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Iran: University Entrance Exam Controversy Continues

Jubin Katiraie
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Iran: University Entrance Exam Controversy Continues

Some media outlets, including Fars and Tasnim, reported that the Supreme Administrative Court has issued a one-year “suspension from service” order for Abdul Rasool Pour Abbas, the head of the National Organization of Educational Testing.

It is said that Pour Abbas did not allow the suspicious candidates involved in the university entrance exam fraud case to return to university, and that is why this order has been issued against him.

Tasnim and Fars, both news agencies affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and security agencies, wrote on August 9 that the Administrative Court has ordered the suspension from service of Abdul Rasool Pour Abbas, the head of the National Organization for Educational Testing.

These media outlets referred to the reason for the decision of the Administrative Court as the “non-implementation of the temporary return to study order for some suspicious candidates of the university entrance exam” and the “resistance of Pour Abbas against cheaters.”

This matter has not been confirmed or denied by relevant institutions, including the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology.

A few days ago, the issue of continued education for more than a thousand students accused of cheating in medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and several popular engineering and humanities disciplines caused controversy and elicited reactions from members of parliament and officials in the Ministry of Science.

According to Fars, the disciplinary and review boards handling the violations of the nationwide examination issued an order to “invalidate the results of the main university entrance exam” for some of the suspicious candidates of the 2019, 2020, and 2021 exams.

In response, these individuals filed complaints with the Assessment Organization, the Ministry of Science, and Majlis (Parliament).

Article 11 prevented cheaters from entering university, but according to a new provision, this article can be enforced only against “entrance exam candidates” and not university students. This means that the National Organization of Educational Testing must address the suspicions regarding them from the time of announcing the preliminary results of the entrance exam until their registration in the university.

Based on this, some of the same suspicious candidates who had previously received a verdict to invalidate their exam results filed a complaint again with the Administrative Court, which issued a temporary order for some of them to return to studying, allowing them to become “temporary students.”

However, the National Organization of Educational Testing, refusing to implement this order, prevented the entry of suspicious candidates into the university. According to Pour Abbas, these individuals have been expelled from the university and are no longer considered students, and in fact, “incorrect information” has been provided to the judge.

All of these arguments led Pour Abbas to refrain from implementing the Administrative Court’s order, and as a result, he received a one-year suspension from service.

Fars News Agency mentioned in its report the “rumors” surrounding this issue and wrote, “Some consider the connection between one of the exam cheaters and the judge [of the Administrative Court] as the reason for this verdict.”

Cheating in the university entrance exam and the mafia behind it have been a controversial issue in the Assessment Organization and the Ministry of Science for years and have involved regime officials.

Previously, Mohammad Reza Niknejad, a member of the Teachers’ Guild Association, had said that “conflict of interest” prevents the perpetrators of the university entrance exam cheating from being identified.

Amidst these circumstances, one must ask why, despite all the controversies and despite passing its own exam since 1969 when the first nationwide entrance exam was held in Iran, the university entrance exam has not only persisted but is now scheduled to be held twice a year.

Mohammad Bathaei, the former Minister of Education, had said in 2020 to the official Iran newspaper, “The university entrance exam has caused students to suffer psychological problems, but the exam mafia does not allow the removal of the exam.”

Bathaei also stated, “The exam mafia has more power and influence than the minister, so under these circumstances, we don’t want to abolish the exam. We can, but we don’t want to.”

Ali Abdolali, a university entrance exam expert and member of the faculty at the University of Science and Industry, stated that the financial turnover of the exam mafia is currently around 400 to 500 trillion rials (approximately $800 million to $1 billion) annually. This was also confirmed by a former government minister.

Only 2.5 percent of the top ranks in last year’s entrance exam came from public schools, so out of the top 40 exam candidates, only 2 had studied in a public or semi-public school.

Now, titles such as educational inequality, injustice, and discrimination in the public education sector have reached a point where the children of the underprivileged and even the middle class do not have equal opportunities for social and educational progress.

Iran’s Regime Using Germany-Made Surveillance Cameras

Esmaeil Mohades
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Iran’s Regime Using Germany-Made Surveillance Cameras

The Iranian regime uses surveillance cameras and facial recognition software to control and enforce its mandatory hijab rules. One of the suppliers of these cameras is the German company Bosch. However, Bosch denies the use of these devices for facial recognition.

Last June, an opposition group announced that they had hacked over 5,000 public surveillance cameras in the Tehran area. The hackers shared videos on social networks. The videos show that the software used in these cameras is registered to the Bosch company, which apparently is used to control the cameras for monitoring intersections and highways in Tehran.

According to a recent investigation published by Amnesty International, the regime is monitoring streets particularly to enforce mandatory hijab regulations. Iranian women have reported receiving text messages shortly after passing through an intersection or getting out of their cars. They are informed that “a camera has recorded them not properly wearing a headscarf.”

