"The Smell of Mehr" Comes with "The Expensiveness of Stationery"
On the eve of the new school year in Iran, Iranian media are reporting a 2- to 4-fold increase in the cost of school supplies and stationery. On the other hand, there are complaints about the multiple-fold difference in the price of “luxury stationery” compared to domestic products.
In about 20 days, the month of school will come again. As this month approaches, the fever of buying stationery, bags, notebooks, and everything related to school will increase in Iranian families. However, the media in Iran is writing about the difference in prices this year compared to last year on the eve of the new school year.
ILNA News Agency has published a field report on stationery sales. In the report, buyers complain about "prices having doubled" compared to last year.
Mohammad Ali Zafarani, vice president of the Shiraz Stationery and Booksellers Union, said in an interview with ILNA: "Many stationery items are imported, and some of the raw materials are imported."
According to the official, the price increase in the stationery sector is the result of “sanctions and the exchange rate compared to the previous year.” “This is especially noticeable in office supplies, and because paper is imported,” says Zafarani.
According to ILNA, the price of textbooks has increased by only 8 percent compared to last year. The vice president of the Shiraz Stationery and Booksellers Union believes: "If the government had not provided subsidies for textbooks, prices would have at least doubled."
MP protests prices and “special stationery”
The multiple increase in the price of stationery has also prompted a member of parliament to react. Mohammad Reza Sabaghian-Bafghi, a member of parliament from Mehriz and Bafgh, said in a public session on Monday, September 2, in a note to the Minister of Education, referring to the “multiple increase in the price of stationery,” saying: “Unfortunately, there is no monitoring in this area; in the meantime, some schools are also imposing the purchase of certain stationery on families in difficult economic conditions, which is oppression.”
"Special stationery" includes foreign brands of stationery that many Iranian citizens turn to because of their "superior quality" compared to domestic products.
Akbar Chitsaz, head of the Book and Stationery Sellers Union, said in an interview with Imna on Monday, September 1: "There are brands in Iran that compete with their foreign counterparts, so the suggestion by some schools to students to buy foreign brands is not because of the low quality of Iranian products; the schools are thinking about their income."
A campaign against "luxury"
The ILNA report also mentions "luxury stationery" that is sold "at prices many times higher than other stationery."
Zafarani refers to a “movement” that has emerged “around the distribution and purchase of luxury stationery.” According to him, this movement urges people to “buy stationery and stationery with Iranian-Islamic symbols, and manufacturers also produce such designs that are of good quality.” According to the vice president of the Shiraz Stationery and Booksellers Union, these symbols are new to society and at the same time beautiful, replacing symbols like Barbie and so on.
Akbar Chitsaz also believes that “people’s desire to buy Iranian products has increased.” The head of the Book and Stationery Sellers Union says: “Last year, the share of foreign products in the market was about 80 percent, but now it has reached 50 percent.”
Simultaneously with this report, the Iranian Broadcasting Agency (IRNA) reported that, according to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Chief of Police, today, September 1, a truck loaded with 207,622 items of foreign stationery without a customs license, which had been loaded from the southern provinces of the country and destined for Tehran, was discovered.
Source: DW
