On November 9, Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, a prominent Spanish politician and the President of the International Committee in Search of Justice and Vice President of the European Parliament (1999-2014), was the target of a terrorist attack in Madrid.
An informed source in the Spanish police told the Associated Press that Dr. Vidal-Quadras himself has considered Iran’s involvement in this attack as one of the possible hypotheses and has shared it with the police.
The news agency also quoted another informed official stating that the police’s counterterrorism unit has joined the investigation, which could indicate the expansion of the scope of the investigation and the possibility of involvement by foreign elements, including those affiliated with Iran, in this assault.
Alejo Vidal-Quadras was injured and taken to the hospital after being shot in the face at around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday near his residence in the center of Madrid, the capital of Spain.
So far, no arrests have been made in connection with this attack, and the police are busy examining the observations of witnesses and CCTV footage.
Based on the information gathered so far, the police say that the assailant, wearing a black motorcycle helmet, fired a bullet towards Mr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras and then fled the scene on a motorcycle driven by an accomplice.
During his time as a member of the European Parliament, Mr. Vidal-Quadras had close relations with the main opposition to the Iranian regime, People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). It was due to this connection that the Iranian regime Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced in January 2023 that he, along with several other foreign politicians, had been sanctioned.
In response to this attempted assault, Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), wrote in a message on the social network X on Thursday:
This afternoon, Prof. Alejo Vidal Quadras, President of the International Committee in Search of Justice and Vice President of the European Parliament (1999-2014), was targeted by a terrorist attack in Madrid and was taken to the hospital. I strongly condemn this terrorist crime,… pic.twitter.com/F3oS2e59Si
Dr. Vidal-Quadras has consistently supported the Iranian people’s resistance to freedom and human rights over the past quarter-century. He played a key and unforgettable role in delisting the MEK from the European Union’s terror list, and in ensuring the protection of the MEK in Camp Ashraf (Iraq) and their safe and collective relocation out of Iraq.
It is widely known that the mullahs’ regime has a deep animosity towards Dr. Alejo Vidal-Quadras, evident by his inclusion on their list of terrorists.
Nearly a year after the execution of Mohammad Hosseini and Mohammad Mehdi Karami in relation to the case of the killing of a member of the Revolutionary Guards Corps Basij force, the brother of the deceased Basij member says that the two individuals who were executed had no connection to the “murder of my brother” and their “crime was enmity against God (Moharebeh).”
A few days after the controversial claims made by the father of Rouhollah Ajamian, a Basij member who was killed in the 2022 protests, who called for the “execution” of all the accused in the case, now his brother is also demanding the execution of Dr. Hamid Gharahassanloo and his wife, two other people who were arrested in the case. Ajamian was killed while Basij members were dispatched to quell protests in Karaj.
Dr. Hamid Gharahassanloo and his wife, sentenced to 15 years in prison
Hossein Ajamian said in an interview with the regime’s Etemad newspaper, “The issue is that the person who caused the death of my brother has not been executed.”
Ajamian claimed, “In fact, this man (Dr. Gharahassanloo) is the one who killed my brother. But because he is wealthy and a doctor, he has many connections, and… no one has confronted him.”
The brother of Rouhollah Ajamian said in part of this interview, “In this case, they executed two homeless individuals, but they did not execute the main person, who was a doctor.”
He reiterated his father’s recent statements and said, “Some individuals and influential parties have exploited their positions and changed the course of the case. We only want this person and his wife to be executed in accordance with the law.”
On November 7, Saleh Eskandari, the advisor to Ali Akbar Velayati (the advisor on international affairs to Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Iranian regime), in response to the criticisms made about his intervention in stopping and changing the death sentence of Dr. Hamid Gharahassanloo, wrote, “The repeated messages from international medical circles calling for intensified sanctions in the medical field and the repeated contacts of medical associations with Velayati” led him to “request further investigation” in a letter to a high-ranking regime official.
Saleh Eskandari emphasized that this action influenced 102 heads of medical organizations throughout the country and a petition signed by more than 6,000 doctors, all advocating for the innocence of Gharahassanloo.
Velayati’s advisor considered the statements made by Rouhollah Ajamian’s father to be based on “misinformation” provided to him by “malicious individuals” and described some of the reactions as a “kind of political settling of accounts with Mr. Velayati.”
