Rising Crime in Iran; Age of Theft Decreases to ‘6 to 7 Years Old’
While a sociologist and member of Iran’s Environmental Hazards and Sustainable Development Association has reported a decrease in the age of theft to “6 to 7 years old” due to “increased poverty” at the societal level, some government institutions have stated that “statistics indicate improvement in economic conditions.”
MohammadReza Mahboubfar, explaining the “severe decrease in the age of theft” to the Tehran-based “Shahrvand” newspaper, said: “Many of these children belong to families that do not have suitable financial conditions, therefore, these children take to the streets to steal.”
Brigadier General Alireza Lotfi, head of Tehran’s Intelligence Police, was unwilling to provide statistics regarding petty crimes on the 20th of Dey, speaking to the Tehran-based “Hamshahri” newspaper, and only stated: “Mobile phone theft is at the top of thefts, and theft from homes has increased by two percent, and people under 18 years old have played a prominent role in mobile phone theft.”
MohammadReza Mahboubfar, a member of Iran’s Land Use Planning Association, does not consider “theft” a new phenomenon for societies, but believes that “the rise in theft statistics is an unprecedented phenomenon” that indicates a “social crisis” in the country.
Colonel Alireza Naseri-Nezhad, deputy head of the Capital’s Prevention Police, also stated on the 27th of Tir: “If we want to give an example of petty theft on a case-by-case basis, a few months ago we had a report of theft of luxury flower pots in front of buildings in Darband. The value of these pots was perhaps around one to two million tomans.”
Mahboubfar, stating that “currently 60 million Iranians are below the poverty line, and of course 40 million are in absolute poverty,” attributes the increase in theft and crimes to the creeping growth of poverty in society.
This sociologist believes that given the 40-million figure for absolute poverty line, “it is no wonder that children and adolescents resort to theft,” and emphasizes that “these children are forced to generate income for their families, namely through petty thefts.”
The head of Tehran’s Greater Intelligence Police said in Mordad 99 regarding the impact of economic problems on the occurrence of crimes such as theft: “If we say that various problems and issues in society have no effect in the sphere of crimes, that would be nonsense.”
Meanwhile, Iran’s Planning and Budget Organization announced today that “statistics indicate improvement in macroeconomic indicators as a result of the activities of the thirteenth government.”
This macroeconomic planning body, which operates under the supervision of the Islamic Republic’s government, also stated in its report that “examination of macroeconomic indicators suggests exit from recession and non-inflationary growth.”
However, in a report released yesterday by the Islamic Consultative Assembly’s Research Center regarding “the macroeconomic picture of Iran’s economy and its outlook,” it states that “the poverty rate in recent years has shown an upward trend and based on estimates will reach an unprecedented figure of 28.8 percent in the year 99.”
Another section of this report states: “Given the outlook described regarding variables of economic growth and inflation, and if the current situation continues, serious attention to the welfare status of households will be very necessary.”
Poverty rate or the number of poor people, along with criteria such as “poverty gap,” are among the tools and indicators for measuring the progress of development and welfare in different periods in a society.
Source: Voice of America
