On November 26, the state-run Jomhouri Eslami newspaper published an article titled “Fear the Revolution of the Hungry Masses,” warning the regime’s leaders: “Every day, the economic crisis deepens; the poor grow poorer, the rich richer, and the unprecedented swamp of elitism engulfing our society becomes even more pervasive.” The article further highlighted that the new elite class “live in palaces more extravagant than those of the deposed Shah and the royal family” and added, “What is distressing and fraught with consequences is that these lavish lifestyles are paraded in front of the impoverished, who struggle daily just to make ends meet.”
The article concludes with a warning: “The smallest consequence of a society riddled with discrimination and class divides is widespread public dissatisfaction. This dissatisfaction will lead to suppressed anger building in the hearts of the impoverished. One day, this anger will erupt like a volcano, mobilizing an army of the deprived and hungry against those responsible for this injustice—a movement that can only be described as a ‘Revolution of the Hungry Masses.’ Are you not afraid of such a revolution?”
Jomhouri Eslami is not the only outlet expressing fear and dread at the prospect of a revolution by the hungry and impoverishe masses. These days, whenever regime officials or media open their mouths or put pen to paper, they speak in the same tone.
The state-run Etemad newspaper, in an article titled “At the Edge of the Abyss,” underscored the dire economic outlook, writing, “Various imbalances are revealing their consequences more than ever. When the honorable president states that in some of these imbalances we are standing at the edge of the abyss, every Iranian has the right to tremble with fear.”
The state-run ILNA news agency wrote, “The price liberalization bomb has exploded more powerfully and loudly than ever, and its shrapnel has spread to all sectors of the economy. Electricity, energy bills, meat, eggs, dollars, gold, coins, cars, and housing have all skyrocketed at lightning speed in the initial months of President Pezeshkian’s administration.”
ILNA, referring to Masoud Pezeshkian’s admission that his government is standing at the edge of the abyss, added, “Has the government found no better solution to save itself from the edge of the abyss than the empty livelihood basket of the people?”
During last week’s Friday prayer sermons, the representatives of regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei also revealed the regime’s fear and anxiety over this situation as a threat to the regime.
Ahmad Khatami, in Tehran’s Friday prayer sermon, referred to the “intensification of rising prices” and warned about the threat it poses to the regime’s survival, stating: “It is important to us that this system endures. These rising prices are harmful.”
Ahmad Alamolhoda, Khamenei’s representative and Friday prayer leader in Mashhad, also discussed the “price hikes that lack any regulation or rationale” and remarked, “It is terrifying—what if this is a conspiracy? What if infiltrators are plotting to exhaust the people, drive them to despair, and turn them against the system, the government, and the country?”
In the regime’s parliament, alarmed voices about the consequences of this situation were also raised on November 25. MP Gholamhossein Rezvani warned, “Inflation, recession, and imbalances have become a cancerous tumor, and it is already too late to address them today, let alone tomorrow! The people can no longer bear further price hikes, and this will result in devastating social repercussions.”
Khamenei likely perceives the explosive situation and the looming threat of a “Revolution of the Hungry Masses.” On Monday, November 25, during a meeting with Basij members, he stressed that “the Basij must be strengthened day by day across the country” and stated that its mission is to “counter the creation of chaos and disorder within the nation.”
But Khamenei is chasing the wind. The era of revolution—a revolution of the deprived and hungry—has arrived. As Victor Hugo aptly observed, “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”