Israel Preparing New Scenarios For An Attack On Iran

Mehdi Niyazi told local media that from April to September 1,793 industrial and trading companies were seized by banks after they failed to make loan payments. Most banks in Iran are fully or partly state owned.

Niyazi added that over 60 percent of companies in Iran have financial problems because of high inflation, estimated to be close to 50 percent and lack of finance.

He explained that many companies after seizure of ownership by banks stopped operations, a situation that would increase an already high unemployment rate. One bank that just last year had 60 companies under its receivership now has ownership of 160 firms.

The deputy minister partly blamed high interest rates the banks charge for the insolvency of companies struggling amid sanctions and an economic crisis.

Iran’s weak economy took a turn for worse in 2018 when the United States withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement and imposed tough sanctions on the country.

Hojatollah Abdolmaleki made the remarks before the Iranian parliament on Tuesday, stressing that his ministry is only responsible for coordination among other ministries and departments are tasked with dealing with unemployment.

He noted that the current administration took over the government at a time when about 14 million people did not have decent jobs, while 2.5 million people were completely unemployed.

The minister, the youngest in the cabinet, added that according to plans about 1,850,000 jobs will be created in the country in the next 18 months, an average of over 100,000 jobs per month.

According to him, about 217,000 jobs have been created during the last three months. He did not explain how so many jobs can be created amid a serious economic crisis worsened by US sanctions.

There are numerous figures about Iran’s unemployment rate, ranging from the IMF which put it at about 11 percent to other sources who report it to be over 20 percent.

Part of the huge difference in numbers might be due to the government’s definition of employment. The Islamic Republic considers anyone who works for one hour a week, as employed, which means that the government greatly overestimated the number of truly employed people.

In the Tuesday rallies, the pensioners in Tehran gathered in outside the parliament while people in other cities held their protests at the provincial offices of the Civil Servants Pension Organization.

“Stand up and fight discrimination”, read some of the banners they carried during the rallies, while they were also chanting slogans against “incompetent authorities”, asking for their resignation.

The protesters demand higher pensions on par with the country’s inflation rate and rising costs of living. The annual inflation rate has hovered around 45 percent in recent months.

They called on the country’s authorities to accelerate efforts and approve laws that can potentially improve their pensions.

A bill to address the pensioners’ demands has been languishing in the parliament for months.

Iran, which is hit hard by economic sanctions, is the scene of frequent labor protests and strikes.

Hundreds of striking and protesting workers and labor activists have been arrested since 2017, many spending months in prison. Some are still detained without trial.

Government spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi told reporters that the state visit will probably take place in the early days of the new year.
The visit was announced as representatives of Iran and Russia as well as China and three European countries are negotiating for the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers.

Russia has been a diplomatic and military ally of the Islamic Republic, although it has been cautious not to violate economic sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran.

The two countries have been fighting in Syria to save president Bashar al-Assad's regime, with Iran supplying ground forces and Russia air power.
Successive Iranian presidents have attached great importance to ties with Moscow as a counterbalance to the West.
Earlier in December, Putin said that he invited his Iranian counterpart to visit Russia early next year, addeing, “I hope Iran’s president will accept my invitation”.

The attack early Tuesday morning was the second Israeli strike on the key facility in a month.

According to the official Syrian Arab News Agency SANA, "a large number of containers" resting in the port caught fire, causing “significant material damage”. It added that the airstrike wrecked the facades of a hospital as well as some residential buildings and shops.

“At around 3:21am (05:21 GMT), the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean … targeting the container yard in Latakia port,” the agency quoted an unnamed military source.

Live footage aired by the state television showed flames and smoke in the container storage area of the terminal, but later in the day Syrian media said that the fire was under control.

After the first strike on the port earlier in December, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowed that Israel would continue to push back against what he called "destructive forces" in the region.

Israel says the target of its attacks are Iranian supplies headed for the Lebanese Hezbollah.

Iran reportedly uses the terminal to transport munitions to its proxies in the region.