On November 1, Mirza Vali Ajamian, the father of Rouhollah Ajamian, criticized Ali Akbar Velayati, the advisor to Ali Khamenei, and blamed him for the individuals in connection with the killing of his son not being executed.
Without presenting evidence, he claimed that “80 individuals were accused in the case, of whom only eight are in custody, and if Velayati turns his head, these eight individuals will also be set free.”
As reported by Iranian media, the father of the Basij member who was killed demanded more executions and, in response to the host’s attempt to “manage the program,” said that on several occasions during his presence at the state broadcaster IRIB, he was told not to say anything about Velayati and that they were afraid of him.
According to the published images of the program, the father of the deceased Basij member stood up from his chair, shouting, “Velayati is the murderer of my child,” and stormed out of the studio.
In March, the Revolutionary Court in Alborz Province issued a new verdict sentencing Hamid Gharahassanloo, the physician arrested in the case of the killed Basij member Rouhollah Ajamian, to 15 years in prison.
Hamid Gharahassanloo and his wife Farzaneh were arrested after the 40th-day commemoration ceremony of the Hadis Najafi in the city of Karaj, western Tehran.
Hadis Najafi, 22, shot by the state security forces in Karaj
Gharahassanloo, a 53-year-old physician, was one of the five individuals initially sentenced to death for the “killing of a Basij member,” but this sentence was later reduced in subsequent stages.
Like many other people arrested during the protests, these people were subjected to brutal torture and forced to make incriminating confessions. Karami and Hosseini, the two-youth executed in relation to this dossier, were tortured even more brutally than others, according to witnesses.
Last year’s protests in Iran began with the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The regime’s morality police arrested her on September 13 for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab, the mandatory head covering imposed upon Iran’s women. Two hours after her arrest, she was taken to a hospital where, three days later, she succumbed to skull injuries that had been sustained during her detention.
The escalation of the widespread protests in 2022, led the regime to order a crackdown on the demonstrations with excessive violence and lethal forces, including live ammunition, which led to the arrests of over 30,000 people and the deaths of over 750.
On November 6, Amnesty International issued a statement warning that Reza (Gholamreza) Rasai, 34, one of the detainees of last year’s nationwide protests in Iran, is at risk of execution.
Amnesty International says that Reza (Gholamreza) Rasai has been arrested in relation to the September-December 2022 nationwide protests in Iran and has been subjected to “torture.”
According to the report, following a grossly unfair trial, on 7 October 2023, Branch Two of Criminal Court 1 of Kermanshah province convicted him of “murder” and sentenced him to death, admitting his torture-tainted forced “confessions” as “evidence”.
“In the verdict, the court summarily dismissed Reza Rasaei’s retraction of his forced ‘confession’, which he had said during trial was obtained under torture and other ill-treatment during interrogations, without conducting investigations”, Amnesty International reported.
Reza (Gholamreza) Rasaei, aged 34, hails from Iran’s oppressed Kurdish and Yaresan ethnic and religious minorities.
The nationwide protests last year began in response to the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old woman from Saqqez who died in the custody of the Morality Police.
The death of Mahsa Amini sparked a wave of nationwide protests against the Iranian regime, which were unprecedented in terms of geographical spread and duration.
According to the statements of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), during the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people, at least 750 individuals were killed by regime security forces.
Amnesty International warned, “To date, the authorities have arbitrarily executed seven men in connection with protests after grossly unfair trials marred by torture allegations. On 19 May 2023, Iranian authorities executed Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, who were put on trial in December 2022 and January 2023, and sentenced to death on the vaguely worded and overly broad charge of ‘enmity against God’ (moharebeh).”
The results of a recent study indicate that according to the Global Talent Competitiveness Index in 2023, Iran has a notable number of individuals with innovative and scientific skills but ranks among the worst countries in terms of preserving and supporting human capital.
This study, conducted by INSEAD, one of the world’s largest business schools, and simultaneously published in the United States and France, shows that Iran ranks 116th out of 134 countries in the overall ranking of this index, alongside countries such as Zimbabwe, Nicaragua, and Bangladesh.
However, Iran has shown significant performance in categories such as “innovation output,” “scientific publications,” “researchers,” “university rankings,” and “urbanization.” In these categories, Iran ranks 37th or higher than countries like India, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Egypt.
In the category of “scientific publications,” which measures the number of scientific and technical journal articles per 10,000 population, Iran ranks 40th, higher than Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and China.
