The economic crisis in Iran has exacerbated various social anomalies, and in the latest case, Reza Akbari, the regime’s Deputy of Road Administration at the Road and Transportation Organization, has stated that road equipment worth up to one trillion rials (approximately $2 million) is stolen annually.
Akbari emphasized that this road equipment, including road signs and safety measures, is usually stolen by low-income and addicted individuals.
According to this regime official, these thefts are not limited to the country’s highways alone, and theft rates are much higher in cities, especially in Tehran.
In March, the “Open Data Iran” platform reported a 70-percent increase in theft rates in Iran between 2012 and 2021, based on data from the regime’s Statistics Center.
According to this platform’s report, during this period, theft cases increased from approximately 545,000 per year to over 900,000.
Theft is one of the consequences of the economic crisis, as poverty and livelihood problems lead to an increase in the number of thieves in the country.
Tehran Police Chief Hossein Rahimi announced last November that 55 percent of detained thieves are first-time offenders.
The state-run Etemad newspaper also wrote on June 15: “Thieves, in their interviews with the media, mostly say that they had economic problems, which led them to resort to theft. However, theft has a very close relationship with societal crises. Economic crises and livelihood problems, increasing class disparities, inflation, divorce, unemployment, and family problems, among others, influence people’s inclination towards theft.”
On the other hand, while thieves face severe punishments such as amputation according to the regime’s criminal laws, theft rates in the country have not only failed to decrease but, according to regime officials, have had a worrisome growth in previous years.
Earlier, Reza Masoudifar, the regime’s Deputy for Social Affairs at the Judiciary, had reported a seven-fold increase in theft cases over a 12-year period, from 2009 to 2021.
The state-run “Donya-ye Eghtesad” newspaper explained the reasons for this situation in the country, stating that inflation has led to an increase in the prices of assets. As a result, the price of consumer items such as mobile phones or car parts has reached several times the minimum wage of workers. This has prompted thieves to accept the risk and consequences of theft.
The price of an iPhone 15 Pro Max in the global market is around $1,200, but in Iran, it is sold at approximately $2,000. It is worth noting that the minimum wage for a worker in Iran is 80 million rials (approximately $155).
Etemad newspaper also emphasized that the high youth unemployment rate indicates that the economy lacks the capacity to absorb job seekers, which is another factor contributing to the increase in crimes committed to earn income.
The “Tajarat News” newspaper stated: “The economic disease has spread from the macro level to the intermediate and micro levels and is reflected in the thief and their behavior. We impose imprisonment and punishment on the thief, while the thief is forced to commit theft to make ends meet.”
Sociologists sounded the alarm of social collapse years ago. Now, it is not just a talk of crisis but rather the country is trapped in a major crisis.
In a situation where people are forced to steal road signs to meet their basic needs, the Iranian regime, the greatest thief of the people’s wealth, spends all the money obtained from the sale of oil and other natural resources of Iran on terrorism and warmongering in the region.
