What Do We Know About Iran Regime’s Mollah Al-Movaheddin Charity?
The Iranian regime’s Molla Al-Movaheddin Charity was established in 1987 by Hussein Marashi, the cousin of Effat Marashi, who is the wife of former regime president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. The charity is one of the regime’s financial empires with undeclared assets and wealth. However, its connection to Mahan Airlines, whose name is linked to the IRGC’s Quds Force, further questions the public credibility of the charity.
This charity owns 100% of Mahan Airlines shares, and 50% of Kerman Khodro shares.
The charity, which is headed by the current spokesman for the regime’s Executives of Construction Party Hossein Marashi, was officially established in the Kerman Registry Office in order to ‘achieve the goals of the Islamic Republic and address the affairs of the deprived people by creating employment and eliminating underprivileged areas.’
It can be said that this charity is the largest financial cartel of the so-called reformist faction of the regime, which has a very wide range of activities, and it currently owns the following companies: Arman Motor Arg; Omran Arg; Negin Bam; Bam Khodro Arman Electric Services; Carmania Automobile; World Tourism Organization; Kerman Civil Organization; Arian Mahtab Gostar Company; Omran Kar Sirjanan; and Jopar passenger trains.
One interesting fact is that Qassem Soleimani, the slain commander of the regime’s Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, is still listed among the members of the charity board.
Despite its extensive activities and turnover of a billion rials, there is no clear record of its economic activities. Responding to a question about the financial transparency of this charity, the charity’s founder Hossein Marashi explicitly stated that the law did not mention to whom they should give their financial reports.
While many corruption cases regarding the charity have been uncovered over the years, none of these cases have been investigated due to the support from top-ranking regime officials. When it was suggested that the cases of corruption and lack of financial transparency should be discussed in the regime’s parliament, influential figures stepped in to prevent this process from taking place.
The biggest case against the charity is regarding the activities of Mahan Airlines, a company that has been used by the IRGC’s Quds Force to move troops and equipment for military and terrorist operations outside of Iran in recent years.
This charity has also had extensive economic relations with the infamous Babak Zanjani who helped the regime circumvent international sanctions with the help of Mahan Airlines. Among these corrupt activities was the case of Hamid Arabnejad Khanouki from Mahan, a member of the board of directors of Faraz Qeshm Airlines, which was later renamed Qeshm Airlines.
This charity has also had trade and economic relations with Shahram Jazayeri, another of the regime’s corrupt agents who had the case of Kerman’s Haft Bagh land grabbing in his record but was never audited due to the support from the regime’s officials.
Another surprising fact about this foundation is that despite being founded and operated by the regime’s so-called reformists, many of the regime’s IRGC officers are shareholders or members of its board of trustees. Gholam-Ali Abu Hamzeh, the former commander of the Sarallah Corps in Kerman province, and the names of several other senior IRGC commanders can be seen among board members in this so-called charity.
Reports have indicated that the foundation received at least 400 million Euros, at an exchange rate of 42,000 tomans preferred currency, from Rouhani’s government, but there is no information on how and where this huge amount of money has been spent. More shocking reports have also uncovered that a member of its board of trustees is currently present and active in 23 companies with different positions.
In 2005, Hossein Marashi attempted to change the statute of the charity by getting the signatures of Mohammad Reza Bahonar and Qassem Soleimani to join the board of trustees, but the governor and representative of Kerman announced that they would not be accepting the amendment. However, Marashi, who relied heavily on Soleimani, did not pay any attention to their protests.
According to Article 13 of this statute, the board of trustees must appoint a successor and inherit this charity in practice. Qassem Soleimani’s daughter Zaynab reportedly donated around $2 million towards the marriage of Lebanese girls, which appears to have been funded from her inheritance from her father’s share in this charity.
In addition to these activities, this charity has also established a bank. The Resalat Bank has more than 30 branches across Iran, and some of the senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guards are partners on the board of directors.
No Foreign Company Is Willing To Invest in Iran Regime’s Ports
A brief look at the extent of foreign investments in Iran’s economy reveals the real situation of the overall economic situation.
