In the first two hours of trading on May 8th, the overall index of the Tehran Stock Exchange dropped 122,000 units to reach 2,317,000 units, experiencing its biggest decline in the 56-year history of the stock market.

Meanwhile, market experts cannot find a fundamental reason or explanation for this heavy fall, as 92 percent of the stock indexes showed a nosedive.

According to Iranian law, if the overall index of the stock market drops by more than five percent, trades on that day may be considered null and void. With the index dropping more than five percent on Monday and approximately 3.7 percent on Sunday, there are whispers of trade in the Tehran Stock Exchange being cancelled.

According to reports from the stock market, in only 20 minutes of the first trading on Monday, the total stock market index dropped 80,000 units and fell below the 2,400,000 mark.

Due to “emotional sentiment” overtaking the market, “shareholders are only thinking of an escape route” and that on Tuesday alone, “306.55 trillion rials” (approximately $67.68 million) exited the stock market, according to a report by the Tejarat News website, an economy-focused outlet.

Siamak Ghasemi, an economist, has called the administration of regime President Ebrahim Raisi the “most extreme” cabinet. In a tweet he referred to “the fastest drop in the rial/U.S. dollar exchange rate, the highest growth in liquidity, the highest historical inflation rate, and the largest historical fall of the stock market in a day”. “Iran’s economy is out of balance both in boom and in bust, and this imbalance has no economic solution, and everything is dependent on political decisions,” Ghasemi added.

Some analysts have said that incorrect management methods in the past and “market manipulation” have led to Iran experiencing “one of the worst performances in history” in its stock market.

According to Iran’s semi-official Borna news agency, the decline in the stock prices of heavy-weight shares in the second half of the trading day on Monday, due to the release of companies’ six-month financial statements, had a negative impact on the overall index.

The report also adds that various experts believe that the value of some companies’ shares on the stock exchange does not match their assets.

The relative decline in foreign exchange rates against the Iranian rial in the country’s free markets over the past week may also be another factor contributing to the decline in the overall index of the stock market.

Since last fall, the stock market index, already experiencing a downward trend, began to grow again. The total index rose from 1.27 million units in November to 2.5 million units this past Saturday.

Raisi’s administration and officials from the stock market have yet to explain what has happened in the past five months that led to the overall index of the stock market doubling.

The Tehran stock market had previously witnessed an unprecedented fall that began in early August 2020. The overall index  was around 508,000 units on March 24, 2020, and passed the two-million-unit threshold on August 9, setting a historic record. However, it later entered a downward trend, and on March 18, 2021, the overall index of the market reached the level of 1.307 million units. The biggest nosedive in the stock market up to that time occurred on Monday, October 19, with a drop of 51,000 units, becoming known as Black Monday. In that year, the head of Securities and Exchange Organization changed three times.

According to some experts, what caused the stock market crash in 2020-2021 was the regime’s policy makers intervening in the trading mechanisms and turning it into an informal market. A similar chronology has been witnessed during the recent stock market decline.

“The problem with the Iranian market is systematic. When the overall economy is in crisis, the capital market will not be immune to it,” said Hamid Mir-Moeini, an economic expert, in remarks with Iran’s state media.

The regime ruling Iran has recently approved the high priority “Tax on Repeat Housing Transactions” bill. The legislation has been submitted to the Majlis (parliament) to be administered into the country’s laws.

If passed, this bill will allow the government to impose a 60 percent tax on property sale if the owner sells the property within one year of purchasing it.

The goal of implementing this plan is to prevent “profit-seeking activities” in the housing market and to prevent the upward trend of housing prices. However, real estate experts say that this plan, like other restrictive measures approved by the government to prevent rising housing prices, will not yield any results. The reason is that the housing industry acts as a capital commodity in the Iranian economy, and its price follows the inflation rate in Iran, exchange rate fluctuations, and building materials. The price of housing also rises simultaneously with the growth of these markets.

Previously, the government of Hassan Rouhani approved a tax plan on vacant homes. After the plan was approved into law, however, it ultimately became entangled in complicated implementation processes.

Slow growth of housing prices

The latest statistics from January 2023 indicate that the average price per square meter of housing in Tehran is around 550 million rials per square meter (approximately $1,018), which indicates a 54 percent inflation rate. However, housing prices saw yet another hike coinciding with the increase in the dollar exchange rate.