Mrs. Raha Bahraini a representative from Amnesty International stated in an interview with the German television program “Weltspiegel” that the authorities of the Iranian regime have equipped their surveillance system with facial recognition technologies. Women who are identified without a headscarf should expect legal consequences. She added that after receiving these text messages, many women are forced to hand over their cars for several weeks and often face travel bans and monetary fines.

Surveillance with European technology

Iranian dissidents have told reporters that cameras manufactured by companies in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany are being used on Iranian streets.

The network of CCTV cameras in Iran is very dense. A map of Tehran’s city center, prepared by activists and made available to this television network, shows that there is almost a camera in every corner of the streets. The cameras from the Chinese company “Tiandy” are the most common. According to these activists, cameras from the German company Bosch, which are used for traffic monitoring, have also been identified numerous times.

Bosch confirms in response to a question from Germany’s ARD television channel that the model of the camera seen in the leaked videos was delivered to Iran between 2016 and 2018, with a total of 8,000 cameras. However, Bosch did not directly participate in the traffic monitoring project.

Iranian opposition activists told ARD that with such tracking technology, the Iranian regime can determine whether people are gathering for protests or not. They say, “If more than five or ten people appear in the camera’s view at the same time, an alert is sent to the nearest police station, and then security forces appear. The regime is currently using this technology.”

Bosch Technology Training at a University in Tehran

ARD has obtained a document outlining the holding of a Bosch Security training course and an Iranian representative of Bosch products at Khatam University in Tehran in 2017. The topics of these training courses included “facial recognition” and intelligent object tracking. According to this document, the instructor of this training course was a Bosch sales manager in the Middle East.

Bosch also stated in its response that their cameras cannot be used for fully automatic facial recognition because the biometric facial recognition software is not pre-installed on the cameras.

In its response, Bosch further states, “So far, none of Bosch’s employees have conducted facial recognition training at Khatam University.” However, the company points out that all photos or recorded videos from a camera can be analyzed live or afterwards using server-based facial recognition software.

Iranian activists claim that such video analysis software has been sent to Iran by Milestone Systems, a Danish security company.

In response to a question from ARD, this Danish company confirmed that software solutions were sold to the Iranian regime until 2019. This includes the XProtect video management software, which is an open platform that can be used for various purposes. The company’s website states that XProtect’s “tracking and monitoring functions not only assist investigations, but they also allow you to keep a virtual eye on objects and people.” The software from this Danish company can be combined with surveillance cameras from various manufacturers, including Bosch cameras.

Bosch: Sanctions have not been violated

The Bosch company states in its response that it has not exerted any influence on how the cameras are used because it has never directly supplied its products to end users in Iran.

Bosch says it has severed all its business ties with Iran since 2019 and has complied with export regulations regarding camera sales.

However, Raha Bahreini, who is also an international human rights lawyer, believes that companies like Bosch have a responsibility: “Companies are obliged to exercise due diligence and ensure that the technologies they sell are not used to commit human rights violations.”

According to the Tagesschau website belonging to Germany’s One TV channel, women in Iran continue to suffer from oppression and suppression, and there is a possibility that they may also be subjected to harassment and abuse with the help of smart technology. In the Iranian parliament, which is dominated by hardliners, there is currently a debate on a bill called the “Chastity and hijab” law, which includes severe punishments for non-compliance with mandatory hijab for women.

The “Chastity and Veil” bill: Any citizen can take photos and videos

This legislation has brought surveillance and monitoring of unveiled women to the point where anyone has the right to take photos and videos of women who violate regulations and send them directly to authorities. These submitted documents can be used as evidence in court.

This bill imposes severe punishment, such as “imprisonment of more than five to ten years” or “a fine of up to 360 million rials (approximately $720),” for those who defy mandatory hijab. It is worth noting that the minimum monthly salary of wage earners in Iran is approximately 80 million rials, meaning a mere $160.

Among the provisions and clauses of this bill, there is an emphasis on “gender segregation” in universities, “hospital treatment departments,” educational and administrative centers, parks, and tourist sites.

One of the strange provisions proposed in this bill is that municipalities and rural councils are required to allocate 10 percent of their “cultural advertising billboards to promoting the Islamic family-centered lifestyle and the culture of chastity and hijab.”

This is happening while in the Iranian regime, 26 institutions are involved in the issue of hijab and controlling and overseeing the enforcement of mandatory hijab, and measures such as installing billboards have so far not achieved the desired results of the government.

Iranian FM rejects sending drones to Ukraine despite undeniable evidence

Hoshang Amiri
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Iranian FM rejects sending drones to Ukraine despite undeniable evidence

In a press conference in Japan on August 7, Iranian regime Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian reiterated the previous statements of regime’s officials about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He claimed that NATO and NATO provocations were the main cause of the Ukraine war.

Amir Abdollahian claimed that the Iranian regime has taken “active measures at the highest level to stop the war and engage in negotiations” and emphasized that it will continue these efforts to “stop the war and focus on a political solution to end this crisis.”

