“80 Percent of Society Lives Below the Poverty Line”

Despite economic growth of 4.4 percent in Iran, a member of the parliamentary economic commission said that 80 percent of people live below the poverty line. An advisor to Hassan Rouhani has also warned that “we are all sitting in the same boat, and if this boat sinks, everyone will suffer.”

According to Iran’s Statistical Center, the country’s economy grew 4.4 percent including oil and 4.7 percent excluding oil in the first nine months of 1396 (March-November 2017) compared to the same period last year.

Based on this report, in the first nine months of the current solar year, the agriculture sector grew one percent, the industrial sector grew 3.1 percent, and the services sector grew 7 percent compared to the same period last year.

Increasing Poverty

Iran’s Statistical Center’s report on 4.4 percent economic growth in the first nine months of 1396 comes as concerning reports continue to mount about citizens living below the poverty line.

Shahab Naderi, representative of the people of Oroumiyeh in the Iranian parliament, said on Sunday (March 11) during a parliamentary session on the impeachment of Ali Rabiei, Minister of Labor, Cooperatives and Social Welfare, that the result of six years of work by the Ministry of Labor, Cooperatives and Social Welfare is that “80 percent of Iranian society lives below the poverty line.”

Naderi attributed widespread violations in the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, “poor management due to unsuitable and incompetent non-specialist appointments,” as well as “inefficiency and low return on investment,” to the ministry’s six-year performance.

Naderi, a member of the parliamentary economic commission, continued by saying that the deputy minister of welfare, by artificially announcing the poverty line at 700,000 tomans, has tried to improve the minister’s image, “while according to experts, the poverty line is 2.5 million tomans.”

The representative of the people of Oroumiyeh concluded by pointing to the people’s protest demonstrations in December of the current year and warned that “today, the existence of unemployed youth brings security problems, and unemployed youth in Tehran leads to social harm.”

Risk of More Severe Unrest

Masoud Nili, economic advisor to Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran, spoke to Iran newspaper about the necessity of saving the country’s economy through “restoring public confidence” and warned of the risk of unrest more severe than December’s protests.

Nili, in explaining the challenges and prospects of Iran’s economy, said: “Significant improvements have occurred in economic indicators; these improvements are favorable compared to the dire conditions of the past, but they fall far short of public expectations.”

He warned that the people’s demonstrations in December of the current year 1396 were a major warning that could happen again on a larger scale. He said: “If we continue like this and proceed on the same path, we will be at risk, and there is a possibility that ‘next time you may not have the opportunity.'”

Iran’s presidential economic advisor considered the country’s situation very unfortunate: “Today the country is like a patient in bad condition who has been admitted to the hospital, but both relatives are at odds with each other and doctors are at odds with each other.”

Nili called for rebuilding people’s hope and confidence in the future by starting a “national dialogue,” a dialogue that could be a starting point for the economy. He compared Iran to a boat in which different groups of the ruling establishment are sitting and warned: “We are all sitting in the same boat, and if this boat sinks, everyone will suffer.”