considers them a serious competitor to American F-35 fighters.
The fighter jets of the Iranian Armed Forces are relatively outdated, and most of them are the same American fighters that were purchased under the Shah regime before the 1979 revolution.
In 2018, the Iranian regime announced the beginning of the production of the domestically designed Kowsar fighter jet for use in its air force.
Military experts believe that it is a copy of the F-5 jet was first produced in the 1960s in the United States.
In January 2023, Israeli media, citing Western intelligence officials, reported that Russia was preparing to supply Sukhoi-35 fighter aircraft to Iran “in the near future.”
However, during this period, Iranian officials have made contradictory statements about the process of purchasing these types of fighter jets.
Earlier on June 2, Hamid Vahedi, the commander of the Iranian Air Force, told Iranian media, “We need the Sukhoi-35, but we don’t know when it will join our squadrons.”
A month later, Mohammad Reza Aghastiani, the regime’s Defense Minister indirectly confirmed the disruption of the contract for the purchase of these fighter jets by the government.
Mohammad Reza Aghastiani, in response to a question about the purchase of Sukhoi-35, said, “We make plans for purchases, but we come to the conclusion that we have the capability to produce them domestically.”
This statement has led to speculation about disruptions in military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, including the possibility that Israel has succeeded in persuading Russia not to deliver these advanced fighter jets to the Iranian regime.
A few months ago, the US-based website Axios reported that Israeli officials had discussed with their Russian counterparts the growing military cooperation between Russia and the Iranian regime and the possibility of Russia supplying advanced weapons systems to Iran.
The Tasnim News Agency wrote that the purchase of military helicopters from Russia is taking place at a time when in January 2023, Igor Levitin, Vladimir Putin’s special assistant, reached an agreement with Mohammad Mokhber, First Deputy to Ebrahim Raisi (the regime’s president), regarding “joint helicopter production” between Tehran and Moscow.
In recent years, the Iranian regime and Russia have been strengthening their military cooperation, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s need for more weapons, especially combat drones, have expanded these collaborations.
Western countries have repeatedly condemned Tehran’s role in the war in Ukraine due to the regime’s sale of drones to Russia, resulting in sanctions against Russia and the Iranian regime.
Meat 82% More Expensive as Iran Sees Surge in Inflation
According to the Iranian regime’s Statistical Center, the point-to-point inflation rate of “food and beverage” group increased in November.
According to the report, among food items, red meat had a point-to-point inflation rate of over 82 percent, followed by various types of fish with a record inflation rate of 72.4 percent, making it the highest inflation rate among food items in the second month of autumn.
Point-to-point inflation refers to the percentage change in the price index compared to the same month of the previous year.
The 39.2-percent point-to-point inflation rate for households in the country means that, on average, households have spent 39.2 percent more than November of last year to purchase a “basket of goods and services.”
The report also indicates that the point-to-point inflation rate for food and beverages increased from 36.2 percent in October to 36.4 percent in November.
The Statistical Center of Iran also announced that the point-to-point inflation rate for food and beverage in urban areas during November was 36.7 percent, which increased by 0.3 percent compared to October.
In the report, the point-to-point inflation rate for the whole country in November was announced as 39.2 percent, which showed no change compared to October and indicated a halt in the downward trend of point-to-point inflation rate.
Monthly inflation in the food and beverage group doubled in November compared to October.
Accordingly, monthly inflation increased from 0.5 percent in October to 1 percent in November.
The Statistical Center stated in the report that the monthly inflation rate for the food group in urban areas during November increased from 0.3 percent to 0.7 percent.
The center announced the monthly inflation rate for the whole country in November as 2.3 percent and the annual inflation rate as 44.9 percent.
The annual inflation rate for the food and beverage group in the Statistical Center’s report for November was also announced as 52.2 percent, which decreased by 2.8 percent compared to the previous month.
The price increases have also affected other sectors of the country’s economy.
For example, in late October, the Statistical Center of Iran, after months of suspending the publicationof government statistics on the housing situation, reported that house prices in Tehran had increased by 75 percent in September of this year compared to the same month last year.