At the heart of this story is the fate of the Chabahar port. It has now been more than two years since a contract for investment has been signed by India, but the Indians have not implemented it yet. As a result, none of the regime’s goals for this port have been realized.
The Indians have requested the application of international arbitration to resolve disputes with the regime and did not allow the regime to use the six port cranes installed by Indian companies at another port, called the Beheshti port.
Rouzbeh Mokhtari, the chairman of the regime’s Board of the Shipping Association, accused the Indians of buying time and added that he believes that no country or foreign company has the appetite to invest in Iran’s ports. He stated that the reason for this is that all of them are waiting to analyze the fate of the regime’s nuclear negotiations.
On April 24, the state-run ILNA news agency wrote in their publication, “The Indian company even with this amount of green light that it has received for investing in Chabahar port, has still problems in the banking sector, and the fear of sanctions has created a graver situation than the sanctions itself.”
They added, “Although the activity in Chabahar port is not subject to sanctions, fear of sanctions for international companies has prevented the formation of the necessary determination to fulfill the contractual obligations and has caused the Indian side to move with caution in the case of the Chabahar port. The Indian operator has not fulfilled its obligations, and one of the reasons is the continuation of sanctions.”
As reported by ILNA, according to published statistics, India has not made any other significant steps to increase ship and cargo traffic in Chabahar, despite the significant volume of trade with Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asian countries, in addition to the transit of 75,000 tons of wheat through the Beheshti port to Afghanistan in 2020.
According to the Indian media, New Delhi has not yet provided the promised $150 million credit line for the development of the Beheshti port. In February 2016, the loan to Iran was approved through EXIM Bank, but the lender is said to be reluctant to provide the funds due to problems with US sanctions against the regime.
More than 6 years have passed since the agreement on the establishment of transportation, and trade corridors between Iran, India, and Afghanistan called the ‘Chabahar Agreement’ was signed.
According to the agreement reached between Iran and India, the state-owned company India Ports Global Limited (IPGL), under the management of India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, was selected as the operator of Chabahar port and was scheduled for a 10-year contract after two years of operations at the Beheshti Port.
Now, Chabahar has not only become the transportation and trade corridor between India and Afghanistan and other countries in the region as the regime wished, but it has been downgraded as a port for the transportation of basic goods and minerals and the transit statistics of the container, and transit cargoes at this port have been drastically reduced.
Recently, the Indian government chose Pakistan over Iran to ship its wheat to Afghanistan, and just last week, it was reported that Indian cargo had been sent to Russia via Georgia. Considering Russia’s critical situation at the moment, it seemed like this was the best opportunity for the regime to be a bridge for the transfer of transit cargo from India to Russia, but of course, this did not happen.
The Cause of Violence in Iran’s Society
More often than not, the bitter news published by the Iranian regime’s media or distributed by the people on social media is sad and unbearable.
News about poverty, misery, critical economic situation, and social crises have become a common occurrence, and it seems that people are getting used to such a situation. It may very well be the regime’s evil intention to desensitize people about their miserable situation in a bid to accelerate the speed of the social and moral collapse.
In such an atmosphere, there is no room for the people to think and deal with politics, the future of their society, and of course, the regime’s crimes. One of the dangerous consequences of such an approach by the regime has been the expansion of violence in society.
On April 20, the state-run Hamdeli daily wrote, “In Iran, in addition to the (miserable) economic situation, from radio and television to the officials, on a daily basis, they all are busy spreading violence and hatred. Forensic statistics confirm the rage of the people and the aggression in society. Last year, nearly 100,000 people in Tehran went to a forensic doctor because of a dispute.”
In an interview with the state-run daily Rouydad-e 24 on April 13, Hassan Lofti, a member of the regime’s parliamentary social commission, said, “Depression and many social tensions are rampant.”
Such news is abundant in the regime’s media. In another article, the Hamdeli daily wrote, “What has now raised the level of violence in Iranian society is the status of poverty, unemployment, inability to earn a living and class differences. Violence has become rampant.”
Giving a glimpse of this social crisis, they added, “It seems that the garbage bins in many cities do not cover the needs of the many garbage collectors. If you take a short stroll in the streets of the capital, you will see many people from 10-11 years old boys to families and even women busy collecting garbage. People who are collecting garbage with trucks, cars, motorbikes, and bicycles to the poorer who are collecting garbage with shopping carts or plastic bags.”
