Where Was the Decision to Increase Gasoline Prices Made: At the Leader’s Office or in the Government Cabinet?

The head of the judiciary has once again emphasized that the decision to raise gasoline prices was made within the government, and he has opposed it from the beginning. However, a conservative weekly has reported on Khamenei’s role in this matter.

More than three weeks after the sudden increase in gasoline prices and the subsequent protests, officials of the Islamic Republic continue to reference this issue in their statements. Each faction attempts to place responsibility for this decision on its rival faction.

In his latest remarks, Ibrahim Raisi, the head of the judiciary, on Thursday, December 5, addressed the issue of gasoline price increases again while speaking to seminary students in Isfahan and said: “For several years, the task of controlling gasoline prices was not carried out alongside wage increases, but if the government had done this from its position, no problem would have arisen.”

Referring to the meeting of the heads of the three branches, where the decision to increase gasoline prices was reportedly made, the judiciary chief said: “In the economic coordination council of the heads of the three branches, a proposal was presented by the government. I said that this matter is not related to the heads’ meeting, because we have a law and it is the government’s responsibility. I objected two or three times, but the government said this action was being taken for the sake of coordination.”

Raisi had previously stated this matter and at the beginning of the protests said that he opposed the gasoline price increase, which was the government’s proposal, in the meeting of the three branches.

According to the head of the judiciary, the plan that the government brought to the economic coordination council of the heads of the three branches regarding the gasoline price increase “was not a unified plan and was not even consistent with the government’s economic team’s views, and even one part was not provided for in the law.”

Ibrahim Raisi said that what was approved in that meeting and also reached Khamenei’s approval was how to spend the revenue resulting from the fuel price increase, which should have been allocated more to production.

Raisi, who was Hassan Rouhani’s rival in the previous presidential election, said he was not formally informed of this plan and only heard about it through channels. He said that in a note he gave to the president’s office, he raised his objections and wrote: “I heard that you want to implement the plan and necessary preparations have not been made, and it is predicted that given the regional conditions, events may occur.”

He considered protests as the people’s right and said: “On Wednesday, some people in the government cabinet also mentioned it; the people protested and they had the right to do so. We consider the lack of explanation to the people as a serious flaw in the plan.”

Khamenei’s Role in the Gasoline Price Increase Plan

While the rival faction to the government continues to try to fully assign responsibility for the gasoline price increase to the government, the weekly “Hezbollah Line” has addressed the leader’s role in this matter by publishing information.

According to this weekly, on Saturday, November 16, as protests against the gasoline price increase began, an extraordinary session of the Supreme National Security Council was held. In this session, all members agreed that now that this plan has been implemented, they should not back down from it, and retreating from implementing this plan might intensify the protests.

However, according to the members of the Supreme National Security Council, convincing parliamentary representatives who were completely unaware of the implementation of this plan was considered a difficult task beyond the capacity of the Speaker of the Parliament. For this reason, it was decided to seek help from Ayatollah Khamenei in this matter.

“Hezbollah Line” did not provide clarification on who, how, and when consulted with Khamenei, but then wrote that on the morning of Sunday, Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, headed towards Baharestan with a brief message from Khamenei for the representatives: “Following the remarks of some honorable representatives regarding the recent resolution of the heads of branches, it is necessary to tell the honorable representatives that it is appropriate that any action regarding this resolution in Parliament be within the framework of the resolutions of the Supreme National Security Council and not deviate from it, and the sensitive conditions of the country should be considered.”

At that time, no news about this message was published. It was only on Sunday, after Khamenei’s remarks about the gasoline price increase in which he emphasized his support for the decision of the heads of branches, that it was announced that the plan of the Omid faction representatives for the necessity of approving any change in energy carrier prices in Parliament had been withdrawn.

The “Hezbollah Line” publication also referred to another instance of Khamenei’s role in this regard and wrote: “The Supreme Leader’s general view on fuel consumption management was previously known. Reforming the consumption pattern of energy carriers, including gasoline, given its excessive and reckless consumption, is a necessity for the country, and the Supreme Leader had repeatedly emphasized it.”

This weekly also referred to the meeting of the Supreme Coordination Council of the three branches held on September 21, and wrote that in that meeting, without specifying the implementation timeline, it was approved that gasoline would be supplied in two forms: rationed and free market. The written report of this meeting was also presented to Khamenei, and he entrusted the decision-making regarding price determination and how to implement this plan to experts and the agreement of the heads of the three branches.

Source: DW