In the category of “researchers,” which measures the number of full-time researchers per million population, Iran ranks 43rd, surpassing China, Egypt, and India.
In the “university rankings” category, Iran ranks 46th, higher than Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Hungary.
These results indicate that Iran is globally leading in terms of scientific and technological production. Iran possesses a skilled and educated workforce that can play a significant role in technology development and innovation.
However, the weak performance of the Iranian regime in areas such as “corruption,” “individual rights,” “political stability,” “rule of law,” “government effectiveness,” “economic empowerment of women,” and “leadership opportunities for women” has led Iran to rank very low in the overall ranking of this index.
In the “corruption” category, Iran ranks 120th, only ahead of Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
In the “individual rights” category, Iran ranks 123rd, alongside countries like Belarus and Saudi Arabia.
In the “political stability” category, Iran ranks 129th, alongside countries like Congo, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, and Nigeria.
In the “rule of law” category, Iran ranks 119th, alongside Mali, Angola, Lebanon, and Belarus.
In the “government effectiveness” category, Iran ranks 120th, alongside Belarus, Zambia, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe.
In the “economic empowerment of women” category, Iran ranks 133rd, lower than Kuwait, which ranks 132nd.
In the “leadership opportunities for women” category, Iran ranks last at 134th and has the worst performance in this category.
This study shows that despite Iran’s considerable innovative potential, due to the weak performance of the government in key areas, it faces serious challenges in attracting and retaining human capital.
The increase in housing prices in Iran has led to an increase in housing poverty, and reports indicate that people’s tastes and inclination have forcibly changed towards houses that are 40 square meters or less.
On November 7, the state-run Donyaye Eghtesad newspaper reported that statistics indicate a record number of residence registrations in houses up to 40 square meters in the capital city during the current year.
According to the report, the share of small houses with an area of up to 40 square meters in Tehran’s real estate transactions has increased from 3.3 percent in 2018 to over 5.2 percent in 2023.
This trend can be attributed to the inflation in the housing market, as reported by the Statistical Center of Iran. The average price per square meter of an apartment has increased from 62 million rials (approximately $1,088) in the spring of 2018 to over 808 million rials (approximately $1,569) in September 2023. While the difference in dollar value is around 50%, the rial difference is more than tenfold as the national currency has depreciated severely due to the regime’s policies in the same period.
Housing inflation has caused statistical centers to refrain from publishing new data for over eight months. However, this approach failed to hide the economic realities of the country. In this regard, the Majlis (parliament) Research Center referred to the increase in eviction rates from the housing market in a report published on August 9, stating that households in the first to third deciles are absolutely unable to procure housing, and households in the third to fifth deciles and even a portion of the sixth decile are relatively unable to meet their housing needs.
The 18-fold increase in housing prices in Tehran over a period of seven years has resulted in the share of apartments with a building age of over 20 years in total residential transactions triple compared to 2016 when the market conditions were normal.
The increasing phenomenon of informal settlements and living in slums is another manifestation of housing poverty. Another destructive effect of the recent housing inflation wave is that housing costs account for 70 percent of the expenditure basket of Tehran households, which means that two-thirds of the income of tenant households is spent solely on housing rent.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) has announced a minimum per capita residential space of 17 square meters. Considering that the average household size in Tehran is currently about three people, the minimum suitable residential area for households in Tehran is currently equivalent to 51 square meters. Therefore, housing units up to 40 square meters do not meet the minimum residential standard for Tehran residents.
According to official statistics, currently, 18 percent of housing transactions are carried out in the group of units up to 50 square meters, indicating that out of every five households purchasing a house, one buys a house that is smaller than the expected minimum standard.
The Majlis (parliament) Research Center also reported on June 8 about the critical housing situation in Tehran and the “950 percent increase” in its prices over the past five years.
The Tehran City Council also announced in a report on September 4 the housing situation in the capital, stating that 70 percent of Tehran households suffer from “housing poverty” and “poor housing conditions.”
The Tehran City Council report also emphasized that the share of housing costs in the household expenditure basket has increased from 33 percent in the 2000s to over 50 percent, indicating that more than 70 percent of Tehran households are affected by “housing poverty.”
The regime’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, during his presidential election campaign and after the formation of his cabinet, repeatedly promised to “build one million houses annually.” However, after more than two years, the realization of this promise is still questionable.