The suspension of housing statistics by the Statistical Center and the Central Bank has been in effect since last winter, while the Statistical Center’s report shows that in the past winter, the growth rate of housing prices suddenly intensified, and even in May, housing inflation reached 120 percent.
In August of this year, housing inflation was also above 84 percent.
Inflation rate in Iran shows no sign of improvement
According to the official report from the Iranian regime’s Statistical Center, the inflation rate has only decreased by one percent since the start of the Persian calendar year (March 21), despite the fact that the regime’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, named it the year of “Containing Inflation, Promoting Production.”
The latest report from the regime’s Statistical Center, which is the government’s official report on the inflation situation in the country, has reported an average inflation rate of 45.5 percent. This is in contrast to the officially announced inflation rate of 46.5 percent in February and March 2022.
Comparing the changes in the inflation rate since the formation of the government under Ebrahim Raisi also shows that despite his promises to reduce the inflation rate, he has not achieved any success in this regard.
High inflation in Iran has been a primary economic issue for over three decades and a source of concern for the people. Despite the numerous promises made by the regime’s officials to reduce the inflation rate, persistent budget deficits and reckless money printing have slowed down the growth and development of Iran’s economy, resulting in “sticky inflation.”
Sticky inflation is an economic hypothesis that suggests that even if prices decrease, there are often conditions and assumptions that reinforce the motivation to keep prices high. In fact, when sticky inflation exists, the standard of living declines more rapidly, and even changes in monetary policies can have negative effects on the standard of living of the people.
Despite the promises of regime officials to reduce the inflation rate, an analysis of the inflation rate changes from 2019 onwards shows that this influential variable on Iran’s economy has not decreased by more than 40 percent.
During the presidential election campaign two years ago, Raisi stated that if elected, he would cut the inflation rate in half, and then it would move towards becoming a single-digit figure. However, after two years of his presidency, not only has this promise not been fulfilled, but there is still no sign of a downward trend in inflation.
Ecoiran website reported before the release of October inflation data by the Statistical Center that the inflation rate in Iran had reached 54.3 percent.
The regime’s Central Bank immediately denied this, but based on a table published by Ecoiran, the price index based on the 2016 base year has crossed the threshold of one thousand.
Meanwhile, the discrepancy between the two official economic statistics sources, the Statistical Center and the Central Bank, has always perplexed economic analysts.
Although the announced statistics from these two official sources are close to each other, they have always been different from each other to the extent that it was decided in the Fifth Development Plan Law to assign the official statistics authority to the Statistical Center.
However, the discrepancy between these two sources is unresolved. The latest case is related to economic growth statistics, where these two official government sources have provided different statistics.
The Central Bank claimed a 4 percent growth with oil and a 3.5 percent growth without oil in 2022, while the Statistical Center claimed a 4.8 percent growth with oil and a 4.5 percent growth without oil.
The latest report from the Statistical Center of Iran reveals the high inflation rates for various food items in the country. According to the statistics, the price of lamb meat has seen the highest increase, with a rise of 149.2 percent, while solid vegetable oil has experienced the lowest price growth, with a decrease of 6.2 percent over the past year.
A comparison of food prices between October of last year and October of this year also indicates that the point-to-point inflation rate for fresh food items in October this year was 50.1 percent, while other food items saw a growth of 20.8 percent.
The increase in inflation rates for food items has significantly burdened lower-income households. Reports suggest that these conditions are now affecting middle-class households as well, with relative increases in service-related inflation and relative decreases in food-related inflation.
Morteza Afghah, an economics professor at Chamran University, expressed his concern about the severe impact of inflation on different social classes in Iran. He mentioned that the middle class is struggling to afford basic necessities such as food and housing, let alone cultural and recreational activities. He also highlighted that the poorer segments of society are facing even more severe poverty.
The Statistical Center’s report on inflation rates in Iran indicates that the inflation rate remains above 50 percent in nine provinces, including Yazd, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kurdistan, Lorestan, Isfahan, East Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, North Khorasan, and Hamadan.
The latest international ranking of countries with the highest inflation rates places Iran in the seventh position among countries experiencing high inflation.