Although there is no official and accurate data available to determine the exact rise in housing prices in the Iranian capital over the past year, websites that advertise property prices across the country can be consulted to realize the changes in the housing market.

Unofficial reports suggest that the average price of housing in Tehran reached around 700 million rials (approximately $1,296) per square meter by April 2023.

According to unofficial reports, the rise in housing prices from January to April in some areas of Tehran was 35 percent. This increase shows the inflation of the housing sector in Tehran for 2022 equaling  60 percent compared to these three months in 2023.

The wave of rising housing prices has also reached other cities in Iran and has brought the housing inflation rate to around 50 percent nationwide.

This is Iran’s fourth wave of housing price hikes in the past ten years. According to official reports, housing prices have increased 1,200-fold over the past 30 years.

When Ebrahim Raisi assumed office as president in 2021, the average price per square meter of residential units in the capital was around 310 million rials (approximately $574). In January 2023, the latest statistics reported by the regime’s Statistical Center show the calculated price per square meter of housing in Tehran at around 550 million rials (approximately $1,018), an increase of about 70 percent over 18 months.

Hollow promises

At the beginning of his tenure, Raisi promised to build four million residential units in his four-year tenure. A few months later, when Rostam Qasemi took over the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, he hinted that the pledge to build four million homes was impossible.

Now, more than a year later and after the first prepayments have been collected from the registrants, there is no official completion time for the construction projects and no longer any talk of building a million homes annually.

Even Mehrdad Bazrpash, who replaced Rostam Qasemi as the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, began his post by referring to the government’s inability to provide 28,000 trillion rials (approximately $52 billion) for the construction of four million homes.

To implement this plan, the government placed heavy pressure on banks, which are already burdened with the obligations of other government orders, to provide low-interest loans. On the other hand, due to the rise in inflation, the fully completed price per square meter does not match what was promised.

Since the start of this initiative, Iran’s inflation rate has put pressure on the National Housing Plan, as the prices of building materials have also increased with inflation and the government’s calculations for affordable housing have been stuck in a deadlock.

Mojtaba Yousefi, a member of the Majlis Civil Commission, said that on average 51 percent of the country’s population are tenants.

On April 9, referring to the rising housing prices and rents, Yousefi told the semi-official ILNA news agency that the economy, especially the branch related to the minimum expenditure basket, cannot be controlled through directives and orders.

According to the data of the Statistics Center, in 2011 housing costs consisted of 34 percent of an average household budget, rising to 39 percent in 2017. This figure reached 47 percent in 2020.

According to social media ads, housing prices in northern Tehran have reached over 10 billion rials (approximately $18,520) per square meter in some areas.

In this regard, a February 24 report published by the semi-official Khabar Online website indicates that a full-mortgage 200-square-meter house in the Elahieh neighborhood of Tehran stands at 40 billion rials (approximately $74,000). Additionally, a social media post shows an advertisement for a 470 square meter house in Tehran’s Zaferanieh neighborhood with a price tag of 6.5 trillion rials, meaning over 10.3 billion rials (approximately $24,000) per square meter.

On May 9, the regime’s Sobhe-No newspaper wrote that in the Niavaran area rent costs are at $20,000 deposit and $3,000 monthly rates.

An Iranian economic reporter posted on Twitter: “For the first time in history, buyers are more than ten times the sellers [of land]. With these economic circumstances, everyone is looking to convert their rials into any other commodity. With none of the policies being implemented, including monitoring rental rates and taxing vacant homes, speculators are at ease.”

The sharp increase in housing prices in Tehran has led to an increase in rental and mortgage prices as well.

Sajjad Paddam, Director General of Social Insurance at Iran’s Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, raised  the possibility of selling Kish and Qeshm islands to provide for the pensions of the country’s retirees. Whether these remarks were made intentionally or unintentionally is anyone’s guess. However, this does shed light on another aspect of the plans currently under review by regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

“We sacrificed 300,000 martyrs (during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war) so that we wouldn’t lose an inch of our land.  However, we may reach a point where we have to sell Kish, Qeshm, and even Khuzestan province to pay for the retirees’ pensions,” Paddam said.

