Not a day goes by without the rival factions and groups within Iran’s regime exposing each other’s involvement in looting the people’s assets and Iran’s national wealth.
Apparently, even the so-called “Unity Government” led by Masoud Pezeshkian has failed to fairly distribute the periodic division of power and wealth—resources that rightfully belong to the people—among the competing factions and satisfy both sides.
In the latest internal factional disputes of this kind, Ebtakar newspaper wrote: “The income of those profiting from internet filtering ranges between 200 to 500 trillion.” It then posed the question: “What could be achieved with this money?”
The same newspaper laid out several examples of what could be done with this sum:
– With 200 trillion rials, at least 2,000 modern rural schools could be built.
– The same 200 trillion rials could equip over 10,000 schools with smart boards, modern computers, and high-speed internet.
– With 200 trillion rials, 500 kilometers of new railway network could be constructed, or over 5,000 new urban and intercity buses could be purchased.
– This money could be used to expand metro lines in major cities like Tehran, Mashhad, and Isfahan.
– With 200 trillion rials, many of the country’s healthcare and medical challenges could be addressed.
– This money could be used to build around 100 well-equipped and modern hospitals in deprived and underserved regions.
– A 200-bed hospital with advanced facilities costs an average of 2 trillion rials. Even a small portion of this money could improve access to adequate medical services for millions.
– This amount could also be spent on purchasing advanced medical equipment, such as MRI machines, CT scanners, and radiology devices, rescuing many cities lacking such facilities from their current crises.
– Mobile medical caravans could also be launched for remote areas using this money. These services include buses equipped with medical devices, mobile dental clinics, and rural medical teams, playing a critical role in reducing healthcare deprivation.
– With 200 trillion rials, at least seven solar power plants could be built, providing sustainable electricity for deprived and rural areas. This is especially significant given that even Iranian cities currently suffer from daily power outages, which also lead to water cuts.
Now consider all of this alongside the hardships internet censorship causes for the people, such as the fact that over 1.6 million Instagram-based businesses have been harmed, affecting the livelihoods of around 9 million people.
Internet disruptions and filtering have not only impacted small businesses but have also affected major sectors of the digital economy, causing direct and indirect losses of 100 trillion rials per month.
These losses amount to 390 to 1,170 trillion rials over a four-month period, the variation depends on the estimated intensity of filtering. Now consider how much these losses would add up to in a year.
This makes it clear how internet censorship drains a massive amount of money from the people’s pockets and channels it into the coffers of the ruling clerics.
And yet, Pezeshkian comes back, reneging on his initial promises, and says, “Cyberspace must be regulated!”—meaning it must be filtered.