{"id":329765,"date":"2025-03-23T17:57:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T16:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=329765"},"modified":"2025-11-04T19:36:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T18:36:19","slug":"fact-checking-khameneis-nowruz-speech-in-iran-reveals-economic-crisis-and-veiled-response-to-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/fact-checking-khameneis-nowruz-speech-in-iran-reveals-economic-crisis-and-veiled-response-to-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact-Checking Khamenei\u2019s Nowruz Speech in Iran Reveals Economic Crisis and Veiled Response to U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Iranian
Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addressed his followers on March 21, 2025, in Tehran, Iran’s capital<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-minute read<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

On March 21, 2025, Ali Khamenei delivered his annual Nowruz speech<\/a> in northern Tehran, addressing a tightly vetted and demoralized group of regime loyalists. Under the shadow of domestic unrest, regional failures, and mounting international pressure, Khamenei resorted to his usual cocktail of religious sanctimony, economic doublespeak, and geopolitical deflection. While posturing as a moral leader, he painted a distorted picture of the country\u2019s situation, presenting himself as both above the political fray and the guiding hand of the nation. A closer fact-check of his claims, however, reveals a desperate bid to salvage the clerical dictatorship\u2019s eroding legitimacy at home and abroad.<\/p>\n

A Call to Enrich Regime Conglomerates<\/h3>\n

Khamenei designated the Persian year 1404 (March 2025\u2013March 2026) as the year of \u201cinvestment for production,\u201d urging Iranians to channel their money into domestic ventures. \u201cWhen we say investment, we don\u2019t mean foreign investment,\u201d he emphasized. \u201cWe mean domestic investment \u2014 people should not spend their liquidity on gold, foreign currency, or land.\u201d<\/p>\n

What he failed to mention is that productive sectors in Iran are dominated by entities under his direct control \u2014 including the IRGC, the Astan Quds Razavi, and massive holding companies like Setad (EIKO)<\/a> and Bonyads. These institutions have a long record of embezzlement and economic mismanagement. Worse, previous calls for public investment \u2014 such as his 2020 promotion<\/a> of stock market participation \u2014 ended in catastrophe when markets crashed<\/a>, wiping out the savings of ordinary citizens while regime insiders profited.<\/p>\n

Khamenei further stressed that \u201csmall or large-scale investments are all useful and necessary\u201d, but again ignored that knowledge-based companies \u2014 the supposed target of this call \u2014 are largely controlled by military and clerical conglomerates. These same entities are now facing protests across the country by defrauded investors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Khamenei\u2019s Survival at Stake in #Iran<\/a>\u2014Refuses Talks, Doubles Down on Hostilityhttps:\/\/t.co\/2QEJdEgIXI<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) March 13, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n