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Iran’s Economy Not Likely To Improve

Pooya Stone
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Iran’s Economy Not Likely To Improve

Reports from almost all of Iran’s economic centers and the government’s economists indicate a dark situation for the regime’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and his new president-elect Ebrahim Raisi.

Iran’s statistic center in its latest report announced the annual inflation rate for Iranian households in May of 2021 at 43 percent.

Even the IMF did not predict that Iran’s inflation will surpass 40 percent. But the inflation in Iran has reached its highest rate in the past 26 years.

According to the country’s statistic center, the inflation rate of food items was much higher than other goods and services and has reached 52 percent.

The question is, will this situation change with the presence of Raisi who in the last 42 years was one of the government’s officials and one of the main causes of this situation.

At least one state-run outlet has answered this question: “Like all the years we have had elections in the country. Statelessness and indecision are expected to continue this year. Therefore, it is unlikely that we will have less inflation than last year.” (state-run website Tejarat-e-Farda, June 22, 2021)

The reality is that the country’s economy has become a sunless sky for the government, “Unfavorable economic governance, which has manifested itself mainly since the 70s, has created and accumulated challenges in the Iranian economy, and governments have not sought basic treatment of challenges and super-challenges until now in 2021.” (State-run daily Iran, June 22, 2021)

Even the government’s economic slogans have lost their value, and as the officials said they are not effective anymore:

“The quality of policy-making in the Iranian economy has fallen to its lowest level in the last half-century, i.e., since the late 1980s, and the cross-cutting efforts of governments to improve the quality of policy-making have been unsustainable and failed for various reasons.

“The main reason for this instability and failure is the rooting of a ‘rent-protecting’ layer in the fabric of the country’s bureaucracy, which has a rent-seeking instruction on the table for all good slogans. Governments come and go, but this middle layer is always there, transforming any reform in a way that is compatible with the rent-consuming structure existing in the economy.” (Donya-e-Eghtesad, June 22, 2021)

Happy officials, miserable people

Calling the people miserable in the presidential debates was so insulting that even some of the regime’s elements could not endure such an insult. One of them in an article written in the state-run daily SMT News on June 22, 2021, said:

“The debate of the presidential candidates was an opportunity to see the view of some of the country’s top officials towards me and those around me, when the country’s top executives, who once came from the lowest strata of society and were supposed to remain our defenders forever, stared into the camera, and in the verbal war with its rival, they called us people miserable, and when they said that their hearts burn because our misery and they will try to bring a piece of bread to our tables and give us subsidies, with all my skin, flesh, bones, soul and spirit, I felt this miserable.

“If we were not miserable, an official who becomes an official with the support of the people and during these years has done whatever he wants with us and our city and country, he could not simply play us with the morally unfortunate word misery.

“If we were not miserable, we would not have spent hours in front of the national media watching the bleak image of corruption, rent-seeking, and shortcoming painted by unique individuals, which from the 85 million people only they were approved by the Guardian Council.

“If we were not miserable, we would at least ask you, nobles, who have been ministers, lawyers, mayors, judges, governors, doctors, and engineers all these years, and you are one of the highest officials in our country, how did you have all this information about rent-seeking, corruption, lies, and hypocrisy yet kept silent?”

13th Day of Oil Workers Strike in Iran

Hoshang Amiri
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13th Day of Oil Workers Strike in Iran

Wednesday was the 13th consecutive day of strikes by oil-sector workers in Iran, as they demand higher wages and better working conditions because of the financial pressure they are faced with as a result of the officials’ dire policies and corruption.

The economy in Iran is in dire straights with inflation rising at a horrendous rate, which has caused the price of all goods to rise considerably, while workers have not seen an increase in their wages to match this. This means that the vast majority of Iranians are living in poverty, unable to even afford the necessities like food and shelter.

The protesters, who come from a massive 70 companies across 12 cities, vowed to continue and expand their strikes if the bosses and the authorities fail to meet their demands. Currently, protests are happening in the following areas: Arak, Ahvaz, Abadan, Behbehan, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, Damavand, Gachsaran, Isfahan, Ilam, Jask, Kangan, Kerman, Khark, Mahshahr, Qeshm, Tehran, and Urmia.

On Tuesday, the workers of Arta Energy in Ardebil’s petrochemical factory, workers of Gama company in Jask, Lordegan’s petrochemical company, Sadaf Jahanpars, Goharzamin in Sirjan. and the Parsian Gas Refinery in Lamerd declared that they were joining the nationwide strike and repeated the demands of the protesters.