Abolfazl Adinehzadeh, a 16-year-old teenager and senior high school student majoring in electronics, was killed by security forces during Iran’s nationwide protests on October 8, 2022.
On the morning of October 8, 2022, his father dropped him off at school, and he was supposed to be at school until 2 p.m. However, around 11 a.m., he was shot with approximately 70 rubber bullets from a distance of less than one meter to his right side at the entrance of Ferdowsi University in Mashhad, northeast Iran. Despite doctors removing 27 bullets from his abdomen during surgery, he did not survive.
Marzieh Adinehzadeh, his sister, stated that if Farabi Hospital, which is near Ferdowsi University, had accepted Abolfazl, he would be alive now, but they did not admit the injured.
According to Abolfazl’s sister, a medical student girl, along with her family, helped Abolfazl and took him to Imam Reza Hospital around 12:30. He was conscious during the journey and kept saying, “Mom, I love you…forgive me.”
After a night of being uninformed and worried, the family was contacted by the security department of the education ministry on October 9 and were asked to bring the bail and take him. However, after Abolfazl’s parents went to the school, they were taken to the Intelligence Office, where they were shown Abolfazl’s body and falsely informed that he had been killed by three rubber bullets.
Khosrow Alikordi, the lawyer representing the Adinehzadeh family announced that the case of the parents’ complaint regarding the death of Abolfazl Adinehzadeh during the suppression of protests in 2022 in Mashhad has been “closed.”
Khosrow Alikordi shared the final verdict on social media on November 6, 2023. According to the issued verdict, the Branch 1 of the Military Prosecutor’s Office of Khorasan Razavi Province declared the case of the parents’ complaint about the death of Abolfazl Adinehzadeh as “closed.” The military prosecutor’s office argued that there was “no solid and convincing evidence of the use of rubber bullet shooting by military and law enforcement forces.”
Despite the fact that around 70 rubber bullets hit the right side of the teenager from a distance of less than one meter at the entrance of Ferdowsi University in Mashhad on October 8, 2022, the court found the evidence insufficient. The court’s verdict, bearing the signature of “Gholamhossein Alvandi, the investigator of Branch 1 of the Military Court,” stated that the accusation was not supported by sufficient and convincing evidence, leading to the decision of “non-prosecution.”
Additionally, the verdict mentioned that the plaintiffs would be directed to seek compensation from the state treasury through the judiciary.
According to the statements of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), during the nationwide uprising of the Iranian people, at least 750 individuals were killed by regime security forces.
Twenty percent of schools in Iran are dilapidated, and there is a distinction between “hazardous” and “dilapidated” schools, according to Majid Abdollahi, the Technical and Supervisory Deputy of the Organization for the Renovation of Schools.
Abdollahi emphasized that students are not allowed to study in “hazardous” schools, stating, “In Isfahan, we had 14 schools affected by subsidence, and this year we did not allow students to study in these schools.”
Abdollahi stated that approximately 20,000 schools out of around 105,000 schools and 104,000 classrooms out of 540,000 classrooms are dilapidated.
According to Abdollahi, 6 percent of these classrooms, equivalent to 33,000 classrooms, need to be demolished and rebuilt.
This number of dilapidated schools in the country comes at a time when on August 13, the head of the Organization for the Renovation, Development, and Equipping of Schools announced the existence of 1,073 temporary schools (consisting of prefabricated structures) in the country based on initial identification.
The situation of schools referred to as “dilapidated” is particularly severe in small and remote cities. In this regard, the semiofficial ILNA news agency reported on September 23 that students in the “Loudab” region in the Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province started the new academic year in schools lacking “desks and chairs, water pipelines, heating systems, and safety.”
According to ILNA’s report, quoting Kourosh Biniaz, the governor of Loudab, 35 schools in this region lack sanitary facilities and water pipelines, and in 45 schools, there are “no heating and safety equipment” at all. He stated that there are also 10 “temporary” schools in this province, and out of a total of 145 schools, only two schools are equipped with computer equipment and printers.
In response to the shortage of teachers in the country and the situation of more than 400,000 students being left without teachers, the Minister of Education announced the finalization of the decision on “discovering teaching talents” in the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution and stated, “Students who have the temperament and qualities of a teacher will be recruited into the education system and become teachers.”
Teacher shortage in the education system has become one of the challenges due to the elimination of “student teachers” and the retirement of a significant number of teachers. Reports indicate that in some schools, parents of students have been asked to come to school and act as teachers to prevent empty classrooms.