Sending suicide drones to Russia

In response to a question about sending drones to Russia, Amir Abdollahian once again refuted the claim saying, “We have never provided Moscow with the capabilities to use Iranian drones or weapons in the Ukraine war.”

This claim is made while the published photos and videos of downed Russian drones in Ukraine confirm their Iranian origin.

With the revelation that the drones used by Russia in the war against Ukraine are of Iranian make, the regime initially denied the whole issue, but after a while, it confirmed the sale of drones to Russia but claimed that this sale took place before the Ukraine war.

On August 4, the US Defense Intelligence Agency unveiled the remains of Iranian-made drones downed in Ukraine in an exhibition. In the exhibit, the remains of the wings and engine of the downed Shahed-131 drones in Ukraine were compared to an intact drone of the same type obtained last year in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Debris and components from downed Shahed-131 drones in Ukraine
Debris and components from downed Shahed-131 drones in Ukraine

Hossein Amir Abdollahian continued his statements by claiming that last year, he personally asked the Ukrainian Foreign Minister to provide evidence of the downed Russian drones’ Iranian origin. He stated that a meeting between delegations from both countries was arranged to address this issue in Warsaw, Poland. However, according to Amir Abdollahian, the Ukrainian side did not show up at the meeting.

He also claimed that during the next meeting between Iranian and Ukrainian delegations, which took place in Muscat, Oman, no acceptable evidence was presented by Ukraine regarding the raised allegations. These statements again contradict the facts that have been previously reported.

English-language Amwaj Media reported in February about the meeting between Iranian and Ukrainian delegations in Oman in November 2022, quoting a high-ranking Iranian source as saying, “These negotiations were very preliminary, and the Ukrainians presented evidence of the use of Iranian-made drones in the war in Ukraine.” The source then explained, “Tehran accepted the evidence and stated that the equipment was sold much earlier than the time of the war.”

The Iranian regime’s Foreign Minister made these statements during his trip to Japan.

In April, after the two-day meeting, G7 foreign ministers issued a statement confirming their intention to ask the Iranian regime to halt its provision of military assistance to the Russian army in its aggressive war against Ukraine.

It has been reported that the Iranian regime also uses Chinese components in drone production.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Western researchers said they made an important discovery after examination a downed drone. One of drone’s components was made in China this year.

This shows that despite increasing pressure from the United States to close global supply chain routes, China has continued to send manufacturing components for its unmanned aircraft program to Iran.

This research also shows how quickly Iran can assist Russia in the war against Ukraine and that it only needs three months to build the requested equipment for Moscow. It also refutes the claims by the regime that it had provided drones to Moscow prior to the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine.

The Chinese component was manufactured in January, sent to Iran, installed, and then sent to Russia, where it was used against Ukraine in April.

The Chinese component discovered in 2023 by this research group was part of the navigation system of the highly destructive V-shaped drone known as Shahed-136.

Money Printing Soared by 83%, Liquidity 73% during Raisi’s Tenure

Sia Rajabi
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Money Printing Soared by 83%, Liquidity 73% during Raisi’s Tenure

Abdul Nasser Hemmati, the former governor of the Iranian regime’s Central Bank, stated that according to official statistics, during the initial two years of the regime’s President Ebrahim Raisi‘s tenure, money printing increased by 83 percent and liquidity grew by 73 percent.

On Friday, August 13, Hemmati tweeted, “In the [presidential] debate [of 2021], you mentioned that neutralizing sanctions requires a powerful government. I have presented growth statistics to validate your statement.”

He further stated that during Raisi’s two-year presidency, the exchange rate of the dollar to the Iranian rial increased by 95 percent, the price of gold coins experienced a growth of 192 percent, and the price index surged by 114 percent.

Ebrahim Raisi claimed during his election campaigns and debates that by stopping the growth of government debt and the printing of unsupported banknotes, he would control inflation and stabilize the value of the rial.

The Central Bank has halted the publication of many economic statistics in recent months and has only reported that liquidity grew by 29 percent compared to the same period last year in Khordad (May-June) of this year.

Liquidity is the most important factor in inflation, which itself is a result of increasing government debt and the resulting pressure on the central bank to print unrestrained banknotes. Printing unsupported banknotes is also the most important factor in increasing liquidity, and this cycle has been in motion at a rapid pace in recent years.

The Central Bank of Iran did not mention the volume of liquidity in its latest report. However based on the announced 29 percent growth and the liquidity of May-June last year, which was 51,000 trillion rials, the volume of liquidity in May-June of this year has exceeded 65,000 trillion rials.

This figure was less than 40,000 trillion rials at the beginning of Ebrahim Raisi’s presidency.

Statistics from specialized currency websites also indicate that since Raisi’s presidential inauguration, the value of the Iranian rial has decreased by less than half, and the exchange rate has peaked from 220,000 rials to over 500,000 rials.