In reference to the root of the increasing rage in Iran’s society, the state-run Shafa Online daily explained, “It is predictable that when some political and ruling figures in the country promote violent discourse and behavior, violence in society increases as a consequence.”
Discussing the regime’s repressive actions, which have a direct effect on the people’s behavior, this newspaper added, “When violent discourse is promoted from public forums and in contrast to the law, or when it is declared that some music lovers must leave a particular city, it is natural that violent discourse manifests itself in form of violent behavior.”
They further added, “But another issue that forms the roots of violence in society goes back to the pressures on public opinion for a variety of reasons. During the Iran-Lebanon soccer match, it was observed that women were mistreated and attacked with pepper spray. These pressures also form the deep roots of violence in society. The next important issue is the spread of poverty and difficulties in earning a living. A person who has difficulties in meeting his or her basic needs cannot exhibit peaceful behaviors.”
In its concluding paragraph, Hamdeli daily confessed to the lack of freedom in Iran and its consequences despite all the regime’s claims about human rights and democracy. It wrote, “In a society where there is no happiness, there exists nothing. For example, in India, a large portion of the population is poor, to the extent that some people are born as cardboard sleepers and die as cardboard sleepers, but the TV programs and the atmosphere of that society are happy because there is freedom. Freedom generates happiness.”
Women of Iran, at the Forefront of Dismissals and Redundancies
Heavily rooted in the Iranian regime’s misogynistic culture and policies, one of the biggest crises that the regime has inflicted on the Iranian society is the poor living and working conditions of women. Many women who are heads of their households are finding it extremely difficult to support their families due to the lack of job opportunities.
This has created many dangerous social crises. According to the regime’s official statistics, over the past decade, the number of women heads of households has increased by 58 percent in comparison to the number of men.
Currently, the population of women who are the heads of their households goes beyond 3 million across Iran, with around 7 million under their care. Due to unemployment, or the lack of suitable jobs, these women are desperately struggling to get by.
Some of these families, who are supported by the regime’s ‘so-called’ Khomeini Relief foundation, live on low pensions, which are below the ‘absolute poverty line’. According to regime experts and the state-run media, these families live below the ‘death poverty line.’
All of the problems that have befallen these women and their families are due to the low rate of women’s economic participation, which is decreasing yearly. Many women are forced to turn to ‘fake’ jobs, such as peddling on the streets.
The regime’s Statistical Center has reported that the unemployment rate among women with associate degrees and master’s degrees is more than twice that of men, and in doctoral degrees, this figure is in some cases three times or even higher.
However, as is the case with many of the regime’s statistics, these figures have been deliberately downgraded. On April 9, the state-run media outlet, Farhikhtegan wrote an analysis of the status of various indicators of women’s employment, concluding that around 71 percent of graduate women in the country are unemployed.
Regime experts have previously indicated that most of Iran’s terminated employment contracts belong to women, and they face larger threats of layoffs and unemployment than men do. In other words, unemployment is the prime problem for more than 90 percent of Iranian women.
On the other hand, the number of employed women across Iran has decreased from 18.2 percent in 2018 to 17.8 percent in 2019, before dropping to 15.7 percent in 2020.
Previously in May of 2021, the Tehran Chamber of Commerce conducted a report examining the labor force indicators of men and women in Tehran province in the third quarter of 2020. According to the report, the unemployment rate for women aged 15 to 24 in Tehran province was more than 45 percent, a worrying figure for the country’s female population.
Termination of contracts and the chronic unemployment of women have intensified greatly since the coronavirus outbreak which has become the main excuse for employers to remove women from the workplace.
Since the outbreak of coronavirus in Iran, the population of female employees has dropped by 830,000. Such a dramatic fall has not been seen in the country since 2005.
A review of statistics by the regime’s Ministry of Welfare also shows that job security for women is more vulnerable than for men.
Dropouts, Mullahs’ Annual Gift for Iran’s Youths
Dropping out of school in order to work and help their families has become one of the main social crises for children in Iran. Many children, even before having the chance to start their education properly and build their own future, are forced to stop studying, leaving these dropouts facing extremely bleak economic and social prospects.
