Raisi: The sudden increase in gasoline prices in 2019 was the government's fault
While the government and the Leader of the Islamic Republic have announced the decision to suddenly increase gasoline prices in 2019 as a decision of the "chiefs of power," Ebrahim Raisi, head of the judiciary and candidate for the 2020 presidential election, says the government itself made the decision.
Following a significant and sudden increase in gasoline prices in November 2019, nationwide protests began in the country, and protesters targeted the entire system with their slogans.
These protests were immediately met with widespread repression by security forces, and according to Reuters news agency, around 1,500 protesters were shot dead, although the government never announced the exact number of victims of the crackdown.
Thousands of people were also arrested during these protests.
On Wednesday, June 9, in response to a question about this in a group of students, Ebrahim Raisi said that the reform of energy prices and the increase in gasoline prices were laws approved by the parliament, "which should have been implemented in a gentle manner, but the government did not act on this law for five years."
According to ISNA news agency, he further claimed: "When this plan came to the meeting of the Coordination Council of the Heads of Powers, I protested three times and asked why it was raised in this meeting. They said that this issue had been approved by the government and was only being raised here for information and coordination."
His statements come at a time when Ayatollah Khamenei himself announced on November 16, 2019, that the increase in gasoline prices was a decision made by the heads of the three branches of government.
Hassan Rouhani's government officials have also repeatedly announced that this decision was made with the approval of the Supreme Coordination Council of the Tripartite Forces.
This council began operating in June 2018 by order of Ayatollah Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, and operates under his supervision.
Ebrahim Raisi claimed on Wednesday that during the meeting of the heads of government, there was a discussion that the law states that the revenue from the increase in the price of gasoline should be spent on production, "but the government wants to give it directly to the people, and only this issue was approved at the meeting of the heads of government, which was also approved by the Supreme Leader."
On Wednesday morning, Hassan Rouhani, in response to the candidates' speeches in the election debates, defended his government's eight-year performance and accused critics of presenting "false" statistics and making purely propaganda statements about women, youth, and ethnic groups.
Source: Radio Farda
