Iran Calls For Freeing Afghanistan's Frozen Assets, Provide Aid

The government’s plan is to slash in half the amount of money from oil sales which is supposed to be saved in the NDF and spend it on its operations.

According to the charter of the National Development Fund, 40 percent of oil revenues next year should be saved by the government in the fund for investment on productive economic activities that would guarantee the welfare of future generations. NFD is a sovereign wealth fund.

Now, the budget bill presented to parliament on December 12, proposes to save only 20 percent of oil revenues and transfer the other 20 percent to the government.

At the time of its establishment, the fund's share from oil revenues was 20 percent to be increased by 3 percent annually until the end of the Fifth [five-year] Socio-Economic Plan in 2016. The fund's share from oil revenues increased to 30 percent with a 2 percent annual increase during of the Sixth [Five-year] Socio-Economic Plan.

"What has happened in reality, however, is [various] administrations' request to pay less into the fund and to take hold of the rest [of the money destined for the fund] as [US] sanctions grew stronger and oil revenues fell," the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) wrote Sunday.

Another problem with this scheme is that Iran might not be able to repatriate all the oil revenues because of US banking sanctions, which means the NDF money the government wants to spend will not enter the country as hard currency. Economists say that in such a case, borrowing from the fund would mean printing Iranian rials and spending it in the country, further fuelling inflation, which now stands at the annual rate of 45 percent.

Since its establishment in 2000 as a currency reserve fund, all administrations have borrowed from the fund for various purposes, including 2 billion euros in 2019 to increase the military's budget. The administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad borrowed heavily from the fundwhich had been handed over to him with over $24b, including $2.7b to pay New Year cash handouts to all Iranians in 2013.

In 2008 the government of President Ahmadinejad classified information about the fund. In 2013, the newly elected President Hassan Rouhani said the fund had completely been drained by his predecessor's government. There is currently no concrete information on the fund's assets, but it is clear billion were withdrawn since 2018 when the United States abandoned the 2015 nuclear agreement and imposed sanctions.

The amount that the Raisi administration intends to borrow, half of the fund's share, will be the largest percentage ever drawn from the fund.

Withdrawing, or borrowing, from the fund requires the approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

In 2020, Khamenei did not approve the Rouhani administration's request to slash NDF’s share from oil revenues and add it to its budget revenues.

The data is based on payment information across the government between March and November 2021.

Meanwhile, a conservative daily in Tehran, the Jomhouri Eslami newspaper, wrote on Sunday, December 19that the gap between minimum wage and hefty salaries for certain managers can lead to a catastrophe.

The leaked data, published by the conservative news website Alefindicates that minimum wages across the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative bodies, as well as Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office, and other government institutions is fixed at a flat 32,550,000 rial rate, or a little over $100 a month. The purchasing power of $100 is a little bit more in Iran than in Western countries, but still a family of 3 cannot afford the bare necessities with that amount of money.

However, the highest earning personnel at those entities receive salaries at different levels. The monthly salary of the highest paid government employee in Iran at the executive branch is 2.84 billion rials, or around $10,000. This is followed by 1.84 billion rials at the judiciary branch and 830 million rials in the legislative branch, and 485 million rials at Khamenei's office.

These salaries include workers and managers at state-owned industries, which are mostly money-losing enterprises.

Alef quoted Vice President Meysam Latifi as saying that high earners receive up to 62 times more salary than the low earning government personnel, although the difference is closer to 100 times.

Jomhouri Eslami wrote that the highest salaries at the executive and judiciary branches should no longer be called "astronomical salaries," as these are "super astronomical figures."

The official poverty line in Iran is drawn just under 100 million rials per month. However, most low-paid workers earn around or less than 40 million rials per month and manage to survive in a mysterious way.

Iranian media have been reporting that meet, fruits and dairy products are now consumed regularly only by a minority and consumption of these food staples have decreased up to 50 percent.

According to Jomhouri Eslami, a maximum of 10 percent of the employees receive the highest payments in the range while the other 90 percent fall below the official poverty line. Meanwhile, the high earners are those who receive separate allowances for housing and transportation while low earners have to have another job after their first work to make ends meet and most of them are tenants.

The high paid employees are usually well-connected individuals who have access to extra legitimate or illicit incomes if they are part of the financial corruption network in the country.

Jomhouri Eslami wrote that the existence of shanty towns next to luxurious buildings in most parts of Iran is indicative of a vast class difference which is getting wider by the day, while the government seems to have no plan to bridge the gap in any way.

The daily wrote, "Although the society looks calm on the surface, there are alarming signs hiding under the skin. There is a limit to the people's patience and if it ends, the gathering storm will eventually arrive to trigger explosive changes that will sweep aside everything and everyone. This means if there is going to be a revolution, it is likely to be one by the barefoot people against an aristocracy that earns astronomical salaries and has access to the cash coming out of corruption."

The daily warned: "This is something that is most certainly likely to happen if the current situation continues."