The same day, the British labour union, the National Shop Stewards Network, voiced its support for the nationwide strikes by Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemical workers in a statement. The syndicate explained that the workers deserve a response to their demands, which includes a wage increase in line with inflation, permanent contracts, and better working conditions.

Of course, the oil and gas sector workers are not the only ones who have been out protesting in recent days.

Also, on Wednesday, pensioners of Sherkat-e Vahed, the Tehran bus company, protested outside the company’s offices to restate the demands that they’ve been making for months now with no response from officials. The retirees are demanding that their work insurance premiums, experience bonuses, and share from the Tehran Municipality fund be paid in full and without further delay.

While the workers of the Sepahan Cement Factory in Isfahan rallied in protest to the dismissal of their coworkers for participating in protest rallies last week. The mass firings were a way for the officials to intimidate other workers and quash protests, but it didn’t work.

The fact is that the problems faced by the Iranian workers will not be fixed while the mullahs are in power and regime overthrow is the only option.

Iran Economy Needs “Major Surgery”

Jubin Katiraie
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Iran Economy Needs “Major Surgery”

The Iranian economy is getting worse every day and there is little hope for the magic recovery promised by officials who are flogging the dead horse of the 2015 nuclear deal, and even the state-run media and officials are now reporting on this.

The head of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce told the semi-official ISNA news agency on June 24 that “emergency treatment” will not sort out the economy, which now requires “major surgery” because the current patch-up treatment is not working to treat the root causes.

He said: “A study of the country’s economic situation in the second half of the 20th century shows a vicious and recurring cycle of mistakes that have resulted in problems such as inflation, rising unemployment, economic instability, persistent poverty, and high inequalities in our society, and from a macro perspective Iran’s economic growth in the last ten years has been almost zero.”

The previous day, the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture noted that domestic production is unstable because the heads of production spend each day not knowing whether directives will be issued each day that contrast to the previous one.

International affairs expert Hamid Asefi said that if the government wants to improve the economy, it must “forgo ambitious objectives” because not even China, which holds $20 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds, is able to circumvent the US sanctions.

He said: “The period when sanctions were imposed showed that Iran’s economy would be paralyzed without a connection to the outside world. We might make money through smuggling, but as they used to say, smuggling is like stolen property. Stolen property can be bought for free. For example, if oil is selling at $60 on the global market, we would sell it for $40, with all the risks it had.”

The smuggling and other plundering of the Iranian people’s wealth are done by officials linked to the government.

Government economist Atta Bahrami explained that “lawlessness is rampant in [Iran’s] money market” with the majority of loans (73%) given to just 500 families since the 1979 revolution. Many of these loans are defaulted upon, which leads to more loans and increased printing of money. This causes inflation.

He said: “[This] is a betrayal and a crime against the people. It is an obvious theft from the people’s pocket in broad daylight! … While people try desperately for weeks for a loan of 20 million rials (about $80), some are receiving two trillion rials (about $80 million) with just one phone call!”

Iran’s Inaction on COVID Leads to Protests

Hoshang Amiri
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Iran’s Inaction on COVID Leads to Protests

The Iranian Health Ministry reported 142 deaths from coronavirus on Monday, bringing the death toll to 83,985, but these figures are incredibly low, with the Iranian Resistance reporting that over 319,000 have perished from the virus.

Many countries have taken robust action to stop the virus through mass vaccination, but the pandemic is still ravaging the country because the mullahs have failed to take the appropriate action.

Iranian officials have recently started to talk about how the vaccination process has been slowed down considerably because of the mullahs’ insistence on using the domestic vaccine after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banned the import of Western vaccines. Only 5.7% of the population has been vaccinated, which is much lower than that of surrounding countries.

This slow rollout means that the country may soon be experiencing its fifth wave, something unheard of in the rest of the world, especially because the Indian and South African variants are spreading fast.

Alireza Naji, head of the Beheshti University Research Center, said Thursday: “If we delay in taking necessary measures, we will have a fifth peak with the Indian or delta variant.”

Now, of course, other officials have claimed that they worked hard to provide vaccines, but the truth is that they did everything in their power to prevent people from getting vaccinated with safe and effective jabs.