Millions of children and youths across the country are routinely denied or have limited access to education. For those who are fortunate enough to have the opportunity for some level of public schooling, this is often limited to a primary education, which will not help these children enough to build a brighter future for themselves.
Even for those who do attend high school, the promise for a future based on their education is dim, which is causing many students to drop out, in addition to the students who are forced to leave the school at the very first stages.
This crisis has created a society of children who are left on the streets, struggling to survive. Across Iran, the number of these children has now reached one million.
By examining the recent publications from the Iranian regime’s media outlets, we will find thousands of reasons and statistics for such a situation. Although many of these state-run outlets are hiding the real reason behind this crisis, namely the government corruption, inequality, and wrongheaded educational policies.
According to Alireza Kazemi, the regime’s acting Education Minister, in 2021, “210,000 elementary school students and 760,000 high school students” dropped out of education.
The Statistics Center of Iran has announced the dropout statistics of “primary and secondary schools” in the academic year 2020-2021 which is “about 970,871 thousand students.”
This statistic of dropouts in Tehran alone is the highest number in the country. We can only imagine how extreme the situation is in other regions of the country, especially in the poor and border regions.
Behrouz Nazari, the Director of the Research Group on Education and Studies Development and the Development of the University Jihad Organization said, “Tehran is one of the cities with a high number of working children and school dropouts.”
Completely disregarding the regime’s corruption and the social inequality in Iran, he added, “Environmental poverty causes children to be sent to work centers instead of studying.”
Along with the shocking numbers of dropouts in Iran, another aspect that is adding to this crisis is the decline in the quality of education that children are receiving. Many officials are trying to attribute this situation to coronavirus, but this problem existed long before the pandemic began. Ironically, many families were forced to keep their children out of school because they could not afford to pay for tablets and laptops.
Alireza Kazemi explained, “I am talking about the low quality of education in the pre-Coronavirus era, when the skills of reading, writing, and literacy in education were not of high quality, even at that time.”
This is a sad situation for the country’s hope and its future. With the spread of such systematic destruction, the acceleration of dropouts cannot be compensated, and it will only harm future generations and subsequently, the country’s progression.
During Obama’s presidency, the US government handed over about $1.7 billion in cash to the regime. Simply calculated, even with just half of this money, the regime could eradicate unemployment and the crises of child labor and dropouts, but with the regime’s priorities like its nuclear and missile projects, this is unimaginable.
Iran Regime’s Endless Scandals
Over the past few days, one of the biggest news stories in the Iranian regime’s media has been about its parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s daughter traveling to Turkey to buy nursery items, or as the media have referred to it, ‘baby-stuff-gate’.
The reaction from the Iranian people has been sheer bewilderment as this news is completely irrelevant in comparison to the regime’s hundreds of cases of embezzlement, astronomical thefts, and human rights violations. By this logic, this story should not have generated any attention.
Rightly so, it has triggered a lot of mockery and outrage from the Iranian people, as well as curses against the regime, with the story being one of the main discussions on social media over the past few days. People on social media mocked Ghalibaf’s absurd claims of supporting the poor and republished his fake and fraudulent list of assets and wealth, which he had presented during the presidential election race in 2017.
Some people have even said that men like him, and their families, have no need to travel abroad to buy something at all when they could easily order the goods instead. They have concluded that the whole story of the baby-stuff purchase was a diversion to hide something much bigger, like the regime’s money launderings, in which regime officials, like Ghalibaf, have a first-hand experience.
Addressing such an issue requires other evidence and documents. That is not the purpose of this text but examining the reasons for such a widespread social reaction is certainly worth investigating.
One of the most ingrained commonalities among the regime’s officials is their unimaginable charlatanism, a distinctive characteristic that they have inherited from the regime’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini.
In contrast, one of the characteristics of Iran’s vibrant society is its instant reaction to the regime’s actions. While the people have reached the end of their tether, nothing is left in the socio-economic and political sphere of this country that is broadcast and does not excite society’s reaction.