The “worse” state of Iran’s economy during the Hemmati era

Although Iran’s economic situation has been severely critical during Ebrahim Raeisi’s era, the country’s economic and financial indicators during Hemmati’s tenure as the governor of the Central Bank in previous government, led by Hassan Rouhani, were even worse than the past two years.

Hemmati was the governor of the Central Bank of Iran from August 2018 to June 2021, a period in which the exchange rate reached its peak from less than 70,000 to 220,000 rials, meaning that the Iranian rial lost two-thirds of its value.

Additionally, during this period, liquidity reached nearly 40,000 trillion rials from 16,460 trillion rials.

Various regime’s authorities, from different spectrums, have always taken power over the past four decades with promises of improving the economic situation. However, during this period, the country’s economic indicators have consistently been on the decline. Meanwhile, Iranian citizens have lost many of their cultural, social, and individual freedoms.

According to World Bank statistics, Iran’s share of the global economy has decreased from 1 percent at the beginning of the 1979 revolution to less than four-tenths of a percent in the past year.

Environmental Destruction and Forced Migration in Iran Are Reaching Alarming Levels

Sia Rajabi
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Environmental Destruction and Forced Migration in Iran Are Reaching Alarming Levels

Rising temperatures, drying rivers and lakes, and unprecedented drought have become the norm in Iran, leading to widespread dust storms that engulf vast areas of the country.

The escalating desertification process in Iran has reached a point where Iranian authorities warned last month that over one million hectares of land, roughly equivalent to the size of Qom Province or the country of Lebanon, will become uninhabitable annually.

This situation has put the Iranian government in trouble in controlling the situation in a country where 90 percent of its land is either dry or semi-dry, and conditions are heading towards a critical crisis and forced migrations.

Warning signs, especially in recent months, are soaring. In late July, the temperature in southwestern Iran reached a staggering 66.7 degrees Celsius, which is higher than the human tolerance level for survival.

Iranian scientists have warned that the water level of Lake Urmia, which is severely at risk of complete drying, has reached its lowest recorded level in the past 60 years. On the other hand, repeated warnings about the danger of suffocating dust storms that have become commonplace.

Like many parts of the world, Iran is facing the consequences of climate change. However, these changes are only part of the problem in a country that is also grappling with numerous other challenges.

The water crisis in Iran has brought the country into a critical phase due to mismanagement of local resources, rapid population growth, improper spatial distribution, and the consequences of long-term drought.

The water shortage and Tehran’s failure to address this problem have manifested themselves in various forms repeatedly. In response to this crisis, the Iranian regime has resorted to building large dams while simultaneously accelerating water-intensive irrigation projects, leading to the drying up of rivers and underground resources.

On the other hand, confrontations with neighboring countries and anti-government protests in affected areas of the water crisis have begun, and desertification, increased dust and sandstorms have made many Iranian cities among the most polluted cities in the world.

Simultaneously, the loss of agricultural lands has also damaged agricultural production and put people’s livelihoods at risk. Ultimately, this situation leads to a wave of internal migration from rural areas to urban areas, which in turn can bring a host of related problems.

Over time, these migration patterns can increase pressure on urban areas and put infrastructure and natural resources under strain, creating socio-economic challenges.

Mass migration

The population of Iran has increased from around 35 million people in the time of the 1979 revolution to 88 million today, with approximately 70 percent of this population residing in cities. Over the past two decades, Tehran has witnessed an average annual influx of 250,000 people.

However, due to water scarcity and the rapid expansion of deserts in the country, it is feared that a large portion of the population will soon have no choice but to completely flee the country.

Former Minister of Agriculture Isa Kalantari, who in 2015served as an advisor to the then-president in water and agricultural affairs, stated, “If we continue with the current situation, about 70 percent of Iranians, which is equivalent to 50 million people, will be forced to migrate from the country in order to survive.”

In the summer of 2021, simultaneous with protests in Khuzestan province, which began with public outcry over water shortages in the city of Ahvaz, then- Interior Minister, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, described the water situation as a “major social crisis” and warned that within the next five years, climate migration would change the face of Iran.

This deadline has now arrived, and grim predictions and failed policies in dealing with this crisis continue.

The Global Resources Institute has recently ranked Iran among countries with water stress in the world, where water scarcity can lead to conflicts.

This outlook became a reality earlier this year with cross-border clashes between Taliban forces and the Iranian regime. These clashes occurred after Tehran asked its neighboring country to release more water upstream to feed endangered wetlands in southeastern Iran.

Within the country, renewed anti-government protests due to drinking water shortages, similar to what happened in Khuzestan in the summer of 2021, have become a challenge for the religious fascism ruling Iran.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification has always warned about land degradation in dry, semi-dry, and semi-humid areas. But these areas are not exclusive in Iran and they are also at risk.

