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Iran’s economic collapse is accelerating, and the signs of a regime on the brink are clearer than ever. From a crumbling healthcare system and staggering inflation to catastrophic gas shortages and escalating public protests, the clerical regime’s failures are now so vast that even its own officials are sounding the alarm. Yet, as the regime clings to power through repression and manipulation, it remains unwilling to address the structural crises it has created.
A Healthcare System in Crisis
On April 5, 2025, Mohammad Jamalian, a member of the parliamentary Health Commission, warned that Iran’s healthcare crisis has now become a security threat. “When a father or mother is desperately searching for medicine for their child and cannot find it or afford it, we have to accept that such a person might do something dangerous,” he said.
Jamalian’s comments were not mere exaggeration. According to another parliamentary official, Mohammad-Ali Mohseni Bandpey, the number of scarce medicines has surpassed 200, with the potential for this crisis to spiral into a “social and political catastrophe.”
Reports have highlighted rampant hoarding, smuggling, and price-fixing as root causes of the medication crisis. Jamalian admitted that drug trafficking is incentivized by the cheaper price of Iranian medicine compared to neighboring countries. However, he noted that the root cause of this corruption lies within Iran’s own pharmaceutical production centers, overseen by the Ministry of Health.
#Iran News: Shargh Daily Warns of Impending “Bread Uprising” Amidst Economic Collapsehttps://t.co/fxXKTuIfMC
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) April 1, 2025
Making matters worse, pharmacies across Iran are on the verge of bankruptcy due to the government’s failure to pay insurance claims. The Iranian Pharmacists Association warned the regime’s Supreme National Security Council that Social Security had only paid 8.8% of its debts to pharmacies. Yet, the government remains unresponsive, leaving pharmacies to close or operate at unbearable losses. Meanwhile, the share of healthcare costs paid directly by citizens has soared to nearly 70%.
Gas Crisis and Energy Mismanagement
Iran’s catastrophic gas crisis has only worsened with each passing year. According to a state-affiliated energy expert, Mostafa Mohammadzadeh, if production remains stagnant and critical projects like the Chabahar Gas Line, Pakistan Gas Line, and Peace Pipeline continue to languish, the country will face even graver consequences. Despite Iran’s vast natural gas reserves, the regime’s chronic mismanagement and corruption have driven the nation toward an energy disaster.
As energy production falters, prices for everyday essentials continue to skyrocket. Last year alone, the price of medicine increased by as much as 450%, dental services by 180%, and doctor visit fees by 125%. Yet, the Iranian Statistics Center claims healthcare inflation is only 30%—a brazen lie contradicted by citizens’ daily experiences.
#Iran News: State Officials Voice Fear Over Economic Collapse, International Isolation, and Domestic Unresthttps://t.co/mLNMZJ72ok
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 30, 2025
Hyperinflation and Currency Collapse
Meanwhile, the Iranian rial continues to collapse. According to a government-affiliated news outlet, Tejarat News, economic experts predict the U.S. dollar could reach as high as 140,000 tomans this year. If that prediction holds true, the price of gold is expected to skyrocket to 10 million tomans per gram. Such hyperinflation would not only devastate the purchasing power of ordinary Iranians but would also drive production costs to unprecedented levels.
Officially, Iran’s inflation rate has surpassed 50% for seven consecutive years. As state-affiliated economist Vahid Shaghaghi noted on April 1, 2025, the nation has experienced “seven consecutive years of double-digit inflation” and remains on the brink of hyperinflation. The regime’s economic incompetence has left it unable to curb the devastating effects of its own corruption and mismanagement.
Workers’ Wages and Public Discontent
Amid these spiraling crises, the regime continues to neglect the welfare of its citizens. According to Hossein Habibi, a member of the state-sanctioned Labor Councils’ Board of Directors, the actual cost of living now exceeds 50 million tomans per month. The official minimum wage, around 10.4 million tomans, remains a pittance, unable to cover even basic necessities.
The situation is so dire that working families now spend 58% of their income on food alone, forcing them to rely on installment payments to afford basic groceries. Such economic desperation is fueling public outrage, as evident in dozens of protests held by retirees last year alone. From telecommunications workers to steel industry retirees, demonstrators have repeatedly taken to the streets to demand their unpaid pensions and fair compensation.
#Iran’s Clerical Regime Engulfed in Infighting Amid #Economic Collapse and Public Discontenthttps://t.co/i19E18Q8x6
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) January 7, 2025
A Regime Devouring Its Own Economy
The regime’s corruption and negligence are not limited to healthcare, gas production, or currency management. Even industries meant to support the public have become tools of exploitation. Mohammadreza Bahonar, a member of the Expediency Council, recently revealed that Mobarakeh Steel Company earned over 100 trillion tomans in profit last year, only for these revenues to be funneled toward state-affiliated banks, military institutions, and crony organizations.
Despite its propaganda about fighting for the poor and standing against oppression, the regime has only enriched itself at the people’s expense. Institutions like Bank Sepah, the Justice Shares Organization, and IMIDRO all serve the interests of Iran’s corrupt elites.
Iran’s economic collapse is not a consequence of external sanctions or bad luck; it is the direct result of a regime that values self-preservation over the welfare of its people. As healthcare collapses, inflation soars, and industries fall prey to state looting, the Iranian people are left to suffer. Yet, their resilience and ongoing protests reveal a fundamental truth: the clerical regime’s incompetence cannot last forever.
The world must recognize that Iran’s crisis is not merely economic; it is a political struggle between a regime desperate to maintain power and a people determined to reclaim their country’s future.