Income of Over 1.5 Million Iranians Not Sufficient Even to Buy Food

Iran’s Deputy Minister of Welfare says the income of more than 1.5 million people is not even “sufficient to meet their nutritional needs.” He adds that 33 percent of Iran’s population also lack the ability to provide for basic needs such as healthcare and education.

Ahmad Midari, Deputy Minister of Welfare of Iran, in an interview with Fars News Agency, presented new statistics on the level of poverty in the country. He says that global institutions consider the number of absolute poor in Iran who cannot even afford to buy food to be 4 percent of the total population, but “according to our belief, this figure is 2 percent.”

Referring to one of the indicators used to measure the poverty line, which is the income level of individuals, he stated that the number of people affected by relative poverty who lack the ability to provide for minimum healthcare, education, and other basic infrastructure needs is 33 percent.

Ahmad Midari emphasized: “In Iran, the absolute poverty line is measured up to the provincial level and does not reach the city level, and this information should reach the city level, and the poverty line of cities should be extracted and concluded.”

He added: “It is possible that in some cities, a monthly income of one million tomans may be sufficient because residents own their own homes and do not have high incidental costs such as transportation and entertainment, but in Tehran, even a monthly income of 2.5 million tomans may not be sufficient.”

Many economic analysts have been warning for years about the increasing gap between wealth and poverty in Iran. The best evidence of this claim is the protests of recent months, particularly in December 2017 (Dey 1396), the main focus of which was livelihood problems, and many referred to it as the “hunger uprising.”

While it was hoped that the nuclear agreement (JCPOA) would bring more prosperity, it did not actually happen, and many have blamed the allocation of a large portion of Iran’s oil and non-oil revenues to military affairs outside borders or some religious institutions.

Ahmad Midari, Deputy Minister of Welfare of Iran, referring to the government’s duty to eliminate or reduce poverty, especially from oil revenues, said: “Perhaps we may differ in the method of spending oil money to eliminate and reduce the scope of poverty, but we should not have different views on whether resources should be allocated to this issue. Let us pay attention to the fact that if income from oil exports is not spent here, where will it be spent and for what purpose.”

Referring to the water shortage crisis that has become a serious problem in many parts of the country, he said: “It is the right of Iranian citizens to have access to drinking water at appropriate prices and free from pollution. But when the government wants to spend in this area, its hands tremble, yet it never hesitates to pay assistance to businesses.”

“80 Percent of Society Lives Below the Poverty Line”

In late 2017, Shahab Naderi, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, referring to the increasing trend of shocking reports about the livelihood situation of people living below the poverty line, defined the poverty line according to experts and contrary to the Ministry of Welfare’s view as 2.5 million tomans per month. He accused the Ministry of Welfare of incompetence and said: “80 percent of Iranian society lives below the poverty line.” Naderi also, referring to the prevalence of the unemployment problem, said that this problem brings with it consequences such as security issues and social harms.

These statistics are announced while Iran is on the eve of new US sanctions. Many experts have stated that with the US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and the return of sanctions, difficult days await Iran, and there should be expectations of widespread poverty and further decline in the value of the national currency.

Source: DW