Iranian regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei sought to suppress the uprising of the Iranian people and hide his regime’s internal conflicts by leveraging the ongoing war in Gaza. He also wanted to set the stage to engineer the results of his sham parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections. However, it seems that after more than 70 days of war, the regime’s unsolvable crises have been exposed again.
In an article titled, “The Government-People Divide from the Perspective of Friday Prayer preachers,” The state-run Shargh newspaper wrote, “Today, Iranian society is facing various difficulties. One of the important ways to monitor the most significant issues in society, in addition to the cyberspace, is through the headlines of the country’s major newspapers. The topics of bankrupt pension funds, privatization, air pollution, repeated closures in major cities such as Tehran and Isfahan, increased retirement age, financial embezzlement, corruption of government officials, a 49% increase in taxes in next year’s budget, inflation, and high prices, and the use of Mazut (a type of fuel oil) are among these issues.”
Shargh newspaper proceeds to describe how these issues have affected the Friday prayers sermons in the major cities of Tehran, Mashhad, Shiraz, and Isfahan. For example, the article reports, “For the first time, the Friday prayer in Isfahan was led by Yousef Tabatabainejad on December 8, after about 18 months during which he was unable to deliver his sermon due to illness. He initially addressed the issue of Palestine and regional issues, and then emphasized the necessity of people’s participation in the parliamentary elections in February. He has been the only Friday Prayer preacher to address the issue of high prices, but he defended the government by saying that we should not blame the government for the high prices… In the end, he addressed the people, saying, ‘Let us not ask what the revolution has done for us; let us ask what we have done for the revolution.’”
Shargh then subtly alludes to concerns about the possibility of an uprising within the regime and expresses astonishment at the silence of the Friday Prayer preachers of Tehran and Isfahan regarding air pollution, which has led to the closure of these two cities: “It seems that they were not aware of the country’s most important issues in the past week, and they had not yet received the news of the billion-dollar corruption in the tea industry. Since all Friday Prayer leaders are appointed, it can be inferred that their second sermon reflects the concerns of the regime.”
A former member of the Majlis (parliament) said the following about the efforts of the regime’s elements regarding covering up crises and corruption within the regime: “Some pretend that nothing has happened regarding certain issues, such as embezzlement! For example, I haven’t seen the Majlis say a word about embezzlement in the tea industry or those who have podiums, and many who claim to be revolutionaries don’t raise any questions about this matter.”
The disgrace and scandal of the “Tea corruption,” which is referred to as the largest “economic corruption in the history of Iran” by the regime, has put Khamenei on the defensive.
Corruption, crime, and warmongering are inextricable aspects of the mullahs’ rule in Iran. The only way to end the corruption of this regime is through an uprising by the people of Iran and their organized resistance.
Source » mojahedin