Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, July 7, 2020—This week, the Iranian currency rial lost more value, reaching an all-time low of 220,000 against the U.S. dollar, a reflection of the extremely difficult economic situation. It is clear that, alongside the increase of the exchange rate, the price of all goods needed by the people will also rise.
“Workers' real wages have returned to below $100, and the cash subsidy that was worth $45 in 2010 is about $2 this year,” wrote the state-run Etemad Daily.
The Resalat Daily wrote: “The wage of the Iranian workers is half that of Libyan workers. A worker in Turkey earns 10 times more than an Iranian worker. Even Iraqi workers with a monthly salary of $220 earn two times more than Iranian workers, who get less than $100 monthly.”
Without a doubt, the government of Hassan Rouhani plays an important role in the skyrocketing prices. The government is playing with currency exchange rates to further loot what little is left of the people’s wealth. A worker who earned $200 per month before now earns less than $100, and half of their salary goes into the pockets of the regime. Also, small business owners have lost around 25 percent of their capital during the past month.
How the regime plans to remedy the economic situation
The Head of the National Livestock Suppliers Council mentioned the export of 200,000 sheep and 100,000 calves with official export licenses. At the same time, several times this number of cows, sheep, chickens, and eggs are smuggled out of the country. This unbridled export has caused an unprecedented hike in the price of these vital goods, the beneficiary of which are regime-linked traders. Meanwhile many Iranian families are unable to by even have one portion of meat per year. Meat is priced at 1 million rials per kilo and has become an unattainable commodity for many families. Also, fruit and vegetables are going to be added to the wish lists of deprived people.
While a lot of the highlights of the economic situation goes to the incumbent Rouhani government, this cruel economic policy is clearly dictated by the Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and only executed by Rouhani’s government. A regime economist told Arman Daily on July 6: “The continuing rise of price of currency and the economic policies in Iran is beyond the government—the entire political-economic system has decided to pay the country’s expenses from the people's pockets.”
In this regard, calling for Rouhani’s impeachment by the so-called hardliner MP’s in the Majlis (regime’s parliament) is nothing but a decoy to cover up and distract the public opinion about the reality that economic corruption is a plague that encompasses the entirety of the ruling regime.
This corrupt economic system, which prioritizes the regime’s hold on power over the well-being of the people, can further be seen in the regime’s criminal decision to continue spending its wealth on foreign terrorism, nuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles while the entire country struggles with the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Iranian regime Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was summoned for questioning before the new Majlis (the mullahs’ parliament) for the first time on Sunday, July 5. The quarrels and disputes that erupted shed new light and provided an intriguing window into the internal disputes and crises that are riddling the mullahs’ entire apparatus.
“Our foreign policy is not a subject where different factions or groups can argue about. Our foreign policy is under the authority of [Iranian regime Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei] and the state’s general policies regarding foreign affairs are determined by him. You should know that we are all in the same boat. We are all in this together. America doesn’t recognize liberals, reformists, principality, revolutionaries or non-revolutionaries. We are all in one boat,” Zarif explained with grave concerns about the escalating political disputes inside the mullahs’ regime.
The reality is that the regime is unable to decrease the powder-keg situation of the Iranian society with these maneuvers. Therefore, many regime officials and experts warn constantly for the explosive situation of the society.
In this regard, MP Mahmoud Ahmadi Bighash mentioned the “rising crisis of public mistrust” toward the regime during his remarks in the Majlis on July 5. “The crisis of people's necessities may have dire consequences this year,” Bighash said and added that this situation can possibly overshadow the regime’s 2021 presidential elections and can even prevent it from being held or postponed. Bighash demanded “necessary measures to be considered” and warned: “Otherwise it will have consequences.”
Earlier, Hassan Rouhani described 2020 as the toughest year in terms of economic pressure and the novel coronavirus pandemic. Rouhani compared this year with 1981, which he described as the toughest year in terms of security.
The year 1981 marks the beginning of the struggle of the Iranian opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) against the mullahs in which the regime was facing its imminent overthrow.
