Scores of Iranian oil workers fired over wage protests

Amir-Hossein Mosaddegh was sentenced to 17 years and 9 months in prison and fined 8.25 trillion rials (about $10,000) for illegal influence peddling and participation in bribery.

His brother, Mohammad-Sadegh Mosaddegh, received an eight-year prison sentence for abuse of office and involvement in eight counts of money laundering.

Their father Mohammad Mosaddegh Kahanmouei, the former first deputy of the Judiciary, resigned in March, several months after a Telegram channel revealed that his two sons were arrested for massive corruption and money laundering.

Apart from Mosaddegh’s sons, the case involves twenty-one other suspects.

The indictment revealed details of the case, including allegations related to the transfer of the "Shohaday-e Gheytarieh" sports complex to a prominent Tehran constructor.

The sons of the former first deputy allegedly held a 20 percent stake in the deal, equivalent to 1.4 trillion rials, approximately $1.75 million at today’s rates.

Another charge against the brothers involved exerting influence in the case of Mohammad Rostami Safa, a known bank debtor, resulting in their acquisition of 2 trillion rials (about $2.5 million).

The Rostami Safa Group, managed by Mohammad Rostami Safa, has a history of accusations, by the Judiciary itself, of receiving substantial loans since 2003 and failing to repay them.

It is not the first time a judiciary official has been caught up in a corruption scandal. In a similar case, another senior judiciary official, Akbar Tabari, was arrested in 2019 for leading a bribery network and personally accepting multiple bribes. He was sentenced to 31 years in prison.

However, Iran ranks 149 out of 180 countries in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) by Transparency International, scoring 24 out of 100.

Cement production requires continuous operation of kilns, 24 hours a day. Even short power or gas outages can halt the process, especially the production of clinker, a vital component of cement.

The secretary of the Cement Industry Employers Association, Ali Akbar Alvandian, told ILNA news agency on Thursday that gas supplies to cement factories have been increasingly restricted since October, when the rolling blackouts started.

Many factories now have no gas supply at all, and some, like Tehran Cement, are barred from using mazut (a pollutant-heavy high-sulfur fuel oil) as an alternative due to their proximity to urban areas and associated pollution concerns. This has led to complete shutdowns at these facilities.

The shutdowns are impacting major cement producers across the country, including Shomal (North) Cement, Firuzkuh Cement, and Abik Cement, the latter of which has both of its kilns out of operation.

The widespread nature of these closures raises concerns about potential shortages and price increases in the construction sector and other industries that rely on cement, an industry which the International Cement Review this year said had seen a year on year growth of 24 percent in spite of the country's economic collapse.

Iran’s energy infrastructure is grappling with one of its most challenging winters. Facing a critical natural gas, President Masoud Pezeshkian’s administration has prioritized avoiding the widespread burning of mazut, as a substitute at major power plants in several cities such as Arak, Isfahan, and Karaj.

To mitigate mazut emissions, the government ordered planned blackouts, with power cuts announced across several provinces. This measure has been presented as an environmental alternative to mazut, with officials citing health concerns associated with the fuel’s toxic emissions.

Mohammadi, who has been imprisoned multiple times for her activism and is currently on a medical furlough, appeared in a video conversation with Atwood, facilitated by TIME magazine on December 18.

In the interview, the Iranian activist turned the spotlight on what she described as gender apartheid in Iran and the restriction of women’s autonomy in ways eerily similar to Atwood’s dystopian Gilead.

Margaret Atwood is a renowned Canadian author, poet, and essayist, celebrated for her profound contributions to contemporary literature. Born on November 18, 1939, in Ottawa, Canada, she is best known for her speculative fiction, including The Handmaid's Tale and its sequel, The Testaments.

Her works often explore themes of power, gender, environmentalism, and the complexities of human relationships, blending literary brilliance with sharp social commentary. Atwood's innovative storytelling and unique perspective have earned her numerous awards, including the Booker Prize, which she has won twice.

“The handmaid’s tale is quite familiar to the people of Iran,” Mohammadi said during a rare three-week medical leave from prison.

Mohammadi recounted how she began reading the novel in Evin Prison but was unable to finish it due to restrictions.

She noted how its themes and imagery have resonated deeply with Iranians, especially during the protests sparked by the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.

“Many young Iranians have been watching the Handmaid’s Tale series, and I have also heard that many performances during Iranian protests abroad have incorporated imagery and symbols from the series in solidarity,” Mohammadi said.

Atwood, speaking from New York, expressed her admiration for the courage of Iranian women in the face of systemic repression.

“I was looking at the Woman, Life, Freedom movement when it was at its height. It was remarkable, and I was amazed that they were getting away with it with all that total repression,” she said.

The Iranian activist also reflected on the broader societal changes driven by the movement, highlighting its transformative impact on Iranian culture.

“I see this change as a positive one specifically regarding the issue of forced hijab,” she said. “The change brought about by the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iranian society is remarkable. If we had tried to achieve this through traditional methods, such as religious, political, sociological, or women’s rights discussions, it might have taken far longer to reach this level of progress.”

Mohammadi, a journalist and campaigner against the death penalty, was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for her unwavering efforts in promoting women’s rights and her relentless fight against oppression in Iran.

As a prominent voice for freedom, Mohammadi has been a leading figure in advocating for the rights of political prisoners and challenging the Iranian government's systemic injustices, including its crackdowns on protests.

Despite enduring multiple arrests, imprisonment, and harassment, her resilience and dedication have inspired millions worldwide. The Nobel Committee recognized her courage and significant role in empowering women in Iran, particularly during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, which gained momentum following the death of Mahsa Amini in 2022 in police custody for not having proper hijab.

Use of medication to torture inmates

During the Dec. 18 conversation, Mohammadi also shared details about the inhumane treatment of women in Iranian prisons.