Now, if we add to the two characteristics mentioned above a little from the elixir of ‘freedom,’ which is the result of people’s restricted access to the internet, we gain something strange.
In a situation where all the regime’s media are censored, this little access to the free world of information, which is finding a way out through thousands of the regime’s barriers, filters, and the narrow internet bandwidth, is increasingly disgracing the regime and exposes the depth of its corruption.
Now, we can understand why the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the regime’s officials are doing everything they can to implement the so-called ‘internet protection plan’,’ because any revelation of the regime’s corruption and crime becomes a direct threat to the regime.
The overwhelming majority of Iranians have experienced this regime with flesh and blood, but it has taken a lot of time and many sacrifices for them to reach such a position.
This has become even more dangerous for the regime as many of its supporters are turning away and questioning the entire system, especially since many people are struggling to survive, and cannot even afford a loaf of bread, while most of the regime’s major officials live in luxury and opulence.
‘Tribal Managers’ a New Challenge for Iran’s Regime
The term “tribal managers” is a new expression that the Iranian regime’s economic experts are using for the government’s managers and officials. This group of managers, who are unqualified and uneducated in the fields of their responsibilities, suffer from the absence of any strategic plan to govern the country.
Nepotism has become a frequent occurrence in the regime’s political affairs, and qualified managers are being marginalized. Naturally, a president like Ebrahim Raisi, who lacks any formal education, is unwilling to choose qualified managers and ministers to run the country’s economy and improve the people’s living conditions. His task and that of his government over the past couple of years have demonstrated that the government lacks a proper and qualified administration.
In a report which has exposed the reality of Raisi and his government, showing just how appalling the situation of the regime’s government is, the state-run daily Ebtekar wrote, “Of course, in his economic promises, the president emphasizes things like building one million houses, creating one million jobs, and reducing the inflation to single digit in one year. This seems a bit exaggerated, assuming the acceptance of the possibility of achieving the above goals in the allotted time, it must be acknowledged that its implementation requires a plan and, more importantly, the management of affairs by skilled and knowledgeable executives. In the most optimistic case, it should be said that some members of Raisi’s cabinet do not have such qualifications.”
During the presidential election, Raisi launched a system called “the Government managers introduction system.” The idea was merely a publicity stunt to attract votes, a demagogic ploy to convince society’s technocrats not to confront the regime’s so-called principlist faction.
Discussing this manager introduction system, Ebtekar wrote, “We must cry for the country’s management system, whose head of state is so empty-handed in identifying competent managers that he has resorted to such an inefficient tool. Is he not in charge of recruiting, training, and educating creative managers in the country? To elect top executive directors, should the head of state action in a manner like a job advertisement?”
The paper also asked, “Finally, assuming that a competent manager has been introduced, which manager who has passed the qualification test will be able to identify the competent person?”
This is a fair question and not far from reality. So far, many of the appointed managers are the most corrupt individuals in the country, and naturally, they will employ people like themselves.
The Ebtekar daily introduced the people chosen for the country’s administration as “traditional managers” and warned the government, “the continuation and non-transition from traditional management to scientific management in the not-too-distant future will ground the country and trap it in a vicious circle.”
What we have witnessed in four decades of the regime’s medieval system is that none of the regime’s decisions are logically based, so, therefore, they are not capable of solving any of the country’s problems.
Why Have Iran’s Nuclear Talks Stalled?
The Iranian nuclear talks in Vienna have been stalled for more than a month, and there have been several reasons cited for this stalemate. According to most experts, and even Iran regime’s officials, one of the most important issues is whether the regime’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) will remain on the US government’s Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list, in which they were included in 2019 during Donald Trump’s presidency.
There are many obstacles in the path of the removal of IRGC from the FTO list. Those opposing the IRGC’s removal from the FTO are striving to ensure that the Biden administration does not provide such a concession to Iran.