An examination of official statistics, including reports from the Statistical Center of Iran, reveals that the “misery index” has shown an upward trend in many provinces of Iran, reaching nearly 70 percent in Lorestan.
The misery index is derived from combining the unemployment rate with the inflation rate, and the Statistical Center’s report indicates that this index has grown by approximately 1.7 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the previous year’s spring.
According to the report, the national level of the misery index in the spring of this year was 60.4 percent, representing an increase of at least 1.2 units compared to winter 2022.
It should be noted that all these statistics are figures provided by government entities and may not reflect the complete reality. The Iranian regime has long avoided providing accurate statistics and attempts to conceal the extent of societal misery.
Jabar Kuchakinezhad, a member of regime’s Majlis (parliament), mentioned to the semi-official ILNA news agency that “the Central Bank is also under government control, and there is a possibility of manipulation in reporting the inflation rate by the Central Bank and other government-affiliated institutions.”
Iran Lost “One-Third” of Oil Revenues While Circumventing Sanctions
According to Ehsan Khandouzi, the Iranian regime’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Iran had $20 billion in oil, petroleum products, and gas exports in the first eight months of this year (from March 21 to October 23), and the country’s trade balance was net positive $10 billion.
This is the first time in recent years that a regime’s official provides information about the income from oil exports.
On Friday, November 24, Khandouzi, while explaining the foreign trade situation of Iran, said that the country’s non-oil exports were about $32 billion, and imports were $42 billion in the first eight months of the current year. However, considering the total of oil and non-oil exports, the country’s trade balance was positive $10 billion.
Therefore, the net income of Iran’s exports from oil, including crude oil, petroleum products, and gas, during the mentioned period was only $20 billion.
According to the statistics of the Kpler company, which is consistent with the statistics of the energy information company Vortexa, Iran had an average daily export of 1.14 million barrels of crude oil and gas condensates in the first eight months of this year. OPEC statistics show that the price of Iran’s exported oil during this period was about $78.
Thus, Iran should have had $21.5 billion in oil revenues from crude oil and gas condensates alone in the first eight months of this year.
On the other hand, Iran has a daily export of 230,000 barrels of mazut and about 50 million cubic meters of gas, which had a value of about $7.5 billion in the initial eight months of this year.
In total, the value of Iran’s oil exports, including crude oil, gas condensates, petroleum products, and gas, should have been $29 billion during the mentioned period, but according to the statement of the country’s Minister of Economy, it was $20 billion.
This can indicate that about one-third of the country’s oil revenues are lost in the process of circumventing sanctions.
The report of the Majlis (Parliament) Research Center of the regime about the realization of the oil budget for the four months of this year also shows that one-third of Iran’s oil revenues are lost in the process of circumventing sanctions.
The latest report of the Parliamentary Research Center, published on October 23, shows that only 48% of the country’s oil budget (including exports and domestic sales) has been realized in the first four months of this year. This report does not mention the realization of oil export revenues, but it states that domestic sales revenues have been 8% higher than budget expectations.
Thus, the foreign sales revenue of Iran’s crude oil has been realized at best below 45%, while considering the volume of exports and the price of Iran’s oil in the first four months of the year 2023 (starting from March 21), at least 78% of the country’s oil export budget should have been realized.
Earlier, Reuters and Bloomberg news agencies had reported a 12% to 15% discount by Iran to Chinese refineries for purchasing Iranian oil, but the regime also incurs the cost of circumventing sanctions through the transfer of oil shipments in the middle of oceans to other tankers to conceal the origin of the oil, as well as using regional middlemen and Malaysia to change the brand and ownership of oil.
Iran: 1.5 Million Children on Verge of Dropping out of School, 14 Million Without Proper Food
According to Hadi Mousavi Nik, an expert at the Majlis (Parliamentary) Research Center, one and a half million children in Iran are on the verge of dropping out of school, and 14 million children are living in households that cannot afford a proper diet.
Based on a video published in the media and social networks, Hadi Mousavi Nik stated that according to the statistics of the Ministry of Education, there are about 450,000 school dropouts, and approximately one and a half million children are at risk of dropping out of school.
According to Mousavi Nik, in terms of educational discrimination, only 12% of the students accepted with the top 3,000 ranks in the university entrance exam were from public schools.