“One of the methods used against these women is transferring them to psychiatric hospitals,” she said. “They are given heavy medications intended for those with severe mental illness and injected with powerful drugs and even subjected to electric shocks.”

Atwood connected these accounts to historical practices under authoritarian systems. “This is very Soviet Union. This hospitalization and medication—they used to do that,” she said. “Who knows, they probably still are. And this kind of treatment was not confined to Iran.”

Mohammadi then emphasized the far-reaching consequences of controlling women in society. “When women lose control over fundamental aspects of their lives, such as their clothing, bodies, and choices through anti-women laws, it paves the way for oppressive regimes to take hold,” she said.

Atwood echoed this concern, observing how such dynamics are not confined to one country. “When I wrote it, I thought perhaps this book will become obsolete,” she said. “But the opposite has happened... This kind of total control of women, particularly their reproduction, that is already happening.”

Both women expressed hope that these stories of oppression will eventually become irrelevant. “The Handmaid’s Tale is an eternal work,” Mohammadi said.

“It continues to offer new insights and warnings in different eras.” Atwood said, “If it remains relevant, then it’s because the situation remains unequal and oppressive to women.”

Macroeconomist Morteza Afqah told Tehran’s Khabar Online news website on Wednesday that “If no agreement is reached, the likelihood of reinstating the ‘maximum pressure’ policy against Iran is high.

"Inflation could surpass 40% by the end of the year. Without the lifting of sanctions, the country appears incapable of managing the economy sustainably.”

Iran’s currency, the rial, has depreciated nearly 20-fold since 2018, when President Donald Trump first imposed "maximum pressure" sanctions on the country. Since September alone, the rial has lost an additional 30% of its value.

The current annual inflation rate is unclear, but official figures have hovered around 40% since 2019, with prices for food and other essentials rising at an even faster pace.

The rial was trading at nearly 800,000 per US dollar on Wednesday and over one million per British pound.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s administrative chief cleric Mohammad Mohammadi Golpaygani conceded on Wednesday that “We are not in a normal situation in the country. For years, we have been burdened by sanctions, facing difficulties in exporting oil.”

However, he added, “In these circumstances, the nation's power comes with its own challenges. After all, being a Muslim nation has its costs and is not something achieved easily.”

Afqah, in turn, expressed deep pessimism about the economy overall, seeing no reason to be optimistic.

"The short- and even medium-term outlook for our country’s economy is not promising. There isn’t much hopeful news or any so-called good news to cling to. Each individual economic and even non-economic factor is structured in a way that leads to rising costs, higher inflation, and a decline in economic growth rates," he said.

The pressure on Iran’s Islamic government is not just economic but also geopolitical, after its key non-state allies, Hamas and Hezbollah were seriously weakened by Israeli blows earlier this year, followed by the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Iran had invested tens of billions of dollars in keeping Assad in power against his domestic opponents, but in a matter of days, the armed opposition swept through the country, capturing Damascus and deposing the long-serving authoritarian president, who fled to Russia.

The incoming Trump administration has signaled that it is inclined to increase the pressure, not just to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program, but more likely to inhibit its power projections throughout the Middle East.

"The government's goal in raising the official exchange rate from 550,000 to approximately 640,000 rials per dollar was to sell the $5 billion it had taken from the National Development Fund at the highest price and, which means earning about 1 quadrillion rials from people's pockets," Hossein Samsami was quoted by Tasnim news agency as saying.

However, the Islamic Republic faces real economic pitfalls that have devastated the currency in the past 45 years. From a high of 70 rials for each US dollar in 1978, the currency was trading close to 800,000 per one dollar on Wednesday in Tehran's free market. In addition to its usual weaknesses, the economy has been hit hard with US sanctions since 2018.

In Iran's heavily state-controlled economy, the government has historically dominated foreign currency supply and import controls. Since 2012, when international sanctions triggered a sharp devaluation of the Iranian rial, the government has struggled to keep essential imports affordable.

To manage this, it implemented a multiple exchange rate system, which has become a breeding ground for corruption. Insiders with government-granted privileges, such as import-export licenses, have profited from the difference between the lower official exchange rate and the higher free market rate.

For example, the exchange rate of the dollar in the free market was nearly 800,000 rials per US dollar on Wednesday but the government-sanctioned rate was about 650,000 rials.

A portion of Iran's imports, such as medicine, is currently done using the government-subsidized rate of around 285,000 rials per US dollar, while other imports, like food, are conducted at different rates such as the "NIMA" system, which was about 500,000 rials per dollar until President Masoud Pezeshkian’s government raised it earlier this month. The move was justified as one step towards a unified rate to curb corruption.

Samsami’s accusation suggests the government is prioritizing short-term revenue generation over long-term economic stability and public welfare. He argued that simply unifying the exchange rate—the stated policy goal—will be ineffective without addressing deeper systemic issues.

"The policy of unifying the exchange rate," he emphasized, "will not be successful without implementing its requirements, such as implementing the law on combating smuggling of goods and currency, combating money laundering, and capital flight."

Samsami also challenged the claim that the exchange rates, designed to subsidize essential goods, are not reaching their intended beneficiaries.

However, he acknowledged the complexities of the system, noting that domestically produced goods, such as chicken, are still vulnerable to price increases.

"Domestically produced chicken, one-third of whose costs are covered by the 285,000-rial exchange rate and two-thirds by the NIMA and free market exchange rates, will see its production costs increase if the Nima and free market exchange rates rise,” Samsami explained.

He concluded with a stark warning about the inflationary consequences of the government's currency policy.

"With the government's jump in the official exchange rate, we will witness a wave of inflation in the next two to three months," he predicted. This prediction aligns with economic principles that link currency devaluation to rising import costs and broader price increases.