Reporting by PMOI/MEK
Iran, September 26, 2020—In an interview with the state-run Tasnim news agency on September 25, Hamidreza Imam Gholi Tabar, Inspector of the Supreme Assembly of Workers' Representatives, said, “Many of workers can’t afford buying a cell phone for their children’s education.” This will prevent their children from attending online classes during the coronavirus pandemic to avoid exposure to the virus.
“In recent years, the people, especially the workers, have been affected by the most severe economic pressures such as rampant inflation, declining incomes and declining purchasing power, increasing poverty, and recently, coronavirus, an uninvited guest has been added to this list. These problems have overshadowed the management and normal life of the workers and have led them to a dead end in covering their daily expenses. On the other hand, in recent months, tuition fees imposed on the workers is another challenge that has increasingly caused difficulties for them because their meager income will not even cover their housing expenses,” Imam Gholi Tabar added about workers’ problems in providing proper education for their children in current difficult situation.
The regime official added: “In these circumstances, they are not able to provide other expenses such as their children's education, because the factors mentioned above have led to the fall of this segment of the society below the poverty line and into absolute poverty. This is emphasized by the fact that, according to the definition of international organizations, the poverty line is the minimum income that allows a person ot live in a country. According to the estimate of about 100 million rials (approx. $357) as our country's poverty line for a family of four, and optimistically considering workers receive a monthly salary of 30 million rials (approx. $107), it can be easily proven that workers (more than half of our population) live in absolute poverty.”
In his remarks, Imam Gholi Tabar also said: “Thus, schools insisting parents pay expenses such as registration fees; and purchasing goods such as uniform, accessories, and stationery, amid coronavirus outbreak, have baffled workers. Suppose we add the purchase of cellphones for students to this list. In that case, we can clearly see officials instruct families [to purchase goods] without paying attention to their financial situation.
“In these circumstances, the purchase of the mentioned items requires an average of 60-70 million rials (approx. $214-250), which in the current situation is not possible for the parents of these students, even in installments, because those who live in absolute poverty and whose salary is spent in the first week of each month only to pay the rent cannot procure the above items, even in installments.
“If no practical solution is found to solve the above challenge, workers will certainly prevent their children from continuing their education due to lack of sufficient income. Because in the shadow of discrimination and the lack of any support for the working class and the vulnerable sectors of the society, survival will be their first priority and the education of their children will be at a much lower priority.”
As this regime official implicitly acknowledged, the deteriorating economic conditions and the regime’s disinterest in addressing the financial issues of working-class families will only lead to the expansion of the population of labor children in Iran. This is not the first time that officials are warning about the deteriorating economic conditions of the Iranian population.
As the new school year begins in #Iran, millions of children are deprived of an education due to the poverty imposed by the mullahs' regime.#40YearsOfFailurehttps://t.co/DMa1gRq4K1
— People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) (@Mojahedineng) September 26, 2019
In the meeting held in the Majlis (parliament) on Wednesday, regime MPs discussed the living conditions and problems of the people.
Criticizing regime president Hassan Rouhani, MP Hossein Khosravi said, “Mr. President, you remember these economic promises! You said that we should act on the policies announced by our Supreme Leader, not just chant slogans. Did you really act?
“Your slogan was to save Iran's economy. Now markets like the stock market, currency and cars are drowning in chaos. … Despite the increase in the nominal income of households, the purchase power of every Iranian has decreased by one-third in comparison to 2011.
“We saw the price of dollar rise severalfold in a few months. Where is the problem?
“Do not you hear the cries of different classes of workers and employees, such as preschool teachers, contract teachers, the disabled, the workers of telecommunication company, and the children of the martyrs, many of people who are drowning in problems, outside the parliament?
“The JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), was supposed to solve all the problems of the country, now the honorable president describes access to water and electricity as an achievement. Isn't that a surprise?”
In Tuesday’s Majlis (Parliament) session, Shiva Ghassemipour, MP from Kurdistan province, said, “The way things are going, in the next few months, bread will disappear from the people’s tables, as has happened with meat and eggs.”
The MP added, “After all these years, we must ask ourselves, was there no solution to this situation?… Our officials don’t do anything to help the impoverished segments of the society, whose numbers are increasing every day. When did we promise to create havens for the rich, give shelter to the corrupt, and deprive the poor from the power to buy eggs?”
Ghassemipour said, “The government prides in having provided all the needs of the people, but at what price? When the people don’t have the purchase power, there’s not use… We’ve seen time and again that officials who speak on national television aren’t even aware of the prices of goods, they don’t know that the people are so desperate that they are selling their body organs to make ends meet… Do the meager salaries match the explosion of prices?”
