MP: 200 families have taken Iran's fate hostage

According to a member of parliament, some Iranians sell their body parts to make a living. Referring to the people's desperation in the face of poverty, Hedayatollah Khademi added that for 40 years, 200 families have held the fate of the country hostage.

Hedayatollah Khademi, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, delivered a speech during the open session of the Iranian Parliament on Sunday (July 29), strongly criticizing the dire economic situation and the livelihood of the people, saying, among other things: "The incompetence, inefficiency, and weakness of the governments in these years are like a chronicle that has added to the people's problems every day. A situation has been created that the people of this era do not have the ability to analyze. We are witnessing more problems every day, but there is neither the will nor the ability to solve them."

Khademi, referring to the fact that “the country is plagued by embezzlement and corruption,” asked: “Why have other countries controlled corruption, but we cannot?” He then admitted: “Economic corruption has infected the fabric of this country and its officials like termites. We have accepted that we are a corrupt and inefficient country.”

"You have made people miserable"

The representative of Izeh and Baghmalek in the parliament has sharply attacked the economic and development policies of various governments of the Islamic Republic, addressing government officials and adding: "You have made the people of Iran miserable. You have taken away their respect and self-confidence. They do not know what to do with their poverty and helplessness. To cover their living expenses, they have resorted to selling body organs, including kidneys. Look at what you have done to a country that has one percent of the world's population and eight percent of the world's resources."

The MP further pointed to the words of Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, who compared economic corruption to an "infectious disease" and said, "If it is not stopped, it will spread," and added: "We did not stop it [corruption] and it affected everyone."

In another part of his statements, Hedayatollah Khademi accused “most of the statesmen of the past 30 years” of “oppressing” the people, “betraying” their trust, and “destroying the youth” of the country, saying that if these statesmen “had an iota of conscience and zeal, they would have hanged themselves because of all this inefficiency, oppression, and betrayal of the youth.”

Khademi then attacked officials who, according to him, chant "Death to America," but whose children are in America, and made a serious accusation against this group of Islamic Republic officials, saying: "History bears witness that perhaps some statesmen had a mission to act against Iran's interests."

Criticizing the way the government was formed in Iran and the parliament's transformation into the "backroom of the government," the MP questioned the 40-year history of the governments and parliaments of the Islamic Republic, saying, "With this government and parliaments that you have created, you will never see development and progress."

Khademi continued: "In the past 40 years, about 200 families have taken the fate of this country hostage and are moving from one ministry to another."

The representative of Izeh and Baghmalek in the parliament considered the way out of Iran's economic problems to "expose" corruption and embezzlement and concluded: "Let's try 50 embezzlers and government thieves and give them the harshest punishment. The statesmen who have brought this country to this day over the past 30 years should be dismissed and the property they took from the country should be returned to the treasury."

Finally, Hedayatollah Khademi, noting that "the Supreme Leader's orders should be taken into consideration by all officials," called on the officials of the Islamic Republic to: "Be patriotic, not lie, work hard, and not steal."

This MP has strongly attacked all government officials except Ali Khamenei, while from the perspective of critics of the government and even some independent domestic experts, at least one of the main reasons for rent-seeking, corruption, lack of healthy economic competition, and refusal of foreign companies to invest in Iran is special privileges and the lack of accountability of the vast apparatus under the supervision of the Leader of the Islamic Republic to the parliament or government institutions.

Sharp decline in people's purchasing power

While the increase in the official dollar rate in recent days had failed to reduce the volatility in the foreign exchange market, yesterday, the dollar's five-digit value became the headline of many domestic media and news agencies; a headline in response to the unbridled increase in the dollar's price in the Iranian foreign exchange market.

The sharp increase in the price of the currency in recent weeks and months has led to a collapse in the value of the rial and a sharp decline in people's purchasing power. Some Iranian websites and news agencies have reported that dollars are being sold for 12,000 tomans in the Iranian open market.

The main victims of the collapse of the national currency are primarily wage earners, workers, and low-income groups. ILNA news agency reported on Monday (August 28) that the minimum wage for workers in Iran is “at least 2.8 million tomans” less than the “basket of subsistence,” the amount they need to survive.

Ali Khodai, a labor member of the Supreme Labor Council, announced a few days ago that "the purchasing power of wages has decreased by more than 48 percent," and said: "Employers and governments have accepted this reality, but they have no solution in their pockets to solve this problem."

In recent days, prices in Iran have skyrocketed, with prices of Iranian household appliances rising by 40 percent and red meat by more than 80 percent. News that ILNA calls a “barrel of calamity” for wage earners: “The relentless calamity of poverty and desperation; and that too in a government that promised to protect people’s livelihoods.”

Faramarz Tofighi, head of the Wage Committee of the Supreme Council of Soviets, said about the living conditions of workers: "The survival of the working class is in danger; the situation has gone from 'unfavorable' to even 'dire'; I can't find any words to describe it."

Referring to the "72 percent decrease in workers' purchasing power," this labor representative said: "They announce that dairy products have become 32 percent more expensive; we have had an 85 percent increase in the price of red meat; more than 50 percent increase in the price of chicken meat; more than 100 percent increase in the price of white fish meat; more than 30 percent increase in the price of fruit; in the housing sector, we have had a more than 140 percent increase in costs; in communications, we have had a 53 percent increase; you hold the end of this rope and keep moving forward..."

The Central Bank of Iran issued a statement yesterday calling the recent developments related to the currency and coin market "abnormal" and disproportionate to the "economic realities and currency strength of the country," and attributed them to "a conspiracy by the country's enemies aimed at creating unrest in the economy and depriving the people of their peace of mind."

Source: DW