Self-immolation at the Ministry of Communications and the Minister's reference to difficult economic conditions
A manufacturer of fiber optic cabinets set himself on fire at the ministry in protest at the failure to receive his payments from an internet company. The communications minister explained the incident by citing “difficult economic conditions.”
On Tuesday, June 25, the Ministry of Communications’ public relations office announced that a person had set himself on fire at the ministry. The statement said that the self-immolator was a contractor for one of the ICT companies who, after failing to collect his payments from the company, went to the central building of the Ministry of Communications with a gallon of gasoline and “in addition to swearing and destroying the glass table and office furniture at the entrance to the ministry, he tried to set himself on fire by spraying gasoline on himself and the surrounding area.”
The ministry's security and law enforcement personnel responded to the notice and immediately extinguished the fire, arrested the individual, and handed him over to law enforcement authorities.
Shortly afterwards, Minister of Communications Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi issued a statement providing further explanations about the economic pressure resulting from the dispute between the self-immolator and the manufacturer of home fiber optic cabinets, with whom one of the "private internet companies" had breached its contract.
The Minister of Communications then announced the arbitration between this individual and the internet company, which ultimately established the internet company's breach of promise. He continued by writing: "To be fair, this manufacturer's ability was not up to this level of damage; he had entered the field of production honestly, and the failure to observe basic legal principles and the lack of familiarity with commercial negotiations in his contract and the limitation to oral negotiations also indicated the same issue."
At the end of his statement, Azari Jahromi announced "coordination for the release of the self-immolator" and wrote: "I have assigned one of the ministry's managers to first coordinate with the police to remove his arrest; second, in light of the events that have occurred, ask the internet company to resolve this dispute in accordance with the opinion issued by the arbitrator."
The statement from the Minister of Communications ultimately linked the incident to the current difficult economic conditions: "The economic conditions are difficult and we all need to look out for each other. I hope the dispute between the two companies will be resolved quickly."
Chain debts
Azari Jahromi did not name the two companies involved in this dispute, and the relationship between the “private internet company” and the government is not clear. But beyond the “private internet company’s betrayal,” the minister’s reference to “difficult economic conditions” could be a reference to the fact that, in addition to corruption and structural economic problems in Iran, the pressure of sanctions has also been strongly felt.
In recent months, the government's high debt to private and public sector contractors has been cited as one of the causes of the economic recession and financial constraints of companies. According to the provisions of the Ministry of Economy's production boom package for 2019, a major part of the production financing system can be pursued, given the government's share in the economy through the general budget and the allocation of development credits and financing of contractors' claims and credits for development plans and projects. However, in the current situation, given the intensification of oil sanctions and its effects on the reduction of the government's foreign exchange resources, coupled with the inability to impose an additional tax burden on the production sector, the government financing system and, consequently, production financing have faced limitations and constraints.
The significant volume of government debt to banks, contractors, and manufacturing firms (more than 320 trillion Tomans), in addition to negatively affecting the lending power of banks, has also blocked a significant portion of creditors' financial resources.
The bankruptcy of a number of companies or their inability to pay their financial obligations to employees or other companies have been consequences of these conditions, which have led to more unemployment and poverty in society. The increase in the number of self-immolations is also considered a consequence of these conditions.
Source: DW
