Iran's Bread Crisis Stirs Heated Debate Amid Political Chaos
The controversy surrounding an unusual rise in bread prices in Iran led to confusion and heated debates at the Iranian parliament, Majles, Sunday morning.
The controversy surrounding an unusual rise in bread prices in Iran led to confusion and heated debates at the Iranian parliament, Majles, Sunday morning.
The Majles held a session behind closed door to probe into the cause of the problem, but the parliament's presidium member Alireza Salimi told the press that as questions put to Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi and Agriculture Minister Javad Sadatijejad dragged on and on, the Majles continued the debate in an open session.
The political scene appeared to be in chaos as parliament scrambled to appear active, demanding answers from the government, while officials seemed unable to present coherent explanations.
According to Salimi, the ministers told the parliament that reasons behind the recent flour price increase include the war in Ukraine, the draught in the region and Iran's problems in importing wheat as protests took place over the weekend in the oil-rich Khuzestan province.
Salimi added that lawmakers called on the government to clearly name the senior officials responsible for economic decisions. This was because of discrepancies in government statements about the cause the rising price of bread and about how to sort out the problem.
Meanwhile, Majles Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told ISNA news websitethat price increases were unacceptable and the government should have first issued electronic coupons for underprivileged citizens to make sure they could still buy bread at a subsidized rate. Ghalibaf also revealed that the government will be issuing electronic coupons for other commodities such as cheese.
Ghalibaf said the way the government dealt with the rising prices of pasta and bread caused serious concern as people thought this was the beginning of more widespread price increases.
He also criticized first vice president Mohammad Mokhber for not showing up in parliament to offer explanations to lawmakers.
In a belated explanation on the state television late on Saturday night, Mokhber said that "The subsidy on bread and medicine will not be cut off." He added: "We have allocated a subsidy to traditional bread which according to legislation will be paid via electronic coupons. Subsidies have also been considered for other essential commodities to compensate for rising prices." Mokhber reiterated that these subsidies will be paid into the accounts of the heads of families before government raises prices."
While the vice president spoke about government assistance plans, bread prices have already risen fivefold in the past few days.
Mokhber's remarks convinced few people as others including Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohsen Rezaei offered a different explanation. Rezaei said on state TV that everyone in Iran will be getting 2 to 3 million rials (8-12 dollars) in cash handout from the government every month. However, he had to immediately return to the TV studio and deny his own statement on national television.
Remarks by Ghalibaf and Mokhber indicated that bread rationing is part of the government's plan to tackle rising prices, but officials disagreed about the size of the ration.
During Sunday, Iran International TV showed footage of Iranian Lawmakers at the Majles angrily reacting to the government's chaotic policy on pricing and distribution of bread.
According to Didban Iran website lawmaker Ahmad Hossein Fallahi charged that the ministers who reported to the Majles on Sunday had nothing new to say about the problem or its solution. The website quoted lawmaker Hojjatollah Firouzi as saying that the situation has given rise to concerns at the parliament, and another lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi criticized the government for not offering explanations to the people before the price rise.
Iranian journalist Solmaz Ikdar told Iran International that lawmakers have realized Raisi is unpopular, and his policies have failed, so they try to distance themselves from his administration.
While rising bread prices have turned even some of Raisi's supporters against him, Massih Mohajeri, the editor of Jomhouri Eslami (Islamic Republic) newspaper who usually criticizes the administration's policies wrote in an editorial on Saturday, "Now that it has become clear that you cannot solve the problems, step down bravely and leave the job to those who can do it and save the people from this dangerous quagmire."
The editorial charged that "Media close to the administration label those who criticize you for the problems you have created as counter-revolutionaries who work for Israel and the United States." It went on to say that some of Raisi’s supporters are also protesting the government's policies.
Mohajeri further asked, "The president should say how much time does he need to understand that problems cannot be solved by just talking and the government cannot be run in this way." He added: "Blaming all shortages on smugglers is not a solution,” and if that is the problem, why the government does not stop them.
Ukraine and nuclear talks with the US
"If the problem of flour shortage is caused by the war in Ukraine, why you don’t condemn Russia's aggression against Ukraine and not try to stop Vladmir Putin from continuing the invasion, which threatens the livelihood of a major part of the world?" Mohajeri asked Raisi.
He also asked Raisi why he does not do anything to reach an agreement with the United States. "You said you will not tie the country's fate to the [nuclear] negotiations, but by not doing anything, you have created new problems for the nation."
Many in Iran know it is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who decides key foreign policy and other state matters, but semi-official media would not dare to blame the economic crisis directly on Khamenei.
Mohajeri addressed Raisi that "If the instability of the government and the current dangerous situation have not been created by infiltrators, then they must be attributed to the poor management of your economic ministers."
He reminded that the price of bread in Iran did not rise even during the war with Iraq in the 1980s. He warned that raising the price of flour and rationing bread are like setting fire to gunpowder. Further warning that there are several individuals affiliated with the deviant group [jargon referring to those close to former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad], Mohajeri charged that these elements could be attempting to unseat the current government and asked Raisi to take this warning seriously.
Economic crisis main topic of media
On Saturday, most newspapers in Tehran which are usually silent about economic problems, covered the shortage of these items in extensive stories, although the government's own newspaper, Iran, and the hardline daily Khorasan claimed that people were happy about the situation and "over 62 percent of Iranians said they were happy about the government's performance in a poll that was conducted before the unusual bread price rise."
At the same time, Mostafa Hashemi Taba, a former presidential candidate, said in an interview published by Didban Iran website that "the Raisi Administration has totally lost its social capital." He said the government wants to be portrayed as a revolutionary government abroad, but it wishes to adopt liberal economic policies inside the country. He said there are only two solutions to the problem: Either the government should be able to distribute all of the people's needs, or it has to resort to rationing essential commodities.
Meanwhile, economist Hossein Raghfar told Khabar Online website that the government's policy over bread is not transparent. He dismissed the official statements about flour being smuggled out of Iran as "fabrication" and maintained that the problem is the falling value of the currency, which he said rose from 10,000 rials per dollar to 35,000 rials in 2011, and from 30,000 rials in Janyary 2018 to 320,000 rials in January 2021. He charged that rich people in power benefitted from all of these changes while they ignored the interests of the ordinary Iranians.