Iran’s state-run media now warn that the future will witness more social protests due to the regime’s economic mismanagement.
“The budget and dollar currency exchange rate of 110,000 rials confirm who was behind raising the currency exchange rate. Certainly, the continuation of the current situation puts the social and political consequences in the country’s not-too-distant future. Therefore, the authorities are forced to change these orientations. Otherwise, they must bear the irreparable costs,” wrote state-run Arman-e Meli daily on Tuesday. Arman-e Meli’s article once again highlights the regime is the source of all economic problems in Iran.
Recently, Hassan Rouhani’s government has increased the prices of essential items. Arman-e Meli called this a “huge error.” The regime’s state-run media warns the regime’s authorities that rising prices of essential goods could spark another nationwide uprising, as it did in November 2019, after the government tripled the fuel price overnight.
“November reminds all Iranians of the overnight increase in gasoline prices and the price of various goods in 2019. With the increase in the prices of essential goods, the memory of November 2019 is coming to life again. Given the rise in prices in the days since November, it looks like next month’s statistics center reports will be even more bitter than last month,” wrote Vatan-e Emrooz daily on Monday.
Mullahs’ mismanagement: the real problem of Iran’s economy
The regime has been trying to depict international sanctions as the real reason for Iran’s economy’s freefall. The regime’s apologists have been parroting the same talking point, paving the way for the appeasement policy.
But the state-run media acknowledge that the clerical regime’s wrong economic infrastructure is the real reason for Iran’s economic collapse.
“The economic crisis must be sought in the wrong economic structure of the country. This structure has several components, some of which are redundant, some of which are weak, and some are annoying. This heterogeneous set has crippled the country’s economy. When goods such as tomatoes, eggs, poultry, red meat, and onions become more expensive, all organizations and institutions leave comments and promise to solve the problem. Still, nothing happens,” wrote the state-run Jomhuri-e Eslami in this regard on Wednesday.
“This wrong structural combination has elevated embezzlement to its highest level, given a minority many opportunities, and trapped the entire population in the maze of poverty. The class gap is widening every day. While some get astronomical salaries, the majority of people are falling below the poverty line every day. Every moment the knife gets closer to people’s bones. This wound will soon reopen and become a problem for the ruling system,” Jomhuri-e Eslami warned.
“There is money, but there is no economic management,” Mojtaba Yousefi, the head of the parliamentary industry support faction, told the state-run Seday-e Eslahat on Wednesday.
In other words, the regime has the means to support people but refuses to do so. Reuters recently reported that the mullahs’ regime will spend “$600 million” for the “expansion at the Imam Hussein shrine” in Iraq. Besides its financial outcomes for the regime, particularly the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), which oversees this project, its primary goal is to expand its influence in Iraq.
All the while, the people of Iran are grappling with Covid-19 and poverty. So, what will be the outcome?
“The truth is that Iran is in an unfavorable economic situation, and any ill-considered move by the authorities could have adverse and severe economic and social effects on people’s lives,” wrote Ebtekar daily on Wednesday.
The regime’s ongoing economic mismanagement has turned the Iranian society into a powder keg ready to explode. It only takes a spark for this powder keg to explode and burn the entire regime.