However, on November 1, despite widespread criticism from teachers, teacher unions, and some members of the regime’s Majlis (parliament), Reza Moradi Sahrayee, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, claimed that there are no “teacherless classes” in Iran.
Sahrayee’s statement contradicted the report by a member of the Parliament’s Education Commission on October 31, who revealed that 68,000 teachers had left the education system in Iran at the beginning of the academic year, leaving 100,000 classrooms without teachers. Mohammad Vahidi, in an interview with the state-run website “rouydad24,” acknowledged the serious challenge of teacher shortages and mentioned that 23,000 teachers had been hired for educational services but were prohibited from entering classrooms this year.
Mohammad Taghi Falahi, the Secretary of the Tehran Teachers Guild, also mentioned the severe budget deficit in education as one of the main factors contributing to the shortage of teachers for 23,000 classrooms, equivalent to approximately 460,000 students.
The teacher shortage in schools has reached a point where the Shargh Daily website addressed the problem in a report, stating that some school principals have asked parents to attend classes and help students in reviewing the previous year’s lessons.
On September 23, some reports emerged indicating that amid the teacher shortage crisis, the Ministry of Education had prevented the continuation of the “student teacher” program.
Another recent controversy in the Ministry of Education was the compulsory call to prayer and the “requirement for students to send audio recordings of their prayers at home.” In response to the criticism surrounding this issue, Reza Moradi Sahrayee stated, “When we were criticized, we realized that what we were doing was right.”
In recent years, teachers in Iran have staged widespread protests, with hundreds of cases documented. The teachers’ demands in these protests include salary increases and equalization of salaries, as well as official employment. Many of their colleagues have been imprisoned as a result of these protests.
The Iranian regime allocates a negligible budget to education and retires experienced teachers, while significantly increasing the military budget. A look at Iran’s expensive interventions in the region reveals where the education budget for Iranian children is being spent.
Retirees of the Social Security Organization and the steel industry held protest rallies on November 5 in several cities across Iran. At the same time, nurses and employees of the “Imam” hospital in Urmia continued their protests for the second consecutive day.
According to labor and retirees’ organizations, the retirees of the Social Security Organization held rallies in Kermanshah, Ahvaz, and Shush.
Some of their slogans included “We don’t tolerate oppression in our lives,”
“Death to this slavery,”
and “We haven’t seen justice, we won’t vote anymore.”
Based on the published images, retirees from the steel industry gathered in front of the retirement fund offices in Isfahan, Ghaemshahr, Shahrud, and Ahvaz.
In their Isfahan gathering, they spread an empty tablecloth and chanted slogans such as
“We haven’t seen justice, we’ve heard enough lies,”
“Promises are not enough, our table is empty,”
and “Incompetent manager, shame on you.”
Simultaneously, according to the Free Union of Iranian Workers, nurses, medical staff, and medical students at the “Imam” hospital in Urmia also gathered on Sunday for the second consecutive day, protesting the delayed paychecks, other financial demands, the method of salary calculation, and the neglect of their livelihood issues.
The worsening living conditions of retirees, workers, and other wage earners have led to the expansion of protests in Iranian cities in recent years.
On November 2, the state-run ILNA news agency reported that there is a possibility of a 20 percent increase in retirees’ pensions next year. However, retirees are protesting against this proposal as they consider it unfair, stating that a 20 percent increase does not even reach half of the poverty line.
According to ILNA, wage earners are concerned about the government’s proposal for a 20 percent increase in salaries next year, and this concern is not limited to employees and retirees under government agencies.
The news agency stated that a 20 percent increase in salaries can significantly reduce workers’ bargaining power for the 2024 wages.
Sowlat Mortazavi, the Minister of Labor, stated that wages are determined only once a year and thus rejected the possibility of wage adjustments and increases.
In the meantime, retirees from various sectors have gathered multiple times in front of the retirement fund offices in different Iranian cities, demanding that their pensions reach the poverty line and questioning why their pensions should be half the poverty line after 30 years.
Based on statistics announced by some members of the parliament in recent months, the cost of living in Tehran has been estimated to be over 300 million rials (approximately $582), and in other major cities in Iran, it ranges from 200 million to 250 million rials (approximately $388 to 485).
With a 20% increase, the monthly pension of a retiree will not even reach 110 million rials (approximately $213) next year, while the overall inflation rate has been much higher than 100 percent in the past two years.
