Public employees’ payslips surface online, sparking widespread anger as country’s economy continues to stagnate
Revelations that senior Iranian regime employees were being paid astronomical salaries have rocked the country and threatened popular anger, amid Iran’s continued economic stagnation, little improved by the lifting of international sanctions in January.
The revelations, which have sparked widespread anger, have continued to dominate front pages across the country, and even led to the resignation of the head of the state insurance regulator, Mohammad Ebrahim Amin.
The scandal first erupted two months ago when a series of payslips surfaced online, which showed a number of top executives at the state insurance company were being paid monthly wages roughly 50 times higher than the lowest government salary.
Before stepping down from his position, Amin had attempted to explain away the salaries, claiming that the leaked payslips showed disproportionately high salaries because they included employees’ back pay, owed from previous years. But his comments did little to quell nationwide outrage, amid new and continuing revelations about inflated salaries in other government departments.
It is not known who leaked the insurance company’s payslips, which in one case showed a payout of more than 870m rials (£17,400) in a single month. The lowest monthly government salary is estimated to be about 9m rials (£180). Under Iranian law, the highest salary for a government employee cannot be more than 10 times that of its lowest.
The scandal comes at a delicate time for Rouhani, who has come under increasing pressure to boost the country’s economy, an expected outcome of securing the nuclear agreement and the subsequent lifting of sanctions.
Iranian economy has remained stagnant, with workers throughout the country protesting for higher wages and pensions in recent months.
Source: Extracted from a Gardian article, June 17, 2016
