The account of the year-long uprising by the oppressed people of Iran paints a grim picture of repression, where a staggering number of protesters, including many young individuals and even teenagers, have lost their lives. Over the past year, at least 500 demonstrators were killed, adding to the thousands who have been incarcerated or injured, with hundreds suffering grievous injuries. Shockingly, statistics indicate that Iranians constitute a disproportionate two-thirds (66%) of the fatalities in global protests.
Digging deeper into Iran’s open database reveals a troubling pattern. Over the past year, a total of 179 demonstrations have unfolded in 84 countries, resulting in the tragic loss of at least 817 lives. Iran, unfortunately, accounts for a staggering 537 of these fatalities. According to data from the Iran Human Rights Organization, 58 of the victims were women, and a heartbreaking 68 were children below the age of 18.
What is even more disheartening is that in more than 160 other protests across the world, there have been no casualties whatsoever, let alone the horrific targeting of teenagers and the deliberate blinding of young girls by the regime’s repressive forces. This stark contrast underscores the alarming brutality of the religious fascist regime in Iran.
However, this brutal crackdown by the religious dictatorship isn’t solely about maintaining political power and establishing an unyielding authoritarian rule. It is also motivated by economic gains, primarily the appropriation of the assets and wealth of the youth who have lost so much. This economic exploitation stands as one of the central objectives of the Velayat al-Faqih system. Unbelievably, the regime frames this ruthless seizure of people’s property as “growth and development,” a blatant distortion of reality.
In stark contrast, while the fascism of Iran’s past drew inspiration from the likes of the Nazis and Italian Blackshirts, relying on wartime industrial production, the Velayat-e Faqih system finds itself swimming in the vast sea of the country’s oil and gas reserves while adding nearly nothing to the country’s progression. Its primary source of income is the predatory extraction and sale of Iran’s natural resources, an act that brazenly masquerades as economic growth and development.
Iran’s statistical center recently made headlines by announcing a remarkable 8% economic growth for the spring of 2023, but the price for such growth has been the sale of cheap oil.
It’s important to note that while there may be discrepancies with the Central Bank’s statistics, which pegged the growth rate at 6.2%, both sets of data highlight a concerning trend: the non-oil sector of Iran’s economy this spring lagged by one percentage point compared to the previous year. Surveys conducted by the Statistics Center further underscore that the proclaimed growth in the industrial sector is essentially “oil-dependent.”
Taking a closer look at the propaganda surrounding the economic growth of Khamenei’s government reveals deliberate omissions of critical facts.
“While some members of the government’s economic team may argue that Iran’s economy has ‘returned’ to the path of development and progress, a closer examination of these statistics reveals several small yet critical details that foreshadow serious future crises”, wrote the state-run daily Etemad on September 25, 2023.
Economists universally recognize that one of the most vital components of GDP is investment, particularly ‘fixed capital formation.’ Investment serves as a fundamental prerequisite for economic growth. However, in the most recent spring, this crucial index grew by a mere 2%, a stark contrast to the 6.7% growth witnessed in the last season of the previous year.
To put this in perspective, in the spring of 2010, per capita fixed capital formation stood at 11.3 million tomans. By the spring of 2023, it had plummeted to a mere 4.3 million tomans. This dramatic decline hardly qualifies as success, especially when viewed from the perspective of those representing the regime’s interests in New York or anyone concerned about Iran’s economic health.
For Iran’s ruling economy to advance, it necessitates an investment of 3.5 units of capital to generate one unit of production increase. This capital is also essential to offset depreciation.
Recently, regime economist Hojjat Mirzaei expressed valid concerns about the current economic landscape. He pointed out that Iran is currently grappling with one of the most unstable macroeconomic periods characterized by relatively low and fluctuating growth rates, exceptionally high inflation, and the added complexity of exchange rate fluctuations, all of which contribute to a gloomy outlook.
Amidst these economic challenges, the official statistics center has reported an alarming inflation rate of 46.1%. This means that essential commodities like meat, milk, cheese, and eggs have become increasingly unaffordable for the average citizen. This crisis is underscored by the latest World Bank report on food security, which places the regime as the fifth highest in terms of food inflation worldwide.
Official inflation rates soaring above 40% and food inflation surpassing the 60% mark paint a dire picture. To compound the issue, workers’ wages have failed to keep pace, languishing at less than half of these official inflation figures.
This glaring disparity between surging prices and stagnant incomes highlights the severe economic hardships faced by ordinary Iranians under the current regime’s policies. It’s a situation that demands immediate attention and meaningful solutions to alleviate the suffering of the population.
Source » irannewsupdate