Throughout Iran’s history, the people have been victim to numerous betrayals and wrong policies by the country’s rulers. However, everyone thought that those days were long gone, and we would not be witness to such developments in this era. The current regime ruling Iran, however, has crossed many lines in the past four decades, proving that it knows no boundaries in plundering the Iranian people and embezzlement.

The statement made by Paddam about the possibility of selling Kish and Qeshm islands to provide for retiree pensions has sparked controversy and criticism in Iran. Many Iranians see this as a clear sign of the government’s inability to manage the country’s finances and meet its obligations to its citizens.

Moreover, the sale of Kish and Qeshm islands is a sensitive issue in Iran. Kish Island is a popular tourist destination and a free trade zone, while Qeshm Island is a strategic location in the Persian Gulf and home to a large number of Iranian military bases.

Furthermore, the statement has been seen as a reflection of the broader economic crisis in Iran, which has been exacerbated by years of mismanagement and corruption. Iran’s economy has been struggling with high inflation, unemployment, and a currency crisis.

Iran’s history of incompetent governments

When Iran’s new generation studies their history, they feel regret and sorrow for the auctioning off of the country’s lands that they love.

It has always been incompetent and selfish governments that have either sold a portion of the country for a small price or handed over parts of Iran to foreigners to maintain their power and position. Every Iranian is familiar with such shameful treaties that saw Iran losing large swathes of its lands: Golestan, Turkmenchay, 1919, Paris, Saadabad, the separation of the Mount Ararat…. However, it is so bitter and unpleasant for them that they rarely talk about it.

The Pahlavi dynasty mocked the Qajar dynasty for giving Azerbaijan and Armenia to Russia. Beneath the fake cries of nationalism, however, Shah Reza Pahlavi gave away Mount Ararat to Turkey, Kurdish villages and part of Arvand Rud to Iraq, and surrendered Firuzkuh in northern Khorasan to the then Soviet Union.

Despite praising his unified army for years, Reza Shah’s military could not withstand an attack by British forces during World War for even an hour. Russian and British forces occupied all of Iran without any resistance, reached the center of Tehran, and forced Reza Shah—who had pledged his alliance to Hitler—into exile.

His son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, also engaged in selling parts of Iran and bestowed various concessions to other countries to strengthen his hold on power. To cover up this disgrace, he boasted: “I took three islands in exchange!” Now, under the shadow of the mullahs’ rule, this bitter tale is not just relegated to the past.

Selling the homeland again

The legal status of the Caspian Sea and Tehran’s embarrassing retreat  from the right to classify the Caspian Sea was so questionable that even the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry was surprised about it.

What was Khamenei’s goal with this blatant selling of the country? To obtain Russia’s support in international politics, especially to guarantee support and veto power for the regime’s nuclear program in the United Nations Security Council. However, the “selling” of the Caspian Sea was not the end of this shameful policy.

The signing a 25-year agreement with China and discussions related to the Persian Gulf showed that the regime is selling the country to obtain “Eastern and Western” support. Regime officials have never been transparent when it comes to this agreement. And it is not clear how far they have gone and how much of Iran’s water and lands they have sold to foreign countries to gain political support.

The posting of  foreign flags raised in various parts of Iran, occasionally seen on social media, are immediately denied by state media. However, these may actually be signs of the very concessions that the mullahs’ regime is busy providing.

What is the main problem?

The nature of the mullahs’ regime has its roots in medieval thinking, which is why it will never be able to adapt to the modern era. This is a general rule that applies to all economic, political, and social fields. Therefore, all of its patterns of relations with the outside world are derived from the same reactionary and backward thinking.

As a result, on the one hand, the regime has to show its stability by resorting to forceful repression and execution. On the other hand, Tehran takes the fastest and most direct methods possible. This means methods such as selling off national assets and wealth.

In foreign policy, every shameful act is taken to balance the shaky rule and maintain the mullahs’ control, even if only for a short period.

For such a government, talking about “the future,” “the wealth of future generations,” and “patriotism” is meaningless.

