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Tehran’s parliament session on November 26 was marked by alarm and repeated calls for immediate action from the regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to avert a potential uprising, reflecting the growing dread within the clerical regime over Iran’s dire economic conditions. While outwardly addressing the regime’s president Masoud Pezeshkian, it was clear that the real target of the appeals was the ultimate decision-maker, Khamenei.
Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf set the tone, highlighting the nation’s deteriorating energy and oil sectors. “We no longer have oil to threaten our enemies,” he lamented, referring to the regime’s past tactics of leveraging oil exports against Western adversaries. “Once, we could say we’d shut off the oil, but now, with what oil? And to which market?” Ghalibaf admitted that even if production increased, transportation constraints and market access would still hinder Iran’s oil exports. He also pointed to the country’s energy imbalance, which has disrupted economic growth and reduced government tax revenues from industries. The recent gas shortages, which led to widespread power outages, underscored the severity of the crisis.
Economic hardship was further underscored by Parliament member Hossein Samsami, who attributed rampant inflation and a plummeting national currency to the Central Bank’s policies. He warned Pezeshkian that failure to reverse these “destructive” measures would force lawmakers to invoke legal mechanisms such as impeachment. Samsami revealed that the Central Bank had raised the exchange rate for the secondary market (NIMA) by over 50,000 tomans since the beginning of the year, exacerbating inflation.
Regime’s Fear Mounts as #Iranian Officials Warn of Economic Collapse and Public Outragehttps://t.co/eYd3ctUroe
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) November 24, 2024
Meanwhile, MP Mehrdad Lahouti criticized the government’s reliance on unsustainable financial practices. Highlighting a budget deficit of 1,800 trillion tomans, Lahouti explained that much of it was being financed by issuing bonds with exorbitant 23% interest rates or tapping into the already depleted National Development Fund. “There’s nothing left in the fund—it’s 32 billion dollars in the red,” he said, warning of a looming financial collapse
Other MPs decried the regime’s failure to address fundamental issues. Nasrollah Pejmanfar criticized mismanagement in the energy sector, pointing to inadequate pollution controls in oil-burning power plants. MP Ghasem Ravanbakhsh accused the government of worsening public discontent through skyrocketing commodity prices, flawed appointments, and inflationary policies that have left many Iranians struggling to afford basic necessities.
Economic experts and regime-affiliated media have echoed these warnings. At a recent budget review session, Hojjatollah Mirzaei of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce described the country’s dependence on China for oil exports as “a 19th-century colonial trap.” He revealed that 92% of Iran’s oil goes to China at a 30% discount, with Beijing dictating the goods it sends in exchange.
#IranProtests: Demonstrations Spread Across Provinces Amid Widespread Economic and #Social Grievanceshttps://t.co/dmwkuq9pAM
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) November 20, 2024
In its November 25 edition, Ettelaat newspaper published an article titled “The Government Should Take Its Hands Out of People’s Pockets,” criticizing the relentless rise in costs burdening ordinary Iranians. The article highlighted a 33% surge in car prices, a 38% increase in electricity tariffs, and higher gas and internet bills, alongside skyrocketing prices for staples like bread, eggs, and tomatoes. It described the cumulative effect of these increases as a “never-ending list” of financial strain on the public.
Jahan-e Sanat, in its November 25 headline “The Woes of Declining Purchasing Power,” painted an even grimmer picture. It warned that the drastic imbalance between income and expenses for most Iranian households has brought many to the brink of financial collapse. The paper emphasized how dwindling purchasing power threatens to shutter businesses, both large and small, and massively expand the country’s already overwhelming ranks of the unemployed. Without swift and fundamental reforms, it cautioned, the resulting chaos would ultimately rebound on the government itself.
On November 24, Bourse News sounded an alarm with its stark headline: “Say Goodbye to Investment in Iran.” The article questioned whether any rational investor would risk funds on industrial ventures or factories yielding slim 10-15% profit margins when safer options like gold, foreign currency, or bank deposits promise returns of 30-35% with little to no effort. This, it concluded, reflects the death knell for productive investment in Iran’s economic landscape.
The regime’s inability to resolve its economic crises and mounting public discontent signals a volatile future. The warnings from lawmakers, experts, and even regime-controlled media are not just cries for reform—they are recognition of a system stretched to its limits. With inflation soaring, the national currency in freefall, and reliance on heavily discounted oil exports to China, the regime’s economic model appears increasingly untenable. For a government haunted by past uprisings, the specter of renewed unrest looms large.