ILNA quoted one retiree who said, “Statistics don’t matter. What I see in my life is that everything has become two or three times more expensive. Even the rent this year, landlords have increased it by more than 50 or 60 percent. What’s the fate of people like me? I have been living in the eastern part of Tehran for several years, however now I have to live in Islamshahr, southern Tehran. Even here, I can’t afford to rent a house. Where should I go in my old age? Should I pitch a tent in the park?”
Retired government employees gather every week in front of the Governorate building and other related government buildings to protest the non-implementation of the “adjustment” law, severe economic difficulties, and infringement of their rights.
Protests and strikes related to economic livelihoods by various trades and professions in Iran have been ongoing for several years, including retirees from the Social Security Organization, steel industry, telecommunications, educators, and government pensioners, who organize regular weekly protests in various cities.
The United States House of Representatives has approved a bill to intensify oil sanctions against the Iranian regime. On November 3, the House of Representatives passed a bill with the support of members from both the Democratic and Republican parties to strengthen oil sanctions against Iran. The “Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act,” received 342 votes in favor and 69 votes against.
Representative Mike Lawler, a Republican, and Representative Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat, stated in a statement that this bill is a crucial step in preventing Iran from continuing its financial support for terrorism throughout the Middle East.
H.R. 3774, the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act, which I introduced with @RepMoskowitz this week, is an important step in preventing Iran from using that partnership, especially in maritime trading with China, to benefit themselves financially.https://t.co/VShYVRY85W
— Congressman Mike Lawler (@RepMikeLawler) June 3, 2023
They also welcomed the widespread support of members from both the Democratic and Republican parties in the House of Representatives for this bill. Mike Lawler and Jared Moskowitz emphasized the importance of holding the regime accountable for its support of terrorist organizations.
These two members of the US Congress stated that this bill sends a clear and strong message to parties and actors such as China, Russia, and others to not assist Iran in financing terrorism, or else they will face the consequences of such actions.
For this bill to become law, it must first be approved by the US Senate and then signed by President Joe Biden.
The approval of this bill comes at a time when, according to regime authorities, despite extensive US sanctions, Iran’s oil sales have increased in recent years. Javad Oji, the Minister of Oil of the Iranian regime, stated on March 24 that Iran has exported “at least 190 million barrels more oil than in 2020 and 83 million barrels more than in 2021,” and he said, “A new record in Iran’s oil exports will be set this year.”
He also announced on September 30 an “increase in oil exports” and said, “With the efforts of my colleagues at the Ministry of Oil, the production and export figuresof crude oil, condensates, and oil products are increasing every day.”
Kpler, a commodity intelligence company that also tracks oil tankers, reported on August 15 that Iran is exporting approximately 1.5 million barrels of crude oil daily to China this month, which will be the highest level of exports to this country in a decade.
According to the official IRNA news agency, on September 4, Iran exported “1.7 million barrels of crude oil and 152,000 barrels of condensates” daily in August. The total exports of oil and gas condensates from Iran in that month averaged 1.85 million barrels per day. This represents the highest level of Iranian oil exports in the past five years since the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Kpler stated that Iran is currently exporting approximately 1.5 million barrels of oil per day to China, marking the highest level of oil exports from Iran to China since 2013.
Bloomberg news agency also reported on these statistics, stating that with the increase in oil prices in global markets, the demand for discounted oil purchases from Iran, especially by independent refineries in Shandong Province, China, has risen.
Previously, Davoud Manzour, the head of regime’s Planning and Budget Organization had stated in the Majlis (Parliament) that “according to the 2023 budget bill, the government is obligated to export 1.4 million barrels of oil per day,” and that they have been able to exceed this target with the efforts of the Ministry of Oil.
However, Manzour did not disclose the exact volume of Iran’s oil exports or the names of importing countries.
In a related development, the latest statistics from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), released on August 10, showed an increase in Iran’s oil production by 68,000 barrels per day, reaching 2.828 million barrels per day.
Reuters had previously reported that Iran offers a discount of around $12 per barrel for its exported oil. Other reports have suggested even higher figures for Iranian oil discounts.
It is worth noting that on July 14, eight Republican senators wrote a letter to the US Secretaries of State and Treasury, calling for the full implementation of oil sanctions against the Iranian regime and the imposition of sanctions on Chinese companies buying Iranian oil.