Just as regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini pursued a long and devastating war with Iraq; just as the regime stood firm to continue the war even after Iraqi forces withdrew behind international borders; just as the Revolutionary Guards sold Iran’s water, lands, forests, and mines; and just as Chinese fishing boats are now busy bottom trawling the Persian Gulf and taking away nearly all living creatures;  the plundering of people’s money in various financial systems, funds, and banks in the country has become so pervasive that regime officials shed light on the possible sale of Iranian islands.

The question here is whether these islands have already been sold, like other national assets and their public digestion has already begun.

Every day, families of the disadvantaged workers across Iran are taken aback by shocking news about incidents that involves their loved ones losing their lives, getting injured or being disabled. A few recent examples:

April 27, 2023: A construction worker from Mahabad named Mohammad-Amin Ashna died in an accident due to the lack of safety measures at a site in Bandar Abbas.

April 18, 2023: While climbing from a metal scaffolding of a building, a 22-year-old construction worker in Karaj fell from down due to lack of safety equipment and passed away.

April 18, 2023: A worker died in the city of Saddeh, Isfahan province.

Also on April 18: A worker in Ilam, western Iran, died after falling from height while working. The CEO of Ilam Municipality’s fire department and safety services told the official IRNA news agency: “The owner of this building did not provide any protection for the floors of this complex and the elevator shaft did not have any protection either.”

March 28, 2023: three workers employed at a box production factory located in the industrial town of Babol, northern Iran, lost their lives in a gas explosion.

These incidents profoundly affect the families of the victims, as it deprives them not only of the love and care, but also of the breadwinners of the households. Sometimes such incidents lead to entire families falling apart and the avalanche of social tragedy continues down like in a domino effect at the cost of the fate of so many.

For years, the regime in Iran has failed to provide accurate statistics on occupational accidents. In 2016, Masoud Ghali Pasha, Head of forensic medicine in Tehran, stated that in the first six months of that year, 2,170 people lost their lives due to work-related accidents, and 154,000 people were injured while working at their job.

Ali Hossein Ra’yaitifard, the deputy Ministry of Labor, claimed that 800 workers die every year due to work-related accidents in the country. He also stated that 13,000 workers have suffered from limb amputations and severe injuries.

However, data on work-related accidents, provided by the director of the clinical examination office of the Forensic Medicine Organization show that “the number of people who referred to the forensic medicine in 2021 due to accidents caused by work was close to 28,000 cases.

Other statistics suggest the deaths of 1,500 workers per year due to accidents at work, although the number of deaths due to occupational diseases is eight times that number.

According to the head of Motahari Hospital in Tehran, across Iran, about 300,000 people suffer from burns every year and about 100,000 of them are workers. This happens while almost all people who happen to expose themselves to dangerous work, especially workers, have severe financial problems and cannot afford the initial treatment costs, let alone the costly medical care of a special hospital for burn accidents.

The actual stats are far from the officially announced date, but still, under the rule of the mullahs, Iran holds the world record in terms of labor accidents.

Most labor accidents occur in the construction sector where many workers are uninsured. Nonetheless, labor accidents for uninsured workers are not recorded at all and workshops with less than 10 workers are not covered by the labor law and therefore accidents in these workshops are not included in official reports.

Globally, lack of training, lack of supervision, poor safety measures and health equipment are considered important factors of work accidents. But in Iran, another important factor is involved in creating labor accidents, and that is the low level of wages.

Workers have to work more hours nonstop, sometimes several shifts, to earn enough money to compensate for the soaring prices of basic food items coupled with the never-ending upward trend of inflation. Therefore, instead of eight hours a day, the worker has to work between 15 and 18 hours which leads to fatigue and lack of concentration increases the individual’s vulnerability to human error that can turn deadly for the victim and the affected environment.

Also, unemployment and job insecurity has forced many workers to engage in any dangerous activity and people risk their lives by working with equipment or in places without appropriate safety measures.

More than 90% of the contracts of temporary workers don’t include clauses to protect the worker. This causes constant concern and stress among workers who, in fear of being fired, must submit to hard and unsafe work in workshops and factories without safety standards.

In addition to human losses, according to the International Labor Organization, in Iran, work accidents cost over $8.5 billion every year. But for the regime, neither the lives of workers nor the economic costs imposed are of any importance.

According to an ILO report, investing in prevention, safety and occupational health in economic enterprises will preserve the life and health of workers, as it does increase the return of investment by the rising job safety and work ethic.