Instead, they have used the “COVIran Barakat” vaccine, which does not have the approval of the World Health Organization or even Iranian health experts, and are even charging people 196,000 tomans to be vaccinated, meaning that the mullahs are once again profiting from the people.

The Iranian Resistance wrote: “Khamenei and his regime face a restive society. The recent nationwide boycott of the regime’s sham election and daily protests are testaments to the explosive state of society.  The regime started an inhumane Covid-19 policy centered on inaction, deception, and plundering to quell this society. Khamenei banned the entry of vaccines because he wants to use the deadly virus and its rising death toll as a barrier against another nationwide uprising.”

Simply, the mullahs are the cause of the rising coronavirus death toll because they want to use the pandemic to suppress the people’s protests, which is why Khamenei described it as a “blessing”. However, the people’s rising protests show that this has failed because understandably Iranians aren’t happy to keep being killed by their government’s inaction on the pandemic.

Raisi’s Crimes Must Be Responded to by the West

Pooya Stone
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Raisi’s Crimes Must Be Responded to by the West

The Iranian regime appointed noted criminal  Ebrahim Raisi as president earlier this month; a man best known for his role on the death commissions in the 1988 massacre of 30,000 political prisoners and his violent crackdown on the November 2019 uprising where 1,500 protesters were shot dead in the streets.

While most people would have been ashamed of their crimes against humanity, Raisi has expressed his pride in these killings and everything else he has done to serve the regime. He wrongly claimed that his crimes somehow defended human rights, as if massacres and extrajudicial killings don’t violate the most basic of all rights; the right to life. While there is no need to respond to this, we do need to point out that, as the regime will never hold itself accountable, the international community must bring the mullahs to justice.

Ali Safavi, a member of the National Council of Resistance of Iran’s (NCRI) Foreign Affairs Committee, moderated a panel on the response that is required to Raisi’s election. The participants, including British human rights barrister Geoffrey Robertson, US ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, and former United Nations human rights official Tahar Boumedra, urged the UN to launch a formal investigation into the 1988 massacre and other crimes, with diplomatic isolation and sanctions used to punish the mullahs.

Next month, the Free Iran World Summit will also highlight Raisi’s crimes in the three-day annual virtual conference that brings together Iranian expatriate communities. Therefrom July 10-12, Iranian activists will shed light on his crimes and the resistance to them. This is vital for the international community to hear with the hope that they will not support Raisi’s rule.

The Iranian Resistance wrote: “One way or another, Western powers must respond to the regime’s decision to elevate Raisi’s legacy. The proper response may be made easier by knowing that the Iranian people have already condemned Raisi on their own, both through protests branding him the “henchman of 1988” and through an electoral boycott that resulted in the lowest electoral turnout ever for this month’s presidential election. Western isolation and sanction of the Iranian regime’s president-elect would only reinforce the message already delivered by the Iranian people, and in so doing it would finally make clear to them that in a conflict between those people and the clerical regime, the international community will stand firmly on the side of freedom.”

Javaid Rehman Called for an Investigation Into Iran’s President Raisi’s Role in the 1988 Executions

Jubin Katiraie
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Javaid Rehman Called for an Investigation Into Iran’s President Raisi’s Role in the 1988 Executions

Javaid Rehman, the UN investigator on human rights in Iran, called for an independent inquiry into the role of Ebrahim Raisi in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988.

Reuters wrote on Tuesday, June 29, 2021:

“The U.N. investigator on human rights in Iran has called for an independent inquiry into allegations of state-ordered executions of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 and the role played by President-elect Ebrahim Raisi as Tehran deputy prosecutor.

“Javaid Rehman, in an interview with Reuters on Monday, said that over the years his office has gathered testimonies and evidence. It was ready to share them if the United Nations Human Rights Council or other body sets up an impartial investigation.

Then in the interview, he added: “I think it is time and it’s very important now that Mr. Raisi is the president (-elect) that we start investigating what happened in 1988 and the role of individuals,” Rehman said from London, where he teaches Islamic law and international law.”

He added: “Otherwise we will have very serious concerns about this president and the role, the reported role, he has played historically in those executions.”

Rehman said: “We have made communications to the Islamic Republic of Iran because we have concerns that there is again a policy to actually destroy the graves or there may be some activity to destroy evidence of mass graves.”

“I will campaign for justice to be done,” he added.

