The solutions proposed by Iranian regime officials and analysts to address economic and livelihood crises are not only astonishingly absurd to the point of surreal comedy but also indicate the death of shame and morality within them.
The spread of lies, vulgarity, and their constant repetition to destroy motivation and hope is a consistent and deliberate policy devised by the regime, led by presidents from all factions of the system.
Consider this statement by Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian during a meeting on November 16, with managers from the Ministries of Energy and Oil, as reported by Mehr News Agency: “I insist that the current situation and the imbalance in the energy sector must be honestly communicated to the people.”
The regime’s media does not ask Pezeshkian to explain the cause of the “imbalance in the energy sector” to the people. There is no accountability for the exorbitant budgets allocated to:
– The regime’s proxy forces in other countries,
– Exporting war,
– The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
– Religious centers affiliated with the regime,
– The regime’s security forces,
– And the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government.
Pezeshkian should admit that 90% of the country’s resources are controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s office, and their affiliated companies, leaving no share for the “energy sector” necessary for the people.
Pezeshkian should explain what happened to the nuclear energy program supposedly aimed at producing electricity, especially now that it has been revealed that most power plants are using mazut (low-grade heavy fuel oil) as fuel. For years, the regime has claimed to the world that nuclear energy is solely for meeting the consumption needs of the people? And now, here is the reality: people living without electricity, trapped in a gas crisis during the cold season. Where is this nuclear electricity, and what is its purpose if not a single bit of it benefits the lives of the Iranian people?
All of this indicates that Pezeshkian has also resorted to the cycle of moral death, shamelessness, and audacity that his predecessors practiced. If he had even an ounce of shame, decency, or morality in his conscience, he would address the cause of the “32 million Iranians living below the poverty line,” as reported by Arman news website on November 17, citing the Research Center of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce.
Consider a part of this report, which outlines the periods when poverty levels intensified, and the population living under the poverty line grew. Also note that according to the same report, each president of the clerical regime, in collaboration with the “Supreme Leader,” increased the population below the poverty line and then handed it off to their successor.
Citing the Research Center of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Arman news website, on November 17, wrote, “The inflation rate in Iran over the past 44 years has averaged around 20%. Therefore, in economies with 20% inflation, discussing production, investment, and economic growth is practically pointless and nonsensical. In Iran’s economy, in 2017, the population under the poverty line (food poverty) was estimated by the Ministry of Welfare to be around 18 million people. However, due to inflation and the shocks of 2018 and 2019, this figure exceeded 26 million by the end of 2019. According to the latest available statistics, by the end of 2021, approximately 32 million people were living below the poverty line (food poverty), and this trend is rapidly expanding due to the severe inflation of recent years.”
Pezeshkian should explain why, alongside the exorbitant costs for nuclear energy, arms, equipment, and supplies for the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatemiyoun, and Hashd al-Shaabi, no funding exists to increase the “capacity for fuel transfer to the cold regions of the country.”
On November 16, Mehr News Agency quoted the Minister of Oil, as saying, “One of the country’s problems is the low capacity for fuel transfer to cold regions. Given the limitations of the transfer networks to deliver the necessary fuel to northern power plants, we are under pressure.”
With these foundations explaining the fuel and energy crisis in Iran, consider Pezeshkian’s solution to the crisis and the sources he introduces:
“We must use all media, especially national media, as well as the capacity of the clergy and Friday prayer leaders, to justify and reduce energy consumption in the country.” (ibid)
Is this not the height of shamelessness and audacity, and the precise marker of the death of morality from the top to the bottom of the clerical regime? It is only from such a source of shamelessness and moral collapse that nearly 46 years of crimes, oppression, warmongering, poverty, school dropouts, brain drain, and more have been possible.