Vahid Jafariyan, the Director-General of the Desert Affairs Office at the Department of Environment in Iran, estimates that the country loses one million hectares of its land annually due to desertification. He also warned that with the drying up of underground reservoirs and the continued development of water-intensive industries, even Iranian wetlands are at risk of becoming centers of dust storms.

Isa Kalantari also stated last year that the drying up of a lake that was once one of the largest lakes in the Middle East could lead to the displacement of four million people in the country.

The Iranian regime claims to have taken many measures to address this problem, however if any actions have been taken, they have all been overshadowed by the consequences of chronic mismanagement and widespread government corruption.

Forty years ago, Iran had 19 dams. Now, state media reports 172 dams. These are the dams that have largely caused water tensions in downstream areas and have themselves led to environmental problems.

As a result, any action taken to address this problem ultimately yields no results due to widespread corruption.

Iran: Sale of Body Organs Spikes as Poverty Increases

Jubin Katiraie
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Iran: Sale of Body Organs Spikes as Poverty Increases

The unfavorable economic conditions and lack of a guaranteed future have led many in Iran to resort to selling their body organs to make ends meet for a few months, and the rising price of the dollar has fueled a thriving black market for body organs of Iranian citizens in neighboring countries.

The sale of body organs in Iran is not a new phenomenon and has existed for many years. But the simultaneous sale of multiple body organs is shocking and bewildering. The walls around facilities such as Hashemi Nejad hospital in Tehran are full of ads for the sale of body organs. Authorities paint the walls to cover the ads. But sellers continue to display their phone numbers in fine and bold lines using markers or sprays.

According to a report by the regime’s Gostaresh News website, brokers profit from people’s desperation, while profiteers in neighboring countries earn foreign currency by trading in body organs. The website, which is linked to the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, reports that there have recently been simultaneous advertisements for the sale of several body organs by individuals, some of them still at a young age. These individuals usually sell their organs due to financial problems.

The announced prices for all vital organs, including the kidney, bone marrow, and one-fourth of the liver, range from 4 to 12 billion rials (approximately $8,000 to $24,000), and some individuals have put multiple organs up for sale at the same time.

According to a field report by the website, there are active Telegram channels and Instagram pages for the sale of body organs, with many active users who offer vital organs for sale by placing free ads. The report states that brokers send the sellers to neighboring countries such as United Arab Emirates (Dubai) and Turkey to sell their body organs for prices ranging from $7,000 to $15,000.

According to the author’s investigation, all organs of a living human being that can be transplanted, including the kidney, bone marrow, one-fourth of the liver, and any other organ, can be bought and sold in the black market of organ donation for 5 to 30 billion rials (approximately $10,000 to $60,000).

The report emphasizes that “other countries have made the buying and selling of body organs illegal, and Iran is the only country where buying and selling organs is legally and religiously permissible.”

This report shows that there are advertisements for the donation of embryos, eggs, and uteruses for rent are also abundant among women.

The Didban-e Iran website also reported in June 12 on the sale of body organs of Iranians with trips to Turkey and Iraq.

In a field report on May 4 by Jahan-e Sanat newspaper cited a sharp increase in the buying and selling of body organs in Iran due to citizens falling into the “valley of poverty.”

15 Percent of Iranian Children Are in The Labor Market

Sia Rajabi
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15 Percent of Iranian Children Are in The Labor Market

According to a report by the research center of the Iranian regime’s parliament, due to “poverty among families,” the number of child laborers has increased to 15 percent of the population of children, and at least “10% of child laborers” do not have the opportunity to study or go to school.

The report, titled “Effective Monitoring Challenges to Prevent Child Labor,” emphasizes that “child labor affects approximately eight percent and, considering children who are housekeeper, about 15 percent of Iranian children.”

Accurate statistics on the number of child laborers in Iran are not available.

According to a report by the Strategic Statistics and Information Center of the Ministry of Labor, in 2017, out of about 9 million Iranian children, around 499,000 children were “active” in the workforce. This means that about half a million children in Iran were either “working” or “looking for work.”

Taking into account the current population of children in Iran, which was approximately 9 million in 2017, the population of “child laborers” has increased to 1,350,000 based on the estimate of 15 percent of the child population being involved in child labor.

The parliamentary research center also emphasized that at least “about ten percent of child laborers” do not have the opportunity to study and “do not go to school,” and child labor “deprives them of their potential and abilities” and is harmful to their “physical and mental growth.”

Additionally, the report identified “poverty among families” as the main reason for the growing trend of child labor and added that “some children engage in various forms of child labor, such as working in workshops, due to various reasons, including poverty among families.”

The report states that “child labor” is banned and considered a crime under both international and domestic laws, including the Labor Law (1990) and the Law on Protection of Children and Adolescents (2019), and “the government is obliged to take necessary measures and support children in order to reduce child labor.”

The report also highlights that despite the ban, “children are still being exploited and abused in economic activities.”

“The nature of some of the work that child laborers engage in, especially the worst forms of it, is difficult monitor,” the report reads in part.