Speaking at the US Senate Armed Services Committee, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said, “In my personal opinion I believe the IRGC Quds Force to be a terrorist organization and I do not support them being delisted from the Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) list.” In an open letter to the current US President Joe Biden, 70 national security professionals opposed the delisting of the regime’s IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.1) The dangerous and suspicious #IranDeal is facing many objections:
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) March 23, 2022
Dems start questioning Biden admin's #Iran nuclear talks #JCPOAhttps://t.co/zKuGDxNsjt
In another open letter, 46 retired US generals and admirals opposed the ongoing nuclear deal and urged the US government to avoid getting involved. Retired US Air Force Gen. Charles Wald said: “That just doesn’t sit well with us because the IRGC is the most malicious group in the region.”An open letter to President Biden opposing removal of Iran's IRGC from the FTO list
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) April 12, 2022
70 national security professionals signed an open letter to President Biden opposing the delisting of #Iran's #IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.https://t.co/G5djZwo0yQ
Recently, a former member of Iran’s nuclear negotiation team Seyyed Hossein Mousavian wrote in an article for the Middle East Eye that the remaining obstacle to continuing the talks was the issue of not removing the IRGC’s name from the terrorist list. He wrote, “US allies in the region, particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia, have opposed removing the IRGC from the terrorist list, arguing that it could increase Iran’s threats in the region, and Republicans in the US Congress oppose such a move. Nevertheless, this is a red line for the Iranian government.” “US Special Envoy Robert Malley recently reiterated that Washington would maintain sanctions against the IRGC even if the organization is eventually removed from the list,” Mousavian continued, before warning about the regime’s malign activities in the Middle East, “There are two related considerations here. Without the participation of the IRGC, no agreement with Iran on regional crises will be possible.” The main reason for this stalemate is simply the lack of trust in Iran-US relations, and this distrust has become increasingly widespread due to the regime’s breach of promises. It should be noted that over the past few years, many of these breaches have been exposed by the Iranian opposition, namely the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and the National Council Resistance of Iran (NCRI). Now, the question remains as to whether the issue of the IRGC is the only factor that has stopped the talks, and if this issue could be fixed, what direction will the JCPOA talks take? To put it simply, both sides are trying to extract maximum concessions from one another. The regime wants to get the IRGC delisted because of its legal consequences, which has created big problems for various companies who want to work with the regime, i.e., companies affiliated with the IRGC. The regime has lost most of its financial resources to realize its regional objectives. Both sides have said that the ball is in the other party’s court. The regime’s reason for this is that Washington is reluctant to remove the IRGC from the FTO because the regime is not giving them the necessary guarantees. For example, the regime has been asked not to pursue the issue of Qassem Soleimani’s assassination and not to interfere in other countries, but they have not heeded this request. On April 18, the state-run daily Donya-e Eghtesad wrote, “The problem is that the Americans do not want to implement the JCPOA of 2015, but instead want Iran to fulfill all its obligations under the JCPOA. In fact, they want something more than what the 2015 JCPOA provided. One of these was the issue of the IRGC and its place on the terrorist list.” The paper added, “If the IRGC remains on the terrorist list, it means that the United States does not want to implement the 2015 JCPOA. If the US removes the IRGC from the list, they have demands from Iran, one related to missile discussions and the other related to regional discussions. For this reason, the JCPOA is no longer acceptable by the Americans, because the JCPOA, did not address the missile and regional issues.” This daily emphasized that the problem is not only the IRGC, adding, “In the unlikely possibility that Iran would accept the inclusion of the IRGC on the terrorist list until we reach an agreement, but the problem also will not be solved. “First, a group of members of Congress insists that any document in the Vienna talks should have the approval of Congress, which would mean the document would not be finalized. In fact, it is not possible to pass any document in Congress, and on any issue, either Republicans or Democrats will oppose it. “Another reason is that even if Congress were to approve the document related to the JCPOA, the life of the agreement would not be more than two or three years, because Republicans have vowed that if they get into the White House, they would destroy any deal.” For these reasons, the regime has no other options but to accept a new deal or reject everything and pay for the consequences, one of them being the expansion of social crises and people’s protests.46 retired generals, admirals urge White House against #Iran nuclear deal #JCPOA #terrorism #IRGChttps://t.co/iTpH3AlKty #FoxNews
— Iran Freedom (@4FreedominIran) April 14, 2022
Iran Regime’s Media: “Officials Do Not Know What Poverty Is”
Despite the Iranian regime’s claims to improve the living conditions of the Iranian people this year, poverty is still on the increase every day. According to the state-run daily Aftab-e Yazd, “93 percent of Iranian households are dependent on subsidies.”
