{"id":339739,"date":"2025-11-25T14:03:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T13:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=339739"},"modified":"2025-11-25T14:04:03","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T13:04:03","slug":"how-irans-regime-trades-health-and-welfare-for-self-preservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/economy\/how-irans-regime-trades-health-and-welfare-for-self-preservation\/","title":{"rendered":"How Iran\u2019s Regime Trades People’s Health and Welfare for Self-Preservation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Protesters in Arak, central Iran, hold placards to protest severe air pollution in 2024<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

The current snapshot of Iran\u2019s political economy reveals a regime engaged in a corrupt and hypocritical calculus, sacrificing the basic health, economic stability, and even the physical environment of its populace to maintain its own power and fill the coffers of its affiliated networks. From the deepening environmental crises driven by policy failure to the dismantling of social safety nets and the open confession of systemic corruption, the ruling structure is exposed as one that prioritizes the printing of money and the propagation of propaganda over the welfare of the nation.<\/p>\n

Fuel, Propaganda, and Poisoned Air<\/h2>\n

The regime’s energy policy is a direct engine of public suffering and a clear example of its internal contradictions. As gas supplies falter due to structural mismanagement, power plants are forced to burn enormous quantities of Mazut, a heavy, polluting fuel. State media reports confirm that Mazut consumption in power plants recently surpassed 21 million liters<\/a> in a single day, a volume that would require an oil tanker convoy stretching 14 kilometers.<\/p>\n

The social cost of this energy failure is staggering: the regime\u2019s own Ministry of Health estimates that 59,000 deaths annually in Iran are attributable to air pollution, with nearly 7,000 deaths in Tehran<\/a> alone. The regime effectively chooses to poison its citizens rather than address the underlying structural corruption and mismanagement that starves power plants of clean fuel.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, the regime is laying the groundwork for a new, politically explosive hike in gasoline prices. Official sites report the start of a pilot program to eliminate the generic station fuel cards; a move analysts view as a precursor to raising the price of gasoline purchased outside the basic subsidized rations. This tactic echoes the catastrophic decision-making that triggered the 2019 protests<\/a>, with the spokesperson for the station owners’ guild publicly calling the 2019 price increase the \u201cworst decision and execution.\u201d The government\u2019s attempt to introduce new constraints and price tiers is not an economic solution, but a desperate, high-stakes gamble to manage an inevitable financial collapse.<\/p>\n

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#Iran<\/a> Air Pollution Linked to Nearly 59,000 Deaths Last Year, Health Ministry Official Sayshttps:\/\/t.co\/q3ThSmXK15<\/a><\/p>\n

— NCRI-FAC (@iran_policy) November 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n