The majlis (parliament) research center has mentioned “domestic work,” “work in remote and unmonitored areas, such as border crossing,” “illegal work such as drug trafficking,” and “sexual exploitation of children in various areas” as examples of the types of work that child laborers engage in and noted that monitoring and preventing them is difficult.

The report also notes that a portion of the child labor population engages in “domestic work,” and in practice, “legal monitoring of domestic work is not easily possible since it occurs in the private sphere,” and the “lack of effective monitoring of child labor has led to children being exploited and abused in many economic activities” according to reports.

Based on statistics published by state-run media in Iran, the number of children involved child labor is increasing and those actually in schools are unfortunately decreasing with each passing year. More children are joining the “army” of child labor, selling goods and roaming the streets of large cities checkered across Iran.

Despite the fact that regime officials go the distance in publishing doctored reports to place the blame of this social catastrophe on any source but the regime, the footprints of this phenomenon can be traced back to its actual cause through remarks made by authorities.

The main reason lies in the unprecedented and ever-increasing poverty that is spreading across Iran like a plague resulting from the regime’s unpopular policies that are plundering the Iranian people. Millions of families are in such dire conditions that they literally cannot even adequately feed their children, let alone provide for the fees of sending their children to school.

As a result, Iran’s younger generation, the future of this country, have no choice but to roam the streets and work in dangerous workshops in a desperate attempt to help their families make ends meet.

The report concludes that reducing the number of child laborers, especially preventing children from engaging in exploitative work, “is only possible by eradicating poverty and raising awareness in society.”

Severe shortage of medical facilities in Iran’s Baluchestan

Esmaeil Mohades
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Severe shortage of medical facilities in Iran’s Baluchestan

Some Iranian regime media outlets report on the severe shortage of medical facilities in the Baluchestan region, the southern part of Sistan and Baluchestan province, and say that some Baluch citizens have to “sleep for eight days in front of the hospital” just to get an appointment for an ultrasound scan.

On August 1, Asr-e Iran website published a video about the shortage of medical facilities in this area, showing an elderly woman from the Kafeh Baluchi village who says she has been waiting for eight days in front of a medical center in the city of Saravan to get an appointment for an ultrasound scan.

According to this report, in this vast area, which is more than 400 kilometers from its westernmost point to Zahedan (the provincial capital) and about 700 kilometers from its southernmost point, and where each city is far from another, there are “fewer hospitals than the fingers of one hand.”

The report adds that in some areas there are no dentists available, and citizens have to travel about 100 kilometers for dental treatment.

In the same vein, the regime’s semiofficial ISNA news agency announced in a report in May that health and medical problems in Baluchestan are “more severe than other parts of Iran,” adding that Imam Ali Hospital in Chabahar is not only unsuitable for patients because it does not have a central air conditioning system, but also the hospital is so dilapidated that part of it is held up by iron jacks.

The video released by Asr-e Iran shows images of the Minister of Health’s visit to the basement of this hospital and its “iron jacks”. The report continued that “people are forced to risk sleeping in this hospital because there is no closer medical center.”

Nevertheless, many patients who have the chance to be hospitalized at Imam Ali Hospital in Chabahar are kept in the hospital corridors.

in an interview with Asr-e Iran, Moeineddin Saeedi, a member of the Majlis (parliament) from Chabahar, said that due to the severe shortage of medical centers, long lines of people from this region can be seen in cities such as Mashhad, Shiraz, and Yazd, who have gone to these cities for treatment.

According to Saeedi, some Baluch citizens even go to Pakistan for treatment due to the shortage of hospitals in Iran’s Baluchestan.

This member of parliament added that the six coastal cities of Makran region, namely Chabahar, Konarak, Nikshahr, Qasr-e Qand, Dashtyari, and Zarabad, only have access to one equipped hospital in Chabahar.

Saeedi had previously criticized the Rohani government in an interview with ISNA, saying, “The hospital bed ratio per thousand people in the south of the province is 0.6, which is much lower than the national average of 1.8.”

The representative of Makran also said that “there should be 1,500 hospital beds in this area, but only one-seventh of this figure exists.”

Baluchestan not only lags far behind domestic standards in terms of the number of hospital beds but is also one of the most deprived areas of Iran in terms of the shortage of doctors.

Statistics released by the semiofficial ISNA news agency in September of last year show that there are only 6.5 doctors per 10,000 citizens in Sistan and Baluchestan province.

This is while, for example, in northern Tehran, there are nearly 70 doctors per 10,000 people, which is ten times more than Sistan and Baluchestan province.

Baluchestan region needs allocation of budget for the construction of medical centers and increasing the number of active doctors.

In an interview with the regime’s ILNA news agency, Saeed Karimi, the treatment assistant to the health minister said that 155,000 hospital beds in the country are worn out.

According to Karimi, ensuring the safety of the country’s hospitals also needs around 180,000 billion rials (equal to $360 million). However, the Planning and Budget Organization has not earmarked any credit for this issue so far.

