The Iranian regime’s own Statistical Center has once again laid bare the economic catastrophe it has inflicted upon the people. The latest report on inflation, released in late November 2025, is not merely a set of figures but a damning indictment of a system built on plunder. According to the regime’s doctored statistics, the consumer price index has surged by nearly 49 percent compared to the previous year, with annual inflation hovering above 41 percent. For millions of Iranian families, this means the cost of basic survival has become nearly impossible to bear.
This crisis is thrown into stark relief by the regime’s own announcements. Just days before these grim statistics were published, on December 3, 2025, state media boasted about the discovery of a massive new gold reserve in South Khorasan province. The cruel paradox could not be clearer: in a nation sitting on mountains of gold, oil, and gas, the people’s dinner tables are empty. This is not a story of economic misfortune; it is the calculated result of a corrupt kleptocracy that loots the nation’s wealth while its citizens starve.
The reality on the ground: ‘The talk is not of welfare, but of survival’
For ordinary Iranians, the 49 percent inflation rate translates into daily anguish. As the state-run newspaper Ebtekar admitted on December 7, “The talk is not of welfare. The talk is of surviving in a rich country.” Food prices have spiraled out of control. The price for a single kilogram of lamb now exceeds 10.5 million rials, while chicken costs around 1.5 million rials and a tray of 30 eggs can cost up to 2.5 million rials. (For reference, the base monthly salary of a worker is 100 million rials, which with the growing cost of living, is barely enough for 10 days.)
The impact has been devastating. Essential and nutritious foods like dairy products are now considered luxuries, with many families removing them from their diets entirely. The people are being crushed under the weight of a price explosion that is a direct consequence of the regime’s policies.
The regime’s deceptive ‘solution’: A failing coupon system
Faced with growing public anger, the Pezeshkian administration has touted its electronic coupon program, or “Kalabarg,” as a solution. On December 6, it announced that the credit for the three lowest income deciles had been increased to 6.2 million rials per person. However, this is a cruel sham. This token increase is not an act of benevolence but a meager attempt to offset the regime’s disastrous policy of removing the preferential 285,000-rial exchange rate for essential imported goods like meat and rice—the very policy that is fueling hyperinflation.
The paltry sum of 6.2 million rials is an insult to the people. It covers barely half the cost of one kilogram of lamb. Families are forced to choose between a few basic items, while most essential proteins and grains remain far out of reach. This proves that the so-called “moderate” government of Masoud Pezeshkian is merely continuing the same ruinous economic policies of its predecessors.
A nation’s plundered wealth
The suffering of the Iranian people is made all the more outrageous by the nation’s immense wealth. The newly discovered reserve in South Khorasan contains an estimated 7.95 million tons of gold ore. This is in addition to Iran’s 15 other gold mines and its status as the world’s third-largest holder of oil reserves and second-largest of gas reserves. The resources to provide a prosperous life for every citizen exist in abundance. The problem is not a lack of wealth, but a surplus of thieves in power.
The root of the crisis: A ‘thief-ocracy’ built on organized corruption
Iran’s inflation is not a natural economic phenomenon. It is the direct product of the regime’s organized corruption and plundering policies. A ruling mafia connected to the highest levels of the state controls the economy. This cabal siphons off the nation’s wealth by giving itself preferential access to subsidized currency for imports, which it then sells at exorbitant prices on the open market, and by controlling vast smuggling networks. The system is so rotten that even state-run media outlets are forced to acknowledge the reality of “widespread plunder,” “huge rents,” and an “economic mafia.” Iran’s wealth is not missing; it is being systematically stolen.
An inevitable political earthquake
As long as this corrupt and tyrannical regime remains in power, there will be no end to the economic suffering of the Iranian people. The policies that create hyperinflation are the same policies that enrich the ruling elite. The ever-widening chasm between the nation’s vast wealth and the people’s profound poverty is unsustainable. This economic crisis is rapidly transforming into a political earthquake, shaking the foundations of a regime that has offered nothing but repression and misery. For Iran to reclaim its wealth and its future, this “thief-ocracy” must be overthrown.