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Iran Regime’s Internal Disputes Over Currency Crisis

Rohani-IRGC

NCRI Staff

NCRI – The Iranian regime is facing crisis on numerous fronts. The people have been calling for regime change and have held anti-government demonstrations in which they condemn the corruption which has engulfed all levels of the country’s leadership.

The people have pointed out that they will never experience true freedom or democracy under the current regime and realise that their human rights will never be respected for as long as the mullahs hold power.

Another area that is causing trouble for the regime is the uncertainty surrounding the future of the 2015 nuclear agreement. United States President Donald Trump has given the signatories of the deal a deadline of 12th May to strengthen the deal, fix its flaws and address Iran’s belligerent actions in the region and its ballistic missile program.

Depending on what Trump decides to do with the deal, it could mean that the crippling economic sanctions that were lifted under the Obama administration could be reimposed. This is making the economic crisis worse and is having a profound impact on the currency troubles that are affecting many Iranian businesses and individuals.

Once again, during times of crisis, the regime shows its weaknesses with infighting. At the weekend, Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s president, hinted that the notorious Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was to blame for the weakening of the Iranian rial caused by the dollar hike. He said that the Iranian central bank has a strong policy but said that unnamed parties have been trying to smuggle banknotes out of the country.

He maintained that his government has taken the necessary steps to ensure the needs of the market, mentioning dollars in particular, and said that the shortage is a surprise.

Certain media outlets outright accused the IRGC’s economic institutions of converting assets to the dollar resulting in a shortage of hard dollars.

The Iranian president said that his government had put in place measures to stabilise the rial’s rate against the dollar in case the United States exited the deal next month. The rial hit its lowest level ever at the beginning of the month, with many blaming the uncertainty of the 2015 nuclear deal following Trump’s threats to exit. If he does exit, it will likely result in the reimposition of crippling sanctions.

The insinuations and blame that is thrown about between the different factions of the regime is a sure sign of internal chaos. The president even responded to the threats from the IRGC, ordering his government officials to ignore them.

Since the end of last year, the regime has been struggling to manage the domestic discontent. It reacted to the protests by claiming that other countries were involved in the organisation and financing. The regime even acknowledged that the main opposition group, the PMOI / MEK played a huge role. Tellingly, this shows that the regime sees the opposition as more of a threat that it had previously admitted. On numerous occasions, Iranian officials have tried to claim that the PMOI has very little following in the country.