Iranian Politicians Again Attack Raisi For Economic Failure
While Iran's government claims to be in a good economic situation despite US sanctions, politicians and media continue to seriously question its performance.
While Iran's government claims to be in a good economic situation despite US sanctions, politicians and media continue to seriously question its performance.
The criticisms come at a time when according to an independent assessment, Raisi's approval rating is at a record low of 28 percent, meaning that his meagre popularity in the low-turnout 2021 election has further declined.
Lawmaker Behrouz Mohebbi, a member of the Iranian parliament's Planning and Budget Committee said in an interview with Rouydad24 news website on Tuesday that the parliament (Majles) has serious criticism about the government's economic performance, adding that the Majles will try to fulfil its supervisory role and that it does not care if this annoys the government.
He said the Majles is worried about the performance of all economic ministers. He added that the government's weakness will also portray the hardliner parliament, which has supported the president, in a bad light.
The website pointed out that one year after Raisi was elected the Iranian people are experiencing the hardest days of their lives because of the government's inefficiency in managing the economy.
But only some of Raisi’s domestic critics allude to Iran’s nuclear program and its anti-West foreign policy as reasons for the country’s economic crisis. Most do not cross that red line, which would be perceived as criticism of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who is the ultimate decider.
Mohebbi, a conservative lawmaker from Sabzevar, said: "We will monitor and criticize the government regardless of the rumors about the possible resignation or impeachment of some of Raisi's ministers." He charged that the Minister of Industry Reza Fatemi Amin has not fulfilled the objectives of the plan he had presented to parliament, and Roads and Housing Minister Rostam Ghasemi's performance is problematic particularly because of the tragedies that have taken place in recent months in the country's railways and construction industry.
Meanwhile, former lawmaker and the secretary general of the Iranian Green Party Hossein Kanani Moghaddam told Didban Iran on Monday that Vice President Mohammad Mokhber who leads Raisi's economic team is not familiar with economics. As a result, the government has failed to come up with an overall economic policy.
Kanani Moghaddam charged that the government is incapable of interacting with the global economy and some cabinet members are scoring goals against their own team with their blunders. Meanwhile, seriously criticizing the government, he called on Raisi to begin to work with a strong and coordinated team.
Didban Iran pointed out that even Raisi's former supporters agree with his critics that the current government is unlikely to have a reasonable performance in the future.
Kanani Moghaddam charged that the members of Raisi's economic team lack teamwork skills and refuse to cooperate and interact with each other. In the meantime, the economic crisis in the government has spread to areas outside Raisi's cabinet.
According to members of the Tehran's City Council Tehran's mayor Alireza Zakani who was a contestant in the 2021 presidential election has failed to manage the municipality's finances. He has been under fire by the councillors and critics in recent days for selling the Tehran Bus Company's buildings and lands to provide cash for the payment of salaries to municipality workers.
A day after Fars claimed that Iran’s oil exports in 2022 will reach $36 billion, it published an article quoting senior officials that contrary to other reports, Iran relies very little on barter in exchange for its oil.
There have always been suspicions and some evidence that Iran did not receive much cash payments for its crude exports banned by United States’ sanctions, and it received goods, especially from China, its biggest customer. There was evidence during international sanctions from 2011-2016 that Iran imported sometimes useless merchandise instead of getting paid in cash for the illicit oil exports.
Fars quoted oil minister Javad Owji speaking in a television program, who said that “All oil incomes are received at the due date. We receive 80 percent in cash and we import medicines and essential goods with the remainder.”
Owji underlined that the 20 percent of barter was not imposed on Iran, but were cargos ordered based on need and expected quality of goods.
Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr, general manager of the National Oil Company of Iran confirmed the same information to Fars, but slightly in more vague terms. “Oil export income returns to the country, which means receivables are received,” he said.
Suspicions that Iran might not have been receiving cash for oil exports are reinforced by the financial hardship the government faces. Many government-sector workers have not been paid for months while the national currency has lost 25 percent of its value since March.
Facing a large budget deficit estimated to be at least a 50—percent shortfall, the government stopped food import subsidies in early May. Some officials have said the subsidy was costing $15 billion a year and was expected to reach $20 billion with rising global inflation.
The move pushed food and other prices higher in May and June bringing the overall official annual inflation rate to 55 percent while food prices rose by 80 percent compared with May 2021. This led to many protests around the country.
Fars said that oil revenues are collected in various ways as third-party US sanctions restrict Iran’s banking international banking options.
Creating new and undisclosed bank accounts, networking through the informal hawala system or money exchangers, using the potential of smaller banks, barter and receiving payment in the national currencies of oil importers were the main methods used, Fars said.
After former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA, in May 2018 and imposition of sanctions, Iran’s oil exports declined to almost 10 percent of what they were before. The government relied on the National Development Fund, or its foreign currency reserves, to finance essential needs.
Amid its economic crisis, Iran has so far refused to make a deal with the United States to revive the JCPOA and lift the sanctions. This has led to demands by politicians and people for agreeing to the US terms and the hardliner government backed by the IRGC is engaged in a daily campaign to convince the public that overall situation is good and there is little need for a nuclear deal.
Oil exports began to recover in November 2020 as Joe Biden won the US election and signaled his intention to open talks with Iran to revive the JCPOA. Iran’s oil shipments kept rising in 2021 from around 250,000 barrels per day to more than 750,000, raising its income and claims that it had defeated US sanctions.