Iran's Raisi Visits Family Of Assassinated IRGC Quds Force Commander
The Iranian president has paid a visit to the family of Colonel Hassan Sayyad-Khodaei, a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force who was assassinated last month.
The Iranian president has paid a visit to the family of Colonel Hassan Sayyad-Khodaei, a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard's Quds Force who was assassinated last month.
In his visit to the Sayyad-Khodaeis on Sunday, Ebrahim Raisi said that his assassination by the opponents of the Islamic Republic in Tehran near his home, instead of confronting him on the battlefield, is a sign of their despair and a victory for the country.
Despite Raisi’s assertion of victory, the assassination was seen as an intelligence and security failure by the government that allowed the killing of a secretive officer in broad daylight in the capital.
Sayyad-Khodaei was the acting commander of the elite Quds Unit 840, who was shot dead behind the wheel of his car on May 22 by two gunmen who fled the scene on a motorbike.
A European security source told Iran International in late May that Sayyad-Khodaei was in charge of planning terror operations outside Iran, including attacks in India, Thailand, Cyprus and Georgia. Suspicions for his assassination fell on Israel and according to some reports, Israeli officials told the United States that they had targeted Sayyad-Khodaei.
After his assassination, Iran International’s sources in Iran reported that another Quds Force unit 840 commander died under suspicious circumstances in Karaj, west of Tehran, on May 30. Colonel Ali Esmailzadeh died when he fell from the roof of his home.
The signatories, mostly professors of economics in Iranian universities and many who have held government posts, suggest the government’s “economic surgery” since March has led to “social chaos and worsening economic instability.”
With the new Iran year beginning March 22, President Ebrahim Raisi with the backing of parliament began a plan to phase out state subsidies on food imports that had been costing $9-15 billion a year.
While in part a response to global food inflation sparked partly by the invasion of Ukraine, the move, quickly dubbed “economic surgery,” was officially portrayed as a serious reform of Iran’s state-dominated economy.
‘Quick measure in face of global price crisis’
The economists charged in their statement that the motivation was purely fiscal, easing a shortfall in the government budget, and that real reform required more serious change: “[The move was] a temporary and quick measure for addressing the budget deficit amid sanctions and a global food price crisis. We cannot consider this an economic reform.”
The economists argued that this “economic surgery” would lead to a further fall in the value of the Iranian rial and lead to “repeated economic shocks,” and said the government had not engaged with the public about where the policy would lead.
The economists noted Raisi’s election campaign promises to form an inclusive government, utilize experts to draft economic plans, slash “the 50-percent inflation rate,” and build one million housing units each year.
But the economists argued it would not be possible to fulfil such promises without an early agreement in talks with world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and accession to international transparency and related regulations demanded by the Paris-based inter-state Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which blacklisted Iran in 2020.
Despite various restrictions on non-governmental media, many experts and business figures had warned over “the horrible” results of “inaction” in foreign policy and ill-designed policies, the economists said. Economic shocks and the pausing of nuclear talks in March had fed instability, social chaos, and widespread concern among the people over their livelihoods, creating an “explosive” situation.
They went on to warn that “the country’s situation is extremely fragile,” given the elimination of food subsidies. “People’s patience will run out and will place the government and the regime face-to-face with the people.”
Three recommendations
The signatories made three recommendations.
First, the state should have sufficient oil and non-oil export revenues and foreign currency reserves to ensure secure handling of economic fluctuations.
Second, the government should have clear and effective policies to foster macro-economic stability, with control over inflationary budgets.
Third, the government should ensure low-cost access to global markets for goods and services.
The last recommendation is related to extra costs Iranian government and businesses have to bear to do international transaction, given US sanctions and FATF’s blacklisting.
Low growth
The economists warned that Iran had lost ground economically compared with most other countries since 1980, with average growth of 1.6 precent, whereas growth in China, India, Turkey, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan had ranged from 4 to 10 percent.
The economists spoke of vanishing hopes, growing poverty and a widening income gap that have led to vengefulness in society. The resulting disorder exhibited itself in destruction of the environment, systematic corruption, widespread emigration, capital flight and brain drain.
The 61 signatories called for “fundamental change in foreign policy” aimed at peaceful coexistence, cooperation with neighbors, and interaction with the world’s economic powers. They also urged improvement in governance, with respect for law, minimizing corruption, establishing an independent judiciary, dialogue and transparency, and allowing “true economic competition” in society.