It should be noted that the subsidy given by the government to each person is about $2, which does not even cover a simple meal. The situation is so disastrous that many of the regime’s experts have warned the government about the consequences of not fulfilling the people’s expectations, which could ultimately lead to another uprising.
In an article entitled, “From social tantrum to increasing protests,” the state-run Jahan-Sanat daily warned regime officials, writing, “The current practice leads to social tantrums on the one hand and increasing social protests on the other.”
The state-run Etemad daily echoed this concern in an article entitled, “Current situation, slightly worse.” it wrote, “A simple look at inflation, which is above 40 percent, unemployment which is above 9 percent, misery index which has reached 49 percent, the need for one million housing per year and drought and the threat of natural disasters and the massive volume of social anomalies convince even the most optimistic people that the current situation is worrying.”
In recent remarks, Alireza Monadi, one of the regime’s MPs, expressed his concerns, stating, “Poverty is rampant on the outskirts of Tabriz so that today some people buy oil with a spoon and lease bread.”
The regime’s media mocked regime officials, with the Aftab-e Yazd daily writing on April 9, “Officials do not know what poverty is,”.
The same day, the Jahan-e Sanat daily wrote, “When you read the news and reports of some media outlets, they show the situation so safe and secure and the state of the country as pleasant and convenient as if people live in another country or even another planet and the rulers and their supporters live elsewhere.”
It added these officials talk as if “The price of a kilo of tomatoes has not reached 300,000 rials, and the price of meat and rice have not soared, and they are not wiped away from the people’s tables. Here, where people live, prices are so high that the general concern of people is to provide for their family, and medicine is one of the most important necessities of life.”
The state-run daily Hamdeli discussed the rampant poverty spreading across the county. “Only a few people are now unaware of the strange increase in prices and even the formation of long queues in some cities of the country to purchase the simplest necessities of life, such as tomatoes. The fact is that in recent days the prices of many basic commodities have risen sharply,” it wrote.
It further explained the figures of these dramatic price hikes, stating, “Tomatoes, which were 70,000 rials per kilogram when Raisi came to power, have now reached 400,000 rials. In some cities, it is reported that the price of just one tomato has reached 40,000 rials. The price of milk powder, which was previously 387,000 rials, has now increased by 44 percent to 690,000 rials. In the last eight months, the price of the Pride automobile has increased by 800 million rials. The same is true of rice and meat. Red meat has reached 200,000 rials and each kilo of rice has reached 100,000 rials.”
As the Iranian people fall further into the spiral of extreme poverty, Raisi’s government continues to claim that the economic situation in Iran has improved, and oil revenues have increased. Nevertheless, this is having no effect on improving the livelihood of the people.
This is because the increased oil revenues will not be used at all to improve the country’s economy and the livelihood of its people. Instead, the revenues are being spent on the regime’s malign activities and nuclear ambitions.
According to Mansour Owji, the regime’s Minister of Oil, the state-TV announced that oil revenues have increased three to four-fold, claiming, “Last year, our country sold $1,27 billion in gas, but this year this figure has increased to $4,6 billion, and all this amount has been received.”
If this claim is right, none of this added revenue has been spent on the improvement of the people’s livelihood as Raisi had promised. Perhaps this is because according to the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei, revenues should not be spent on the welfare and comfort of the people but on strengthening the regime’s foundations. Of course, Khamenei does not say what he means by foundations. He may pretend that this is about economic foundations, but it is apparent he is talking about preserving the regime.
Iran: Khamenei Turns Schools Into Seminaries
The state-run media in Iran have recently acknowledged that the authorities are intending to recruit seminary graduates to teach students in schools across the country. Observers have described this decision as turning schools into seminaries and spreading the Iranian regime’s outdated and hateful thoughts among the younger generations.
Over the past 43 years, the theocratic regime has extended its clutches over all of Iran’s social, financial, medical, political, and cultural issues. Currently, the mullahs’ plan to conquer education is forcing freedom-loving teachers and educators to resign or succumb to the situation.