Hadi Abavee, the Secretary of the Supreme Council of Iranian Worker Associations, announced that “the problem of the reduction in workers’ purchasing power has led to about 70 percent of them having dual jobs.”
Workers believe that with long working hours and low income, they cannot make ends meet and are forced to take on a second job after their regular working hours in a production or administrative unit to support their families.
Many reports have previously been published about the reduction in workers’ purchasing power in Iran, taking into account the inflation rate and the increased cost of living.
The semiofficial ILNA news agency reported on October 4, “The latest independent calculations show that the minimum cost of living in various provinces has reached 220 million rials (approximately $422),” adding, “Based on this calculation, a salary of 90 million rials (approximately $173) is 20 million rials (approximately $38) less than half the cost of living basket, which means that a worker earning 90 million rials, if living in the cities and not paying rent over 70 or 80 million rials (approximately $134-154) in Tehran, can cover two weeks of expenses at best. In fact, with the minimum wage in the provinces, it is not even possible to sustain oneself for two weeks.”
According to state-run Tasnim news agency, Hadi Abavee, referring to the livelihood problems of workers, said, “Our main problem is that the Ministry of Labor is not willing to hold a meeting to reexamine livelihoods. We are not seeking an increase in wages. At least let a meeting be held and listen to the problems of workers, but they still evade holding a meeting.”
In March, the Supreme Labor Council increased the minimum wage of married workers with children, who are covered by the labor law, by 27 percent. As a result, the minimum monthly wage for this group of workers reached 80 million rials (approximately $153). This action by the Supreme Labor Council, as well as the approval of the resolution by the “worker representatives” of the council, received significant criticism.
Moreover, according to the regime’s Khabar Online website, the inflation rate is “above 46 percent”, and from March until now, the inflation rate has not been lower than this figure in any month.
Activists and independent labor organizations have demanded the determination of a minimum wage of at least 150 million rials (approximately $289) for workers.
On the other hand, the regime’s President Ebrahim Raisi has not taken any action to increase workers’ wages.
Officials from the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare have repeatedly opposed increasing workers’ wages. Even Sowlat Mortazavi, the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, said that “the minimum wage earner can use the power of negotiation and receive a higher salary commensurate with their expertise.”
The regime has shirked its responsibility to address the demands of workers and has thrown the ball into the workers’ court. Meanwhile, following Sowlat Mortazavi’s remarks, reports were published in labor unions’ media outlets and some other news sources indicating employers’ resistance to the demand for increasing workers’ wages.
In this regard, several workers were fired by their employers, and the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare showed no reaction.
At the same time, Faramarz Tofighi, a labor activist who, according to the state-run ILNA news agency, has conducted independent calculations of the cost of living for worker households, told the news agency: “In Tehran, the minimum expenses for a three or four-member household, including rent, reach 300 million rials (approximately $576).”
He added, “A working family in Tehran who is a tenant should have a salary of 300 million rials to make ends meet until the end of the month.”
According to a report by the “Didbaniran” published on September 28, “The allocation of a significant portion of household expenses to housing and food causes households to have a lower budget and income for other expenses, including education.”
According to this report, “An analysis of household expenses shows that the share of education from total household expenses has been decreasing over time.”
Meanwhile, the Administrative and Recruitment Organization has demanded that surplus funds not be allocated to executive agencies and instead be used to address the issue of salary restoration for employees.
The Administrative and Recruitment Organization and the Organization of Planning and Budget are against increasing employees’ wages.
This comes at a time when previously, Ali Babaei Karnamy, the head of the labor faction in the parliament, announced in August that the government is working on a 20 percent increase in salaries for state employees in the second half of this year.
“The government is in the process of sending a bill to implement a 20 percent increase in salaries for employees and retirees as part of equalization measures in the second half of the year,” said Babaei Karnamy.
According to the “Khabaronline”, in October of last year, the government of Ebrahim Raisi sent a bill to the parliament titled “Equalization of Salaries for Government Employees, as well as National and Military Retirees.”
According to this bill, a gradual percentage increase was considered for government employees, so that those who receive lower wages would experience a 20 percent increase, while the percentage increase would be lower for higher-wage earners.
This proposal was approved by the parliament in November 2022. However, both the Planning and Budget Organization and the Administrative and Recruitment Organization have explicitly expressed their opposition to the restoration of employees’ and retirees’ salaries.