Javaid Rehman, in an interview with Reuters on Monday, said that over the years his office has gathered testimonies and evidence. It was ready to share them if the United Nations Human Rights Council or other body sets up an impartial investigation.
He said he was concerned at reports that some “mass graves” are being destroyed as part of a continuing cover-up.

It should be noted that on June 19, 2021, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard, said in response to the news of the announcement of Ebrahim Raisi as the next President of Iran:

“That Ebrahim Raisi has risen to the presidency instead of being investigated for the crimes against humanity of murder, enforced disappearance, and torture, is a grim reminder that impunity reigns supreme in Iran. In 2018, our organization documented how Ebrahim Raisi had been a member of the ‘death commission’ which forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed in secret thousands of political dissidents in Evin and Gohardasht prisons near Tehran in 1988. The circumstances surrounding the fate of the victims and the whereabouts of their bodies are, to this day, systematically concealed by the Iranian authorities, amounting to ongoing crimes against humanity.”

“We continue to call for Ebrahim Raisi to be investigated for his involvement in past and ongoing crimes under international law, including by states that exercise universal jurisdiction.

“It is now more urgent than ever for member states of the UN Human Rights Council to take concrete steps to address the crisis of systematic impunity in Iran including by establishing an impartial mechanism to collect and analyse evidence of the most serious crimes under international law committed in Iran to facilitate fair and independent criminal proceedings.”

Iran Protests Since Election

Hoshang Amiri
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Iran Protests Since Election

Following the widely-boycotted presidential elections in Iran earlier this month, the Iranian people took to the streets to express their distaste for the government over many different issues.

On Sunday, June 27, the country was rocked by protests from pensioners of the Steel Company, Social Security Organization, and Homa Airlines, as well as dairy farmers, Isfahan pharmacists, Bushehr Petrochemical structural workers, Gama company workers, oil and petrochemical workers, and the plundered investors of the Azico credit institution.

Of course, many of these groups have been protesting since the election on June 19, with contract workers demanding higher wages and better working conditions. The authorities tried to intimidate these workers by threatening to fire them if they didn’t return to work. The strikers were soon joined by full-time workers, whom the officials cannot threaten with losing their jobs.

The strikes are putting pressure on the economy, which depends on oil exports, and therefore the government. The mullahs rely on the oil and petrochemical industries to finance their terrorism and warmongering, so strikes and international sanctions are crushing the mullahs.

The state-run Asr Khabar wrote: “The strike of thousands of contract workers of oil, gas, and petrochemical entered its eighth day, and now workers of about 61 contractors are on strike.”

The truth is that the workers are facing increased pressure because the economy, already pushed to the brink by officials’ corruption and mismanagement, has declined due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Over the past seven months, people from all walks of life have been protesting constantly, which shows the precarious situation that the officials find themselves in now. As the Iranian people suffer under the economic conditions caused by the officials’ corruption, while also suffering under the social conditions that have left over 300,000 Iranians dead from the authorities’ inaction on Covid-19.

The Iranian Resistance wrote: “The Iranian people’s hatred toward the regime has reached a new level. The recent nationwide boycott of the regime’s sham election, and the mullahs’ decision to appoint the notorious Ebrahim Raisi as their new president to oppress people more, are testaments that people do not want this regime.”

The recent protests have terrified the officials and state media, who fear major protests that would mean their overthrow. The Sharq daily warned on Sunday that if the regime fails to pay attention to the dissent of the people, then the political divide will increase, along with the public’s dissatisfaction and anger.

The villages of Jofair in the Azadegan Plain, 50 km west of Ahvaz, gathered on Monday, June 28, to protest the water cut and blocked the main road.
There are several oil and gas companies in the lands of these villages. The villagers complained several times and the oil companies promised them that they would solve the water problem for them, but so far they have not taken any action.

اعتراضات

On Tuesday, June 29, doctors and medical students protested against the disregard for the rights of the medical community, disregard for public health, the spread of corruption in the health-related sector, and widespread violations by the Ministry of Health in various cities, including Tehran, Hamadan, Kermanshah, and Isfahan. Sanandaj, Shiraz, Yasuj, Lorestan, etc. held protest rallies.

On Tuesday, June 29, a group of non-profit school teachers gathered in front of the regime parliament building to protest their non-employment by the Ministry of Education in Tehran. These teachers are from different parts and cities of the country.

