{"id":338721,"date":"2025-10-30T16:23:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:23:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=338721"},"modified":"2025-10-30T16:23:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:23:09","slug":"iran-confronts-food-safety-crisis-deepening-poverty-and-entrenched-corruption-as-internal-pressures-converge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/economy\/iran-confronts-food-safety-crisis-deepening-poverty-and-entrenched-corruption-as-internal-pressures-converge\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran Confronts Food Safety Crisis, Deepening Poverty, and Entrenched Corruption as Internal Pressures Converge"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An Iranian livestock worker in protective gear administers treatment to cattle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

A combination of rising food insecurity, collapsing livestock health, plans to cut millions from cash subsidies, and new admissions of entrenched oligarchic control is intensifying pressure on Iran\u2019s already strained social and economic landscape. At the same time, persistent inflation and continued digital restrictions signal that the clerical regime is prioritizing political control and elite interests over public welfare. The convergence of these developments points not to isolated missteps, but to a governing system struggling to maintain basic stability.<\/p>\n

Livestock Disease Linked to Unregulated Imports<\/h2>\n

On October 29, Ahmad Moghaddasi, head of the Cattle Breeders Association, warned<\/a> that uncontrolled and unhygienic imports of live animals and meat have introduced a new African strain of foot-and-mouth disease into domestic herds. He stated that the outbreak has now reached the \u201cheart of the country,\u201d including Tehran and adjacent provinces, and is spreading rapidly.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome and see what is happening in the herds,\u201d he said. \u201cThe animals are collapsing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He emphasized that the disease entered from countries \u201cwith no sanitary standards,\u201d describing the strain as a \u201cnew African variant\u201d now destroying livestock. He also noted that meat imported through northern neighbors had been diverted to Iraq after failing quality compliance there \u2014 raising concerns that contaminated product may have circulated domestically.<\/p>\n

Producers argue this is the consequence of policy choices favoring imports over sustaining domestic agriculture. With rising feed costs and long-term underinvestment, breeders say their sector was already near collapse; the disease accelerates loss and threatens long-term protein security.<\/p>\n

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#Iran<\/a> Regime\u2019s Food Monopoly: How Three Oligarch Families Looted Billions While Iranians Go Hungryhttps:\/\/t.co\/DWbAcci7q5<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) October 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n