This comes at a time when the trend of students dropping out of school in Iran has been accelerating, and experts are warning of its consequences.
On September 10, the former Minister of Education announced that, based on the statistics of the Majlis Research Center, the number of school dropouts in the country is 930,000, and these individuals constitute the “illiterate future.”
However, the important point is that the reason for children dropping out of school and the risk of an increase of one and a half million in this group is the same as the reason for 14 million children not having proper food, which is the lack of access to a minimum food basket.
Statistics show that 70% of school dropouts are from the first to fifth income deciles, which are under the most severe livelihood pressures.
These groups, mainly consisting of labor-class families and households covered by support organizations, and government employees, have incomes ranging from 30 to 80 million rials (approximately $60 to159). This is while various media have announced the minimum cost required for a proper food basket for a household in Tehran to be more than 300 million rials (approximately $595).
On November 5th, the state-run Tasnim news agency reported that due to the inability to provide housing, workers turn to rental housing, and 70 to 80 percent of their income is spent on housing, leaving them unable to meet other essential needs such as food, healthcare, clothing, and education.
The dropout rate in border areas and less developed regions is much higher than the national average. In August 2022, Hossein Ali Mirabdi, the former director general of education in Sistan and Baluchestan province, told Tasnim, “About 15 percent of the country’s school dropouts are in Sistan and Baluchestan province.”
In terms of livelihood, provinces such as Sistan and Baluchestan have significantly dire conditions. A member of the province’s representative assembly stated in March that “the staple food of the people in the province is bread, and unfortunately, they consume water, tomato paste, and bread as food, which means that living conditions in the province have become extremely difficult.”
Iran: Detained Protester Milad Zohrehvand Executed, According to Human Rights Orgs
Some human rights media outlets have reported the “secret execution” of Milad Zohrehvand, one of the detainees of the nationwide protests in Iran in 2022, who was held in the central prison of Hamedan.
The first announcement came from the human rights organization “Hengaw,” based in Norway, stating that Mr. Zohrehvand, who was arrested in the city of Malayer (west central Iran), was executed on Thursday, November 23, on charges of killing a security force member of the Iranian regime.
Milad Zohrehvand’s relatives have stated, “Today they informed Milad’s family about his execution, but they did not hand over the body. His family had no knowledge of the execution, and they were not informed about the final visit either.”
The AFP news agency also wrote that with the execution of this prisoner, it is the eighth case of the execution of detained protesters in Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini in September last year.
The death sentence of 21-year-old Milad Zohrehvand, a resident of Malayer, was carried out based on a fabricated scenario of killing a security force member named Ali Nazari.
Zohrehvand had not received any prior information about his imminent execution and was also denied a final meeting with his family.
The execution of Mr. Zohrehvand has not been reported by the Iranian media or judicial authorities.
One of Zohrehvand’s family members said that the execution of this prisoner took place “about 10 days after his sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court.”
Ali Nazari was an intelligence officer of the IRGC in Malayer who was killed during the nationwide protests in October 2022, and judicial authorities attributed his murder to Milad Zohrehvand.
The death sentence for Milad was issued and confirmed in the judicial system of Hamedan, but there is not much information available about his case’s details.
According to published reports, this defendant has been deprived of having a lawyer.
Earlier, the execution of other Iranian protesters led to a wave of domestic and international condemnations.
Amnesty International has stated that the Iranian regime’s goal is to send a message to the world and the people of Iran that it will not refrain from any measures to suppress and punish its opponents.
According to Iranian dissident group NCRI, the Iranian regime brutally suppressed the recent nationwide protests in Iran, and approximately 750 protesters were killed by security forces.
Inspection Bans Limit Capacity to Monitor Iran’s Program, IAEA Warns
Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, criticized the cancellation of the entry permits for several inspectors of the organization in his press conference on November 22, stating that it is a serious blow to the agency’s work.
During the press conference, which took place after the start of the agency’s Board of Governors’ annual session, Mr. Grossi described Iran’s action of revoking the inspectors’ licenses as a serious blow to the agency’s ability to verify Iran’s nuclear activities. He emphasized that the regime’s authorities have revoked the licenses of one-third of the main group of inspectors.