The negligence of the Planning and Budget Organization, to which this government official has referred, is happening while in numerous documents obtained from the official website of the Iranian regime’s presidency by Iranian dissidents’ group “GhyamSarnegouni” (meaning “Rise to Overthrow” in Farsi), show that heavy expenses have been allocated directly to military and security institutions by this organization for the direct suppression of protests at the order of senior government officials.

Sistan and Baluchestan province, along with its health and medical deprivation, has also faced extensive suppression of popular protests in recent months, and the problem of water scarcity has recently made the situation in this region “enter the super-crisis phase,” a situation that has sparked fresh protests.

Owning a home In Iran Has Become Nearly Impossible

Jubin Katiraie
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Owning a home In Iran Has Become Nearly Impossible

According to a report published in the regime’s Tehran-based newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad, young adults aged 25 to 26 in Tehran will have to wait “166 years to become homeowners” as long as housing prices remain stable. The report is based on a field survey about the prospects of homeownership for those born in the 1990s and are in their mid-20s.

According to global definitions, those born between 1997 and 2010 are known as “Generation Z.” The newspaper conducted its survey among a sample of 100 individuals from this demographic who had worked for one to two years in an organization.

Based on the report, the average monthly income of Generation Z employees in the surveyed organization ranges from 113 million to 120 million rials (approximately $226 to $240), and they can save up to 10 million rials (approximately $20) per month “at best.” Given current housing prices, they would have to wait 166 years to become homeowners, assuming a fixed income and housing price.

The report notes that the waiting time for the previous generation to become homeowners was 70 years under current conditions, based on the price index and average income level.

This figure was obtained assuming a 20% annual income savings rate and the average price of a 50-square-meter apartment in Tehran.

The newspaper reports that Generation Z respondents are not optimistic about the possibility of becoming homeowners. One group stated that they do not think about housing or homeownership at all, and as a result, they do not think about marriage or having children either. Another group, whose members are over 30 years old, said they have no chance of becoming homeowners and have entered a state of “permanent bachelorhood.”

The newspaper also quoted another group of young adults who said they cannot even afford to buy a bicycle for commuting to work and home, and they consider homeownership conditional on a “fundamental” change in Iran’s economic conditions. Otherwise, they said they would consider migration to other countries.

On July 25, a member of the majlis (parliament) announced that the number of people “below the poverty line” has reached 28 million and warned about the social damages caused by “the economic downturn affecting some segments of society in the past decade.”

Previously, Ali Agha Mohammadi, the head of the economic group of the Office of the regime’s President and a member of the Expediency Discernment Council, had reported on May 18 that at least 19.7 million people in Iran are deprived of basic living facilities such as housing, employment, education up to 12 years, health, food, and clothing.

Following the increase in foreign exchange rates since 2018, the average price of every square meter of housing in Iran has been on the rise, and in the capital, the price of every square meter of housing has increased from 60 million rials in 2018 to over 600 million rials (approximately $1,200) in the spring of 2023.

The government has tried to adjust the plan to build “one million houses annually” by increasing the amount of “housing loans.” However, the regime’s media and social network users have revealed that the monthly installment amount of this loan is so high that ordinary people cannot afford to repay it.

On July 1, Shargh newspaper reported that the conditions for granting this loan are such that only wealthy individuals and those who do not need to borrow for housing can take advantage of these facilities.

The report also stated that the loan for purchasing and repairing a house has doubled and reached 9.6 billion rials (approximately $19,200), but not only can this amount only buy a 20-square-meter house, but the monthly installments for the 12-year repayment plan set by the government are 200 million rials (approximately $400), while the basic salary of an employee is 70 million rials ($140).

Social media users also wrote that citizens who receive this 9.6 billion rials loan must return about 28 billion rials, and a housing economist told Shargh newspaper that considering commissions, the profit of this bank loan reaches 28 percent.

Iran’s Poverty Line Soars, Sending More People Into Misery

Sia Rajabi
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Iran’s Poverty Line Soars, Sending More People Into Misery

The latest statistics on poverty in Iran indicate that one of every three Iranians is below the poverty line. According to reports, Mehdi Bagheri, a member of the regime’s Majlis (parliament), has stated that the poverty line in Tehran has reached 300 million rials (approximately $600), while some of the regime’s economists have said it is 320 million rials (approximately $640).

On June 19, the state-run newspaper Setareh Sobh quoted a labor activist as saying that the rent for a small 60-square-meter apartment in central Tehran is less than 15 million tomans (approximately $300) per month. A family with two employed individuals is unable to provide for basic needs such as food, housing, and education, and cannot sustain their life on normal wages alone.

The regime’s parliamentary research center has announced that “the poverty line has increased from 19 percent to over 30 percent in a decade, and in fact, more than 30 percent of the population is below the poverty line.”

