![\"Iran-Economy\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/04\/Iran-Economy.jpg\" "\\"Iran-Economy\\"")
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NCRI Staff<\/p>\n
NCRI –\u00a0A rapid foreign currency appreciation over the past few days has decreased Iranian rial\u2019s purchasing power by 40 percent.<\/p>\n
This means that an Iranian worker or employee, who until a few days ago had to pay 1,000,000 tomans for purchasing some specific items, now has to pay 1,400,000 to obtain those same items.<\/p>\n
Iranian regime officials meanwhile are trying to attribute foreign currency appreciation to such external factors like Telegram application and enemies\u2019 plots.<\/p>\n
Pointing to Rouhani government\u2019s inability to curb currency chaos, regime MP \u2018Aziz Akbari\u2019 says \u201cthe government\u2019s economic team is not acting in a coordinated manner, moving like a car that has neither a driver nor a steering wheel; Quite a miracle that it\u2019s even moving. People have no trust in the banking system, the government\u2019s economic team and even the parliament. For how long are we going to ignore this?\u201d (Regime\u2019s Radio-Farhang, April 10, 2018)<\/p>\n
Even regime\u2019s economic experts believe that the government\u2019s decision to stabilize the value of US dollar at 4,200 tomans is just a maneuver and a shock to a collapsed economy that not only fails to resolve any of people\u2019s problems, but will even accelerate the fall.<\/p>\n
In an article titled \u201cthe 4200-toman dollar won\u2019t be operational\u201d, a state-run website quotes member of regime\u2019s chamber of commerce \u2018Mehdi Pourghazi\u2019 as saying \u201cI think the officials need to be shaken up and given a shock as they\u2019re not aware that the paths they\u2019re following are actually directing us closer to a fall.\u201d (State-run Tabnak website, April 10, 2018)<\/p>\n
Ali Tajernia, former regime\u2019s MP, meanwhile blames Rouhani government\u2019s \u2018disintegrated decision-making structure\u2019 for staggering increase in the value of foreign currencies. Concerned about a possible regime instability due to currency appreciation, Tajernia says \u201csuch issues could definitely lead to some crises and failures, which in turn could irreparably hurt the society if not resolved. \u201c (State-run ILNA news agency, April 10, 2018)<\/p>\n
In an article titled \u201csociety\u2019s soul trampled under the hooves of dollar\u201d, state-run Fararou website on April 10, 2018, writes \u201cpeople\u2019s tendency towards converting their national currency to foreign ones should be placed in a bigger context called \u2018distrust\u2019, meaning that our society is in a state where its future is by no means predictable. When a society is this much confused and disoriented people will definitely fail to make normal decisions. And when people are constantly and generationally faced with crisis, the situation is always critical and instable in their minds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referring to the late December nationwide uprising, state-run ILNA news agency on April 10, 2018, acknowledges that the protests were the result of regime\u2019s discrimination, corruption and injustice practiced against Iranian people and that the regime\u2019s current crises are beyond being resolved, saying \u201cif a timely treatment is neglected, no doubt the viruses will take the time and infect the wounds. A treatment at this stage will be more complicated, more time-consuming and more costly. And if the disease leads to cancer, then no treatment at all would be applicable.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear that the currency crisis is the result of accumulated, unresolved economic problems that are now threatening the regime in its entirety. That\u2019s why Abbas Akhundi, Minister of Urban Development in Rouhani\u2019s government, sees the regime in a challenging situation with very low level of satisfaction among different social strata.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are close to five million poor people living in marginal areas of the city of Tehran with its 12-13 million population. You don\u2019t need to prove the high degree of social disintegration and identity crisis in Tehran and other big cities across the country. The fact is that fear of the future heavily weighs on our young people. The key point in my remarks is that the problems are rooted in \u2018social dislocation\u2019. We suffer a dislocated identity, history, society and culture, all because the concept of Iran (the regime) has been alienated\u201d, says Akhundi. (State-run ISNA news agency, April 10, 2018)<\/p>\n
It now becomes clear what a \u2018disintegrated decision-making structure\u2019 means when it comes to resolving these challenges, and in this case harnessing the currency crisis.<\/p>\n