-معلمین جلوی مجلس ارتجاع

 

The JCPOA and Iran Regime’s Terrified Face

Esmaeil Mohades
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The JCPOA and Iran Regime’s Terrified Face

The consequences of the sanctions on Iran’s bankrupt economy and the unfortunate outcome of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal known as the JCPOA, on the one hand, and the uncertainty of the prospects of Iran’s Vienna talks with world powers, on the other, have caused panic among Iran’s state-run media and the country’s rulers.

Speaking about their concerns, they are asking the new government of Ebrahim Raisi to follow and obey the will of the world powers.

As a reason for such a request, they are pointing to the bad economic situation, which is tightening every day, and there no chance of this government to solve these problems and normalize the livelihood situation of the people.

And if they do not obey the world power’s request, they must face much severe political and economic pressure, while having not the ability and power to withstand such a situation.

The state-run daily Arman took a step further from the economic and political pressure, warned and remembered the regime that if they do not obey these requests spoken in the Vienna JCPOA talks, there is the possibility that the regime may again include under Chapter 7 of the Security Council, which means that it has been formally recognized as a ‘threat to world peace and security’, in which case it Requests all UN member states to implement all coercive measures it has adopted against you.’

This newspaper, affiliated with Hassan Rouhani’s government, recalled the case of Iraq being attacked, noting that being under Chapter 7 means that it could ‘begin a mounting process of escalating pressure that could lead to military action. And that under the umbrella of the protection of international law, the United Nations and public opinion.’

Concerns about this situation have prompted the state-run daily Arman to warn the Raisi and his government, ‘should not fall into the trap of factional games,’ and should not allow that, ‘biased political analyses’ of the media, ‘to minimize the consequences of re-engaging with the Security Council in the next government.’ (Arman daily, 26 June 2021)

Etemad newspaper, while acknowledging the current dire economic situation and the danger that threatens the clerical government in this regard and the social uprising, advised, especially the elements of the new government, not to insist on the current position and, ‘if the parties insist on the current positions, the seventh round of negotiations, will be also fruitless.’

A subject that according to the author of this article, is dangerous for the current state of the economy, while it will have much worse and unpredictable consequences for both the economy and the regime, because the economy, ‘is in a complicated strait’ and every day ‘the continuation of sanctions will cause great damage to Iran’s economy, and assessments show that it is not possible to continue the current situation for a long time.’

Another direction that this state-run newspaper is concerned about is that the UN nuclear watchdog’s chief ‘Rafael Grossi submits a negative report to the Board of Governors to change the situation so that the Board of Governors declares it impossible to resolve the Iranian case through the IAEA and refers the matter to the UN Security Council.’ (Etemad, June 26, 2021)

Based on these concerns, Jahan-e-Sanat daily advised the Raisi to consider these facts: ‘There are some facts that Raisi should pause about and think carefully about the consequences of these facts before saying or doing anything.

‘One of the realities that have obscured Iran these days is the outcome of indirect talks between Iran and the Americans. The fact is that the Iranian economy, with the continuation of sanctions and without sanctions, will have at least two forms and nature with significant differences in terms of foreign exchange earnings. Iran is no longer alive enough to include more resilience in the equations, and that is what if being ignored will face the future with unintended consequences. Unknown days and unforeseen consequences will make things difficult.’ (Jahan-e-Sanat, June 26, 2021)

The concerns cited by the media affiliated with the Rouhani faction are real and indicate that the government is at a crossroads of choice, and, in fact, a dead end is predicted.

Resalat newspaper wrote about the Americans’ expectations from the regime: ‘The Democrats’ view of the nuclear deal with Iran is clear. The leaders of the Democratic Party believe that if they want to return to the JCPOA, they must get new and more concessions from the Islamic Republic! The Democrats’ new concessions mean perpetuating the time limits set by the JCPOA and, subsequently, missile disarming Iran. This view was institutionalized among Democrats even during Trump’s presidency.’ (Resalat, June 26, 2021)

Before the third round of debates, Hassan Rouhani asked the candidates to state their position on the JCPOA: ‘Do you agree with the JCPOA or not, say it.” (State TV News Channel, June 9, 2021)

In the third debate, Raisi explicitly responded to Rouhani, saying that he agreed with the JCPOA, ‘I explicitly say that we adhere to the JCPOA as a contract that has been ratified with the 9 clauses of the Supreme Leader. Like any obligation and any contract, governments must abide by it, but you cannot implement the JCPOA. The JCPOA needs a powerful government to be implemented.’ (State TV News Channel, June 12, 2021)

At that time, some believed that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had expressed his intentions by the language of his preferred candidate, and it became clear that he wanted to be directly involved in the JCPOA negotiation without any middleman. Just as Khamenei started negotiations in Oman during Ahmadinejad’s time and away from his eyes.

