Image by Donkey Hotey
Following the first round of US sanctions against the Iranian regime, the second step was to create the Iran Action Group, commissioned by Brian Hook as announced by the US Secretary of State. In his first statement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif compared the move with the August 28, 1953 coup against Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh. He sounded particularly bothered by the action group concept.
Over the past three months, currency fluctuations and the loss of half the value of Iran’s currency against the dollar made top news around the world. A situation that Iran tries to link directly to fresh US sanction so it can blame its economic crisis on external factors.
Prior to the start of sanctions, Iranian government media outlined the country’s poverty at 40 percent since last year.
Iran’s Leadership Has No Solutions, And The People Know It
In a country with more than 80 million people, when 40 percent (32 million) live below the poverty line before the start of sanctions, you can clearly see the huge wave of monetary crisis the smallest economic pressures will surely bring.
Moderate classes cannot increase their purchasing power while there’s a huge acceleration of inflation. They usually have fixed wages and cannot sustain their livelihood. The purchasing power for these classes goes down and they lose their savings, and this class will join the strata below the poverty line.
Hossein Raghfar, an Iranian economist says, “The bottom layers of society are witnessing a fall in revenue. The purchasing power of the majority of the middle and lower classes of society has fallen sharply. Some people in the middle class try to adapt themselves to these conditions with two working shifts or limiting their consumption. They may even sometimes spend their savings on their children’s nutritional needs, without being able to support their educational needs.”
The bankrupt economy in Iran, which some Western media, specifically CNN, are trying to blame on US sanctions, is a 40-year-old regime myth that is rooted in sovereign corruption and plundering.
The same Iranian economist tells the Arman state-run daily that “the existing abnormalities are the result of economic disasters in the past three decades after the Iran-Iraq war in 1980. The conditions created the powerful and wealthy mafias, who today are the winners of this wrecked economy. Unfortunately they are also behind major decisions in the country.”
What Iranians Hope For, As First Wave Of US Sanctions Hit
Considering the everyday calamity in Iran and with oil, currency and other sanctions affecting the whole economy, Javad Zarif claims the aim is to overthrow the regime. The current problems threaten the whole system, known as Velayat-e faqih and Zarif seem particularly bothered about the Iran Action Group. Apart from the consequences of sanctions, Iran is fearing its collapse and has begun to tremble. The main threat strikes the entire ruling system, which the Iranian people on the streets of Tehran and other cities have started to seriously challenge.
