Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, August 25, 2019–Ahmad Tavakoli, a member of the Iranian regime’s Expediency Council, wrote a letter to the head of the mullahs’ three branches, members of the government, Majlis (parliament) and the judiciary on the consequences of the skyrocketing housing prices in Tehran and across the country.
“Even if we have become deaf, we must definitely hear the sound of people’s bones breaking as they attempt to pay for their mortgages. There is no escaping these costs. Even if we pretend to be deaf, we must have heard the sounds by now. The government, engulfed in incompetence, is refusing to even take a look and has effectively tried to stay ‘neutral,’” he said.
“In the year 2000, if each family saved a third of their monthly income, they would be able to own a house in 12 years. This price has increased, reaching 31 years in 2015. This is a media and if we take into consideration the society’s lower class, one can say with the utmost certainty that this class, comprising the majority of our society, will never own a home,” Tavakoli continued.
“Based on the latest Central Bank report, the average cost of a home square meter in Tehran has risen to 133.5 million rials ($3,178 at the fixed state currency rate) in 2019. In such circumstances, the increasing problem of embezzlement, theft, bribery, deception and a variety of other financial crimes are no longer of any surprise,” he added.
“The number of empty homes has risen from 633,000 units from back in 2016 to 2.6 million units today,” Tavakoli further warned.
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In parallel with unprecedented sky-high prices of food, fuel, transportation, and healthcare, Iran is witnessing the skyrocketing housing prices.
Official reports lay the blame on the government-run “home hoarding mafia.” Hoarding of houses and real estate is not a secret issue anymore; the official Bank-e Maskan (Home Bank), which should be an organization that facilitates the solving of housing issues for the Iranian people is now itself a giant home hoarder.
On June 16, the state-run Tasnim News Agency ran an article titled, “Hoarding of home by Bank-e Maskan: what is the reason behind the keeping of 500 residential homes in Urmia?” Tasnim wrote, “It’s been more than 10 years since Bank-e Maskan has blatantly hoarded 500 residential homes in Urmia high-class district in Shora Street and around Urmia University. These residential homes not only have all the necessary needs of any home, but are even equipped with air conditioners, which are among least-priority necessities. But even in this situation, not a single person has been allowed to move in yet.”
While the Iranian people are struggling against poverty, the result of such circumstances made by the regime’s authorities and elements is that the home and rent prices have increased, which is comparable with coup-de-grace for the Iranian people's patience.
The Iranian regime’s state-run television aired a report about the Iranian people’s anger about the high home rent prices. In this report, a citizen says, “The skyrocketing price of home rent is killing us. God knows that with these prices we can do nothing but cry. Home rent price has increased but our wages haven’t, have subsidies changed for the weak strata? No, but the prices have seen a three- to ten-fold increase.”
According to conservative reports, 7 million families are living in rental homes. This figure accounts for 37 percent of Iran’s population.
In thousands of cases, many Iranian families are living in their own semi-ruined homes. A citizen from Tehran told the state-run television channel, “We are a family of eight, living in this ruined house. I swear to God that in this 60-meter-square house, I live with my son, daughter and my nephews.
The increase of home rent and housing prices are also a source of dispute between the regime’s factions in the Parliament. In a public session of the regime’s Majlis, MP Hosseinali Shahriari warned about another uprising against the regime. “The price of people’s necessities have increased 300-400 percent. The price of the housing has increased by 50-100 percent. Be afraid of the day where these people cannot bear this pressure and stand up against us,” Shahriari cautioned.
In November 2018, a state-run economic news website compared the home price in the least and the most expensive districts of Tehran, “This October, the home price in the first district of Tehran is over $1,900 per meter square, but the home price was $1,000 in the last October. This shows a 90-percent growth in the most expensive district of Tehran. In the 19th district, the least expensive area in Tehran, the prices increased from $270 to $400 in the same period, which shows 89-percent growth in home prices.”
The other side of the coin is the luxury life of regime officials and their houses and towers worth millions of dollars which they could afford by stealing from the Iranian people’s pockets through corruption and embezzlement.
While the luxury life of the regime’s elements is becoming more luxurious, the anger of the Iranian people is getting more and more.
However, the Iranian people no longer stay silent in face of the regime’s tyranny. Since the January 2018 uprisings, the Iranian people are using every opportunity to protest against the regime demanding their economic, social and political rights. The Iranian people’s continued nation-wide protests have made the regime desperate and frustrated.
While protests and unrests are escalating in Iran, PMOI/MEK resistance units are enjoying a public welcome as the only solution to put an end to the mullahs’ regime’s rule in Iran. The number of these units is growing, which helped them to widen the domain of their activities against the regime, a fact that the regime is discussing in the Majlis and their circles with growing alarm every day.