In his first press conference on June 21, Raisi also said about the current negotiations of the JCPOA: ‘We will pursue interaction with the whole world and with all countries of the world as a broad and balanced principle of interaction in foreign policy, God willing, and in the negotiations of any negotiation in which national interests are guaranteed, this negotiation will definitely be supported.’ (State TV News Channel, June 21, 2021)

The fact is that Iran’s regime, in a state of economic stagnation and facing an explosive society, seeks to loosen some of the sanctions at any cost. But the other side of this desk also has conditions that if accepted by Khamenei means new poison chalices and ‘endless degradation.

An Executioner Asks Iran’s People To Come Back

Sia Rajabi
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An Executioner Asks Iran’s People To Come Back

The outcome of Iran’s presidential election is a person infamous for his crimes over three decades hold various offices.

With a thesaurus of only 30-40 words Ebrahim Raisi in every meeting, press conference, and circle showed that he not only is not capable to answer the simplest questions expected from someone who becomes the head of the executive branch to run a government but has not any solution for the country’s accumulated crises over the past decades, since the start of the mullahs’ regime.

One of the great crises that every new president of the regime has tried to overcome and has always failed is the issue of brain drain and the migration of Iranians.

In the first press conference on Monday, June 21, Raisi picked up a stone that has no understanding of its political, social, cultural, economic, and international weight.

He invited Iranians outside the country to return and reassure them about the investment in Iran. The amazing part of the story is that a man who is one of the main reasons for the escape of the Iranian people because of years of crime, execution, and torture is now expecting Iran’s people to move back to the country and is reassuring a safe and secure life.

The state-run media Etemad in an article entitled, “Why should they come back, you tell us Mr. Raisi on June 24, 2021, wrote:

“But perhaps it is not bad to sincerely raise points with Mr. Raisi.

“Mr. Raisi, the return of your compatriots to the country has some prerequisites that if you have not paid serious attention to them before, it might be a good idea to review them in the remaining days until you start your work and remind them to your like-minded team.

“The return of intellectual capital and professionals and ordinary citizens to the country needs to reduce strictures and misunderstandings. There have been many officials in the country who have promised to open the doors and even demanded the return of Iranian immigrants at their request and invitation. In practice, however, what has prevented this process from accelerating or stopping has been selective treatment, threats, and abuse of those who have sought to return.

“You must be familiar with this phenomenon due to your long presence in the judiciary, and you know many who have intended to return home, have given up before traveling or after coming to Iran. You know that due to extremism, they have either not been provided with the opportunity to work in Iran, or if they have, they got in trouble and they prefer to stay outside the country than to return.

“The issue is not complicated, Mr. Raisi. Anyone who wants to return to Iran wants a comfortable job and life. If you can declare it for your colleagues and like-minded people how serious your invitation is and what conditions should be provided for it in the country, not only immigrants but even compatriots inside the country will pray for you.

“Mr. Raisi, many of our compatriots have left Iran in the past few decades. Most of them not with a delightful mind, but because of compulsion. With bitterness and tears. Most of them have endured years of exile with pain and suffering. This multimillion migration and this resistance to return have reasons that you, like us, know it.

“Except for a few, the rest have sought a quiet and simple life in exile. To escape the multitude of economic and social problems that are not unsolvable. Solving economic problems requires stability and interaction. The creation of jobs and reducing inflation. All this is possible only in a safe and hopeful environment for the future, and without de-escalation at home and abroad, and with the continuation of the policies pursued to date, we will have nothing but intensified calamities.

“Solving social problems, however, is easier and takes less time. Just look at what promises you gave to get people’s votes. Paying attention to women’s rights, reducing the restrictive restrictions of young people, better access to the Internet, and reducing censorship and filtering, and common restrictions in the art and media world. Let us not compliment.

“If you want to give hope and relief to the community, we have not to interfere in the people’s lives. The insistence on promoting a certain form of life and struggling with different generations and strata of society to accommodate a certain kind of thinking and ideology has only led to dissatisfaction. This was evidenced by the presence of the people in the elections and the millions of absentees and millions of invalid votes if there is someone who can pay attention.

