Fatemeh Mohajerani, the spokesperson for the government of Iranian regime president Masoud Pezeshkian, sought to defend Pezeshkian’s shortcomings during a press conference on November 26. Facing questions from government-aligned journalists about sudden and drastic price hikes, she offered evasive and unclear explanations. When asked why Pezeshkian, who had vowed not to take any actions without public notification, abruptly announced power outages, Mohajerani replied: “His entire effort is to choose the hard decision over the bad option; however, it will certainly be with the public’s awareness. The idea is not to surprise people, so they don’t go to sleep and wake up to find something has happened.”
In response to a question about the status of Pezeshkian’s promise to lift internet censorship, the spokesperson replied: “The root of filtering is for protection, meaning it is aimed at reducing harms, including security issues, which is something akin to martial law and is entirely acceptable in certain situations.”
Although the spokesperson and her boss use convoluted language, their meaning is clear. The “bad option” refers to providing subsidies and financial aid, while the “hard decision” involves abrupt and significant price hikes on essentials like bread, electricity, and eventually gasoline and petroleum products—policies that have brought people to their breaking point.
The spokesperson’s comments about internet censorship and lifting it ultimately endorse filtering and its necessity, likening it to “martial law being entirely acceptable in certain situations.”
The spokesperson appears to surpass her boss in deception. On November 25, Pezeshkian stated during a meeting with regime officials: “We must first talk to the people about the necessary economic reforms.” By “necessary economic reforms,” he unmistakably refers to abrupt and significant price hikes on “everything.” This so-called engagement with the people, however, is nothing more than a façade, fueling public outrage and pushing resentment to the brink of explosion—instilling fear among regime officials across all factions and eliciting alarmed reactions.
During a public session of the regime’s Majlis (parliament) on November 24, MP Mohammad Pakmehr called out Pezeshkian’s unfulfilled promises, stating: “Do you not see the 38% rise in electricity prices and the power outages? Do you not see the overnight 30% increase in car prices? Do you not notice the inflation in basic household items like eggs, meat, and other goods? … So where is the voice of justice? What happened to supporting the underprivileged sectors of society?”
Contrary to Pezeshkian’s deceptive claim that he consults the people before implementing any measures, the state-affiliated ILNA news agency described the sudden and steep price hikes as a “price liberalization bomb” in a report on November 25. The report stated that everything “has become more expensive at the speed of light during the first few months of the Pezeshkian administration… Has the government found no better lifeline to save itself from the brink of collapse than the empty livelihood baskets of the people?”
Pezeshkian’s lies and deceit are not limited to economic matters and price hikes. During a recent trip to Baluchistan, he made deceptive statements such as: “We need you. We need the people. We need trust, solidarity, and cooperation.” He also engaged in nauseating flattery of regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, making the absurd claim: “We spoke with the Supreme Leader, and he advised us that whatever we want to fix must be the best!”
Pezeshkian has frequently delivered similar false and hollow rhetoric to the nation and, unsurprisingly, has received an appropriate response from the people.
During his theatrical trip to Zahedan, oppressed compatriots and rebellious Baluchis wrote on banners and graffiti: “Pezeshkian, your achievement is the increase in executions and the killing of fuel carriers” and “Pezeshkian, get out of Baluchistan!”
In other parts of the country, desperate groups of retirees, workers, teachers, and nurses chant slogans such as: “Oh lying government, where are the results of your promises?!” and “Our cry to the government: Pezeshkian, shame on you!”