Mohammad Eslami, the head of the regime’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI), stated on October 4 that while the Iranian regime has confirmed the activities of 127 inspectors from the IAEA, it has banned “three or four malicious European inspectors” from continuing their activities at Iranian sites.
He described the banned inspectors, who have been prevented from monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities and entering Iran, as having a history of “aggressive political behaviors.”
On November 22, Rafael Grossi emphasized that these inspectors are among the “most experienced” inspectors of the agency. He expressed hope that Iran’s decision would change.
Earlier, in a joint statement in mid-September, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States demanded that the Iranian regime “immediately” reconsider its recent decision to cancel the licenses of “some” IAEA inspectors.
However, Mohammad Eslami stated on November 22 that 120 inspectors from the agency have been granted permission to enter Iran.
This is the second time that the Director-General of the agency has strongly emphasized the need to grant licenses to all inspectors to verify Iran’s actions. He previously warned, citing North Korea’s expulsion of UN inspectors before conducting a “nuclear weapon test,” that the international community should be cautious about not repeating the failure experienced with North Korea in the case of Iran.
In the preliminary statement issued by the Director-General of the agency for the Board of Governors’ annual session, which was published on the morning of November 22, it was stated that Iran now possesses enough uranium with a 60% enrichment level to produce three atomic bombs, based on the standards of the IAEA. It also mentioned that Iran has not yet provided answers to the agency’s key questions and concerns regarding its nuclear program.
According to the statement, which Reuters news agency released last week, since the preparation of the agency’s previous report on September 4, the volume of uranium with a 60% enrichment level in Iran has increased by 6.7 kilograms and reached approximately 128 kilograms.
The regime in Iran allocated $2.65 billion to enhancing defense infrastructure
The general provisions of the proposed budget for the year 2024 state that the government intends to allocate 1,340 trillion rials to strengthen the defense infrastructure.
Therefore, according to this proposed bill, it is emphasized that in case this amount is not allocated, the National Iranian Oil Company is obliged to deliver crude oil or gas condensates to legal entities introduced by the General Staff of the Armed Forces, equivalent to the monthly difference.
This defense budget comes at a time when the examination of the budgets of other sectors, including employment generation, facilitating public access to medicine and food, and education, shows a lack of proportionality between the country’s actual needs and the allocated figures and numbers.
Experts believe that the Iranian regime, in its budget for the coming year, will prioritize the strengthening of military and security dimensions, as it has done in recent years.
This approach was also followed in the budget for 2023, and in December 2022, the “Iran Open Data” platform announced, after examining the budget bill for 2023, that the allocated credit line for “defense and security matters” had grown by 38.5 percent.
The “Iran Open Data” platform had calculated that this figure is 1.4 times the credit line allocated to general education and training affairs in the budget bill for 2023.
Last year, this platform had reported in a research report that the budget of the Prisons Organization in Iran had become three and a half times the total credits of the country’s five major universities.
Observers, relying on this approach in recent years and taking into account the political and economic relations inside and outside Iran’s borders, believe that strengthening the defense and security infrastructure is of higher priority for the Iranian regime than development and welfare issues. This is a matter that the Iranian society experiences in various dimensions in daily life, and daily reports of various labor protests are indicative of some of these dilemmas.
In a situation where Iranian citizens have been facing a shortage of powdered milk and infant formula in recent months, the Iran Open Data platform published a report showing that the budget of the Supreme Council of Seminaries (ḥawzah or madrasa for Shi’a) in Iran is five times the budget allocated for the provision of medicine and powdered milk.
The duty of these so-called religious seminaries is to educate clerics and send them to various regions of the country to consolidate the foundations of power for the Iranian regime.
The Iranian regime claims that it provides some of the expenses of families for powdered milk through pharmaceutical subsidies. Some reports also indicate that the government has assigned the provision of powdered milk to a factory in Turkey.
In a situation where the people of Iran are facing difficulties in obtaining medicine and even powdered milk, the regime spends its oil income on producing weapons and exporting them to countries in the region and engaging in its interventions.
