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A torrent of revelations from within the clerical regime’s own institutions has torn away the last pretense of economic management in Tehran. What emerges is a portrait of a collapsing kleptocracy — one that prints money without backing, loots public wealth, and extracts revenue from the poorest citizens to fund its own survival.
Confessions of Plunder and Fiscal Anarchy
Two former Central Bank chiefs under former President Hassan Rouhani have publicly admitted to the regime’s systematic theft and reckless monetary manipulation. This week,
Valiollah Seif revealed that Rouhani personally ordered the unlimited sale of Iran’s gold reserves, dismissing warnings that the treasury would be empty within two years. “I’ll only be here two years more,” Rouhani reportedly told him — a confession that the ruling elite treats national wealth as a personal contingency fund.
His successor, Abdolnasser Hemmati, disclosed that the government injected more than 200 trillion tomans of unbacked liquidity into the economy, effectively printing money out of thin air. This, he admitted, had no productive basis — a desperate bid to delay fiscal collapse at the cost of hyperinflation.
These statements confirm what economists and Iranians have long known: the clerical regime’s financial policies are not miscalculations but acts of survival by rulers who view the economy as expendable. The resulting inflation, corruption, and currency collapse are the logical outcomes of a system built on unaccountable power.
#Iran’s Collapsing Economy: Corruption, Price Hikes, and a Regime Feeding on Its Peoplehttps://t.co/XqTwJ8kT7S
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 17, 2025
Masking Collapse: Deleting Zeros, Not Solving Problems
The regime’s latest maneuver — removing four zeros from the national currency — is a psychological trick to disguise the rial’s free fall. The Expediency Council approved the plan this month, despite acknowledging its futility. “This change has no real impact on value,” admitted Hadi Mohammadpour, a member of the regime’s parliament.
The move is an attempt to obscure the consequences of unrestrained money printing and an inflation rate that, according to the World Bank’s latest data, exceeded 40 percent year-over-year in the first half of 2025. With sanctions reactivated under the UN’s snapback mechanism and foreign reserves depleted, Tehran’s rulers have opted for cosmetic accounting over genuine change— replacing economic management with arithmetic illusion.
#Iran’s Economic Collapse Is Fueled by the Regime’s Political Choices, Not Sanctionshttps://t.co/mfbZhzWp6a
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 15, 2025
Fuel Prices and the Politics of Extortion
At the same time, regime officials are preparing the ground for a stealth increase in gasoline prices — a move that has historically triggered mass protests. Masoud Pezeshkian’s government now frames the hikes as “rationalization,” claiming to address overconsumption and smuggling. His spokesperson, Fatemeh Mohajerani, invoked “transparency” while citing rising import costs.
But the real purpose is fiscal extraction: squeezing ordinary families to fund the regime’s budget deficit and its vast patronage network. Even regime-aligned parliamentarians have warned that a three-tiered fuel pricing plan — with increases up to 500 percent — could spark nationwide unrest. This fear reveals the government’s dilemma: it cannot finance itself without impoverishing its citizens, nor can it reform without undermining the system’s corrupt foundations.
NCRI spox @gobadi told @marcogiann in @Daily_Express: "#Iran's regime is engulfed in crises on all fronts. Facing a collapsing economy, persistent power outages, and even difficulties in providing water- it is terrified of another nationwide uprising."https://t.co/J4heP4od0n
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) August 31, 2025
Women and the Vanishing Workforce
The crisis is not merely numerical. It is social and moral. According to official regime statistics, only 12 percent of Iranian women are employed, placing the country near the bottom of 185 surveyed nations. Four decades of misogynistic policy and structural discrimination have excluded half of Iran’s human capital from economic life. The result is stagnation, mass emigration, and a generation of educated women trapped in enforced dependency.
For the clerical establishment, this exclusion is not a failure — it is policy. An economy that rewards loyalty over competence cannot afford meritocratic participation, especially from women who challenge the regime’s patriarchal dogma.
#Iran’s Oil Wealth Drained as Regime Faces Economic Collapse Under Renewed UN Sanctionshttps://t.co/q2tTKGTkyH
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 5, 2025
Factions, Fantasy, and the Death of Governance
Meanwhile, the regime’s economic institutions are at war with themselves. The rift between Finance Minister Seyed-Ali Madanizadeh and Central Bank Governor Mohammadreza Farzin exposes the paralysis at the heart of policy. One faction demands a floating exchange rate to curb corruption; the other clings to artificial controls to preserve elite privileges.
Behind these disputes lies a deeper truth: no one governs. Decision-making has devolved into chaos, with rival ministries, banks, and Revolutionary Guard-linked conglomerates each pursuing survival at the expense of the whole. According to official data, the toman has breached 110,000 per dollar, inflation nears 50 percent, and public trust has collapsed.
This is not a cyclical downturn but the terminal stage of a political economy designed for plunder. Every zero printed, every gold coin sold, and every price hike imposed is a confession that the regime has exhausted all legitimate means of rule.
Aseman Airlines Scandal Exposes the Collapse and Corruption of #Iran’s Economyhttps://t.co/SVkYtyk7vH
— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) September 28, 2025
A System at War with Its Own People
Iran’s economic ruin is inseparable from the political structure that produced it. A state founded on clerical absolutism cannot sustain modern governance. Its rulers print money because they have reached rational bankruptcy; they repress dissent because they have no mandate; and they trade the nation’s future for the illusion of stability.
The growing chorus of dissent — from impoverished workers to striking teachers and defiant prisoners — now recognizes that these crises are not economic accidents but the consequences of theocracy itself.
Unless the foundations of this corrupt system are dismantled, Iran’s economy will continue its downward spiral — and with it, the last remnants of public patience. The regime may erase zeros from its currency, but it cannot erase the verdict of its own people: its time is running out.