The minimum wage for the year 1402 (21 March 2023 to 21 March 2024) has been set at 53,073,300 rials (approximately $106), which is 27 percent higher than the minimum wage in 1401 (21 March 2022 to 21 March2023). This minimum wage with all benefits is 85.800 million rials (approximately $171). This means that the minimum wage earner is close to four times below the poverty line.

Mohammad Mehdi Mirbaqeri, a member of the regime’s Assembly of Experts, has stated that the number of people below the poverty line has tripled while the top ten percent of society has become three times richer.

These skyrocketing prices, especially in the food sector, are so high that the regime’s officials are terrified about the potential consequences. Although these figures are much lower than reality, regime officials recommend that people should spend less instead of addressing their most basic needs.

Lotfollah Dezhkam, Friday prayers leader of Shiraz, southwest Iran, said, “We each have an income, more or less. Now they say the majority are below the poverty line, don’t you hear? Even those who are above the poverty line, don’t have much room to spend money, do they? Money always runs short. This is the rule.”

Iran ranks 19th in on the Misery Index among 157 countries, according to a June 2 report by the state-run Tejaratnews daily.

Many food items have disappeared from people’s tables, and the consumption of meat for low-income households is 3 kilograms per year, according to a March 4, 2022, report by the Toseeirani newspaper.

According to the statistics of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), both the production and import of dairy products in Iran have declined significantly in the past year. In contrast, dairy exports have grown by 42 percent and have reached 1.58 million tons, indicating a sharp decline in domestic dairy consumption. (Source: Radio Farda, June 17.)

Meat production in Iran has also seen a significant decline in the past year, and meat imports have decreased. On the other hand, meat smuggling, especially livestock, has increased significantly by regime-affiliated gangs.

The average meat consumption in Europe is between 80 and 90 kilograms. In the United States, New Zealand, Argentina, and Australia, meat consumption ranges from 100 to 150 kilograms per year.

The average per capita meat consumption in the world is 41 kilograms.

The minimum amount of meat needed annually per person is 25 kilograms, while the amount of meat consumed by millions of Iranians is between one and three kilograms per year.

Nevertheless, the consumption of meat of the affluent ranges from 67 to 93 kilograms.

Another effect of poverty in Iranian society is the decrease in the consumption of dairy products in households, which has put the health of the society at risk. The per capita consumption of dairy products in Iran has dropped below 70 kilograms, while in developed countries, the annual per capita consumption of milk is close to 200 kilograms. (Source: Javan newspaper, June 1.)

Donya-e-Eqtesad newspaper, an Iranian regime outlet, reported on May 21 that the average bread consumption in Iran is up to three times the global average, which is due to poverty, and bread accounts for 63 percent of the daily food intake of each Iranian household. Wheat is the main food item consumed in Iranian households. Studies on the amount of wheat consumption among different countries in the world show that Iran ranks seventh with an annual per capita consumption of 194 kilograms.

The global per capita wheat consumption is 67 kilograms, while in developed countries it is 60 kilograms.

Iran ranks seventh on the World Bank’s list of the top 10 countries experiencing food insecurity due to inflation.

According to this report, Iran, with an 84 percent inflation rate on food items, ranks after Sri Lanka and before Rwanda. Zimbabwe ranks first with a 321 percent inflation rate.

One of the effects of poverty on the Iranian people is malnutrition, especially among children. According to official statistics from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, in Iran, around 16 percent of children under the age of six suffer from malnutrition, and 800,000 children in their growth years face energy and protein deficiencies. Statistics also show that 11 percent of children in Iran are underweight and 5 percent suffer from severe malnutrition. (Source: Ham-Mihan newspaper, January 30.)

Mohammad Mehdi Nasahi, the CEO of the Health Insurance Organization of the regime, stated that two expensive tests, thyroid testing (thyroid stimulating hormone, TSH) and vitamin D measurement, are not necessary in the country, despite the fact that more than 85 percent of people in Iran suffer from vitamin D deficiency, no need to measure their level or follow them up based on the opinion of endocrinology specialists.

Rouydad24, a state-run website, wrote on September 14, 2018, that one of the effects of poverty is on the dropout rate of students. In 2022, nearly 800,000 children were unable to attend school due to financial constraints.

This has led to an increase in child labor, with official statistics indicating that 2 million children are engaged in child labor, while unofficial statistics indicate that 5 to 8 million children are involved. (Jahan-e Sanat daily, June 13, 2021.)

Therefore, the poverty line of 300 million rials is a result of the destruction and looting of the Iranian economy by the regime, but this cycle of poverty also leads to popular protests.

Mohammad Reza Ghalamreza, the political deputy of the Minister of Interior of the regime, stated that “the current situation is sensitive and difficult.

Do you and I really feel it? Have we felt the level of danger that we suddenly enter into a new battle during the reopening of universities and schools and the anniversary of last year’s protests, and they drag us towards a direction where your priority will no longer be elections…”

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