Iran's president should 'harakiri' over inflation crisis, analyst says

President Masoud Pezeshkian should commit harakiri, a form of Japanese ritual suicide, rather than seek scapegoats for the country's soaring inflation, suggested a prominent Iranian commentator.

The comments by Abbas Abdi, published in Etemad newspaper, were prompted by President Pezeshkian's recent speech at a meeting on inflation, where he asked, "Whose collar should I grab for the rising prices?" Abdi responded, "there is no need to grab anyone's collar, but rather to commit hara-kiri."

The analyst's use of 'hara-kiri' was a pointed metaphor, not a literal call for the president to resign or kill himself. It was a play on words, rhyming in Persian with Pezeshkian's recent question about who should be held accountable.

Abdi’s intention was to highlight that the government's overall monetary policies, spanning multiple administrations and not just those of the current administration, are the primary drivers of inflation.

"The price of any commodity is primarily due to the value and purchasing power of money," Abdi wrote. "We always ask why goods are sold expensively. This question is mostly wrong. We should ask why the value of money is decreasing."

Abdi likened the government's actions to debasing currency, similar to diluting gold with copper. "Who does this? The government. So, for high prices, there is no need to grab anyone's collar, but rather to commit hara-kiri," he asserted.

He attributed the devaluation of currency to the government's excessive spending, inefficiency, and support for unproductive entities.

"The government does not spend according to its income and has a deficit," Abdi explained. "Its income is less than necessary because its efficiency is low. It has taken on useless responsibilities. It gives a lot of resources to people who do not serve the people at all, rather their presence is harmful."

Abdi criticized the government's reliance on price controls and regulatory bodies, arguing that they are ineffective and prone to corruption. "In fact, governments turn to pricing to compensate for their wrong policies and create large regulatory bodies that are both corrupt and impose a heavy burden on the nation," Abdi wrote.

He urged the president to examine the central bank's data on liquidity and production to understand the government's role in inflation. "The president could get the statistics of liquidity and production from the central bank to find out why the money supply and liquidity, which is in the hands of the government, has increased by about 35 percent last year, but production has increased by a maximum of 4 percent," he suggested.