“If you want the Iranians to support you, to enjoy life, to go carefree, and to think about returning to the city and the homeland, let them alone and see whose nose is in the people’s lives. Identify the sources of public harassment and use the authority you must shut down and control these sources and centers.

“Mr. Raisi, it is difficult to bring capital into the country. If it is an Iranian or foreign investor. You saw that even during the honeymoon of the JCPOA [2015 Iran nuclear deal], we could not attract foreign investors because tough economic sanctions did not allow it and international banks did not allow it too. Because the investment risk in Iran is high. If you want that the capitals flee into the country, instead of chanting slogans, you should think that sanctions should be lifted, and banks should work with us, and bringing capital to Iran should not be so risky. These are also possible with reconciliation and soft and worldly language.

“If, as your friends claim, you are looking to close even more communication networks, and if you are looking for economic and self-sufficiency, you are looking for the remnants of the environment and water of the country, and if you are looking for the same in art and culture that your campaign agents addressed, the destination will be somewhere else. Thus, which Iranian is willing to leave his life in a peaceful and prosperous country and return?

“But if you say that all that prosperity, hope, and justice is important to you, first, see why the Iranians, your compatriots are looking for and leave their homeland. Listen to their words and hearts and think of a solution to the problem. This may even take precedence over the returning of those who have left.

“Mr. Raisi! As you read this, many in language classes and legal counseling offices are dreaming to leave. You tell them why they should not go. What awaits them if they stay. Tell them about the dream of Iran tomorrow.

“Mr. Raisi! The path we have taken has not led us to the desired point. They (the people) are packing their items. You tell us about the desired point and show us life. Everyone will unpack their items and relax. And many of those who left will return. Who will reject life and hope, Mr. Raisi?

“But now you can write the destiny of the people. What do you have in your pouch, Mr. Raisi?”

Iran’s Government Fears the Post-Election Situation

Hoshang Amiri
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Iran’s Government Fears the Post-Election Situation

The main subjects of Iran’s state-run outlets are the challenges created by invalid ballots and the boycott of the presidential election by the people.

In addition to these issues, they have dealt with some socio-economic crises. Outlets affiliated with the supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s faction famous as the principlists have tried to minimize the blow of this boycott and the reduction in the voter turnout which according to them was less than 49%.

Some, outlets like the Siasat-e-Rooz and the Vatan-e-Emrooz, have tried to minimize this blow to the regime’s government by highlighting the statistics of local elections in France and comparing it with the situation in Iran.

And other outlets are worried about the consequences of the election boycott and the rejection of the regime’s factions by the people.

“We are the owners of the invalid votes”, was the title of an article of the Mardom Salari daily published on June 22, 2021, who wrote: “The statistics of the 2021 elections showed that one should be more skeptical than usual to the passed way of the past years. The level of public dissatisfaction is high and social capital is declining. The powerless of the society will flaunt their power somehow, and this time they may do it more devastatingly.”

“Election and silent cries which must be heard”, is the title of an article in the state-run daily Hamdeli, which highlighted the people’s ignorance of Khamenei and other mullahs’ decrees about the necessity of participating in the election and wrote:

“Contrary to those who say that the turnout in Western countries is also low, it should be said that the turnout in Western countries is around 60 to 70%. In addition, in other countries, participating in elections is never considered a religious and objective duty, and leaving is not considered a great sin and prohibitions. This alarm should be heard, when domestic reference groups become ineffective, the influence of foreign groups and media becomes very strong.”

Then the state-run Shargh daily pointed to some of the social and economic crises and wrote: “It is sufficient to consider some of these social injuries; For example, in the economy, we see the stagflation caused by sanctions, unemployment, the devaluation of the national currency, the purchasing power of the people, gross class divisions, widespread poverty alongside rent-seeking groups; In addition, we must consider the behaviors dealt with the protesters in January 2017 and November 2019.”

The state-run daily Naghshe Eghtesad referring to the low number of voters on June 22, 2021, wrote: “In the context of the current crises, these statistics show that the government is facing a double crisis called the crisis of acceptance during the last two elections.

“Despite encouragement from the highest levels of the system (officials) and other political and party elites, we see that more than half of the entire Iranian society was reluctant to go to the polls. That is, most of the people of the country do not pay the slightest attention to the opinions and speeches of the country’s political elites.”

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