In addition to his many national titles, Arsalan has earned four gold medals and two bronzes in Asian tournaments during his career. He has not commented on reasons for his defection.

Arsalan, who left U23 World Wrestling Championships in Romania emptyhanded in 2018, is set to be competing as a member of the Serbian national team in the 72-kilogram category.

The news of Arsalan’s defection comes only days after a member of the Iranian women’s handball team, Shaqayeq Bapiri, confirmed after a tournament in Spain that she broke away from the team and would not return due to forced hijab rules in Iran and other restrictions. Last year, Iran's only female Olympic medalist Kimia Alizadeh changed her nationality.

Around 30 Iranian athletes have defected in recent years, seeking asylum in other countries. Some took part in this year’s Olympics in Tokyo as non-state athletes.

In addition to dress code restrictions, another issue forcing Iranian athletes to defect is Tehran’s policy of not allowing them to compete against Israelis, as was the case for Iranian judoka Olympian, and 2018 world champion Saeid Mollaei.

Director of Iran’s Center for Disease Control Mohammad Mehdi Gouya told state TV that the first case was verified and there might be two other possible cases whose tests are yet to be confirmed. He added that the first case was a traveler who had returned from the United Arab Emirates.

The new variant has been spreading fast around the globe less than a month after scientists warned the World Health Organization of the new threat.

Iran has reportedly vaccinated about 60 percent of its 84-million population with two doses of Covid vaccines, mainly the Chinese-made Sinopharm while the Russian Sputnik-V and the British-Swedish AstraZeneca have also been used.

Although fatal cases have been decreasing during the past few weeks due to vaccination, the Omicron may push the death rate to a new peak in the upcoming cold winter months. A new study has indicated that Sinopharm and Sputnik vaccines are weaker against Omicron.

With over 130,000 officially announced deaths, Iran has the worst fatality rate among the countries of the Middle East, mostly because the attempts in lockdowns were haphazardly managed and vaccination was delayed due to a ban by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in January against purchasing British and American vaccines.

Iranian and Houthi official have denied a Wall Street Journal report about Houthis sending the ambassador back due to disputes with Tehran.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a tweet Saturday that the Iranian envoy to Sanaa, Hassan Irloo (Irlu), was brought back home for Covid treatment "with the assistance of some regional countries" and thanked "the countries that contributed to this humanitarian measure."

Muhammad Abdul Salam, the Houthi group's chief negotiator and spokesman, said in tweet Saturday also said that the Iranian ambassador was repatriated due to his health circumstances. "The accounts and speculations reported in the media are untrue," he wrote. Abdul Salam said an "Iranian-Saudi understanding mediated by Baghdad" resulted in Irloo's repatriation on an Iraqi plane.

Abdul Malik al-Ajri, another Houthi official, also said in a tweet that the Iranian ambassador's repatriation was "purely for health reasons" and had nothing to do with "disputes with our Iranian friends as foreign media claimed."

A high-ranking Saudi official told AFP Saturday that the Iranian ambassador had left on an Iraqi plane and was probably in Baghdad. He said following mediation by Iraq and Oman, the Saudi authorities permitted the flight at the request of the Houthis.

Iraq had to get involved in the repatriation of the Iranian ambassador as Saudi Arabia would not allow Iran to fly a plane to the Yemeni capital Sanaa which is controlled by the Houthis.

"The Houthi forces have asked Saudi Arabia, which maintains a sweeping air blockade of Yemen’s capital, to let the top Iranian diplomat in the country immediately fly back to Iran, a request seen by Saudi officials as a sign of strains between Tehran and the militant group," the Wall Street Journal said in a report Saturday.

The Wall Street Journal quoted an unnamed regional official as saying that Irloo had become "a burden" and a "political problem" for the Houthis.Irloo has been deeply involved in helping the Houthis with battlefield planning, but his influence in Yemen has bolstered a negative perception in the country that the militant force answers to Tehran, according to regional officials, the newspaper wrote.

Iran said in October that its new ambassador, Hassan Irloo, had arrived in Sanaa and would present his credentials to the Houthi government. Iran's previous ambassador left Sanaa in 2015.

The manner of Irloo's arrival in Sanaa despite the Saudi blockade was not disclosed. Irloo is a member of Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) with close ties to Lebanese Hezbollah. He was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in December 2020 due to his connections with the IRGC's Qods Force.

Houthis had dispatched Ibrahim al-Dulaimi, a former director general of the Houthi Al Masirah TV, To Tehran in 2019. The internationally recognized Yemeni government condemned the appointment as a breach of “international laws and said it contravened UN Security Council resolutions related to the Yemen crisis.

Iran is the only country that has diplomatic relations with the rebel Houthi government which controls Sanaa and much of the north of Yemen.

The Saudi-led coalition which supports Yemen's internationally recognized government and has fought alongside it since 2015 has repeatedly accused Iran of arming the Houthi rebels. Tehran has always denied Iran's involvement in Yemen or providing weapons including missiles to the Houthis.