Iranians See Mismanagement, US Sanctions At Root Of Economic Crisis
Prices in Iran have risen five to ten-fold since 2018, impoverishing tens of millions and widening income gaps, the head of construction workers' union says.
Prices in Iran have risen five to ten-fold since 2018, impoverishing tens of millions and widening income gaps, the head of construction workers' union says.
Cumulative inflation in the construction industry has been 700 percent, while wages for workers has maybe doubled, Akbar Shokat the national chairman of construction workers unions told the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) this week.
Shokat said while each square meter of building construction cost 10 million rials three years ago, now it costs 70-80 million. The same applies to food workers have to buy. One kilo of red meat cost 250 rials in 2018 while now the price has reached 1.6 million rials.
The examples mentioned by the union leader clearly show the impact of ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions imposed by the United States after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear accord in May 2018. It also shows that inflationary pressures picked up as time passed, averaging above 40 percent in 2021.
While with US sanctions Iran’s currency nosedived in 2018, it took months for annual inflation to increase to above 30 and then 40 percent. The currency, rial dropped from 33,000 to the dollar to the current low of 260,000, or almost eightfold.
The claim about people with capital getting richer is based on the reality that business owners raise prices as the value of Iranian currency falls and maintain a higher margin of incomes than wage earners whose salaries change once a year by a government decision on minimum wage. Salary increases are always far less than inflation.
With the most recent minimum wage hike, an average worker will take home around $200 a month, while labor groups say the minimum needed for a family of 3.3 persons is $450 a month.
People owning real estate, profitable businesses or foreign currencies are by-and-large immune from the perils of a falling currency and inflation, because the value of their capital remains mostly intact. For example, real estate prices calculated in US dollars, have stayed the same since 2018, while salaries have dropped.
Jalal Mirzaee, a former member of parliament, told ILNA on Thursday that without the removal of US sanctions the economy cannot improve, especially that President Ebrahim Raisi in many cases has appointed top managers who are not experts in their fields.
Raisi, for example, has appointed former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei as one of his top economic aides, but he has never managed a large bureaucracy or a private sector company.
“The root cause of many economic difficulties is US sanctions,” Mirzaee said, but added that this does not mean successive governments have not mismanaged the economy, which is largely state-owned and run by the government. If sanctions are lifted, it would be easier to address Iran’s economic problems, but that would depend on effective management by the government, Mirzaee said, which is doubtful in the current administration.
Hossein Raghfar, a respected economist, told Etemed Online this week that the country’s foreign currency revenues have been mishandled and the rial has fallen so much that economic stability is questionable. The result is capital flight, with most investors shifting their businesses to neighboring countries.
Raghfar criticized the established economic order, saying that the Islamic Republic has created an “oligarchy that benefits most from foreign currency revenues” gained by exporting crude oil and other national resources. He argued that in the first instance, political insiders and the military should exit the business world and allow a real private sector to emerge. Raghfar said, “If there is no private sector, the economy cannot move forward.”
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-Getting into the clerical robe and putting the turban on the head requires the completion of the introductory seminary courses and passing an easy exam which is mainly about ideology and ethics.
Clerical students usually put on a shirt without a collar and a pair of regular pants – no jeans. Putting on the robe and the turban is a turning point in the life of a young cleric. The turban or ammameh must be placed on the young cleric's head by a prominent clergyman or one highly respected by the students at the madrassah.
Once the young clergyman gets into the clerical outfit, he no longer is allowed to wear anything with a bright color. His shoes must be modest and devoid of any ornamentation. Most senior clerics frown at a young cleric with a wristwatch. They never wear it. However, in recent years, one might come across exceptions.
Generally, a typical cleric will walk and talk slower and dress more modestly once he gets his robe and turban. It is at this point that some clerics put on white turbans while others who are a seyyed or alleged descendants of the prophet will wear black turbans as a symbol of mourning for the martyred Imams particularly the third imam, Hussain
The clerical outfit usually consists of a turban and a robe, and two long and short jackets (labbadeh and qaba) put on under the robe, a delicate pair of white thin trousers and finally a pair of slippers (na'lain). If they have to wear shoes, shoelaces are frowned at and seen as a sign of immodesty.
Many clerics with hair loss, attribute it to the turban which is placed on their head all day and during part of the night. Most clerics traditionally keep their hairs short. After the 1979 revolution, many clerics, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei are not so keen to have regular haircuts. Some, again including Khamenei, allow a bit of hair to slip out of the turban on their forehead. These are believed by other clerics to be more modern, which is not necessarily a good trait.
Forcing a smile is good but a laughter is not supposed to be heard. Former President Hassan Rouhani was often criticized even by colleagues and fellow clerics for his laud laughter.
Although modern clerics usually go to see their relatives and sometimes have gatherings of family and close friends at their home, many older clerics rarely go for a visit to a friend or relative's house. The younger ones, mix with the rest of the family more often, although in most of their parties they shed their clerical outfit and get into something more secular.
Most clerics frown at traditional occasions for a family get together such as Nowruz (the New Year) or Yalda, (the longest night of the year). Nonetheless, younger clerics who have joined the ranks of akhunds during in the past two decades, celebrate the festive seasons like most other people.
However, many clerics have complained that they find it increasingly difficult to show up at shopping centers or the streets. Many Iranians, fed up with clerical rule, can hardly differentiate between those in the government and others who are teachers, or pastoral work or have small jobs here and there. Consequently, when they see them, they begin to voice their frustration and anger or at least try to tease a mullah.
Until some 40 years ago, most clerics and their families were familiar with concepts of andarouni (private interior) and birouni (less private exterior) in their homes which determined where the clerics could behave more comfortably, and where they had to be weary of prying. Nowadays, with smaller houses and flats these concepts have faded out and many occasions young and poor clerics find their dignity and privacy compromised.
If they are not rich enough to drive their own car or to be driven to work, taking a taxi is a nightmare for any cleric. Most taxi drivers prefer not to give a ride to an akhund. Or if they do, they most likely want to embarrass him in front of other passengers as taxis in Iran sometimes have up to five people on board.
During the fasting month of Ramadan and the mourning months of Muharram and Safar many young clerics travel to the provinces for "Islamic propagation." Most of the time, they are paid by the seminary or the government, while the pious local merchants also make sure that the visiting cleric is taken good care of and is paid good money by local businesses.
Youngsters in the provinces, however, fail to differentiate between these poor clerics who are dispatched to instill the party line and the Islamic Republic ideology among provincials. They constantly tease the mullahs for eating too much or having big pockets to collect easy money, or for wasting government resources. And the mullahs fail to understand that even villagers in Iran have access to satellite TV and foreign broadcasts which make them different from villagers in the past who took as fact whatever was uttered by a cleric.