Iranian Politicians Again Attack Raisi For Economic Failure

Ali Bagheri-Kani, who is also Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator, told Yemen’s Houthi al-Masirah TV on Tuesday that “even if they attack Iran in their dreams, they should know that they certainly will not wake from that dream.”

Iranian officials and commanders keep repeating threats against Israel, warning of a crushing response should it dare to act the Islamic Republic, with Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari, the commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Force, vowing that Tehran will raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground if Israel makes any mistakes.

In latest apparent instance of Israel-Iran cyberwar, the company building the light rail network for the Tel Aviv area said Monday that its website was temporarily disrupted by a foreign cyberattack, as Iranian media reported that their hackers managed to infiltrate the servers of the “Tel Aviv’s Metro,” leading to ridicule online because the city has no underground train system. 

The attack came just a day after Iranian antigovernment hacktivist group ‘Uprising till Overthrow' said it hacked the website and portals of Iran’s Islamic Culture and Communication Organization and a few days later another hacking group called Predatory Sparrow targeted three of Iran’s major steel plants.

After repeated incidents showing widespread infiltration in its intelligence and security networks reportedly by Israel, Iran’s IRGC admitted late in June that its counter-intelligence was targeted.

In a hurried response to results of a survey published by the Iran International on June 30, the Iranian government's newspaper, Iran Daily, has claimed that a poll shows 70 percent of Iranians have hope in the future. However, many Iranian analysts and social media users have dismissed the figures published by Iran Daily as fabricated.

Iranian analyst Jamshid Barzegar told the Iranian International TV that there are no independent polling agencies in Iran. The newspaper does not even name the source of the poll, simply mentioning “reliable local polls”.

The daily angrily asked why the results of the survey by the Washington-based Stasis Consulting published by Iran International corroborate what the Islamic Republic's critics say.

The Statis survey, revealed that only 28 percent of Iranians approved of the way President Raisi handled his job. Some 64 percent disapproved of his performance and 9 percent said they were undecided in their assessment of how Raisi has been performing.

According to the Statis survey, Raisi's approval rating is the lowest 1997 when data has been collected on Iranian presidents

“The single factor that Iranians thought could positively impact the future of the country is a successful nuclear agreement between Iran and the West, which might improve their economic situation,” the company that conducted the survey said in a press release.

Many social media users, including Iranian journalist Ehsan Bodaghi questioned the validity of the poll referred to by the government newspaper. Bodaghi wrote: "The administration-owned Iran daily newspaper has published the results of a poll that says 70 percent of Iranians have hope in the future. But the daily has not said when and where and with what methodology the poll was conducted. If it is not a fabricated poll, why they have not released these details? If it is a confidential poll, why have they published it?"

One of those who commented under the tweet observed that "They would not have reached this figure even if they conducted the poll among the cabinet ministers." Another user commented: "It is relatively accurate because most of the people hope that the ruling clerics in Iran will be annihilated this year and end up in the dust bin of history after the regime change."

The Iran newspaper also tried to attribute Iran's economic problems to the previous government and said that the survey conducted in June in Iran indicated that 45 percent of Iranians blamed the former government for the country's current problems.

In another development on Monday, reformist activist Ashraf Boroujerdi said surveys conducted in Iran show that that 67 percent of Iranians believed Raisi failed to stand by the promises he made to the people during his election campaign in 2021.

However, Raisi has his defenders among hardliners. State television presenter Amir Hosein Sabeti, wrote in a July 3 tweet that during the past year, without returning to the JCPOA Raisi has managed to import vaccines, make Iran a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, pay the debts incurred under the previous government, and sell more oil and repatriate the oil money,"

Iranian cleric Rahmatollah Bigdeli responded to him that it was former President Hassan Rouhani who bought the vaccines, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization membership was done under former presidents and Raisi had nothing to do with it. He added that oil exports were allowed after Biden came to office and it had nothing to do with Raisi.

Abed Maleki, a senior member of the city’s governor-general’s office, announced the closures Sunday evening, and cautioned vulnerable residents to take precautions. Banks and the Tehran Stock Exchange would remain open, he added. 

According to reports, several cities from the North Khorasan province to the southwestern Khuzestan province are also shut down, with many citizens decrying the government’s discrimination in announcing the closures. The level of pollution is much higher in eastern and southern cities but the government rarely shuts down schools and businesses. 

Tehran was logged as the most polluted city in the world in April with air quality hazardous and visibility very low largely due to the very high level of airborne particles. The capital’s pollution is mainly blamed on poor government policies, desertification and low water levels, as well as climate change that has intensified sandstorms.

Since mid-March, massive dust storms have hit various parts of the country, causing a health crisis that has forced the government to shut down schools and government offices in some cities and cancel outdoor sporting events on multiple occasions. 

Dust storms, originating in both Iran and neighboring countries, have also increased markedly in recent years in several Iranian provinces, notably Khuzestan, Kermanshah, and Sistan-Baluchestan. 

Moreover, the usage of highly polluting diesel and mazut fuels in power plants jumped in Iran in 2021 on top of increases in previous years.

A day after Fars claimed that Iran’s oil exports in 2022 will reach $36 billion, it published an article quoting senior officials that contrary to other reports, Iran relies very little on barter in exchange for its oil.

There have always been suspicions and some evidence that Iran did not receive much cash payments for its crude exports banned by United States’ sanctions, and it received goods, especially from China, its biggest customer. There was evidence during international sanctions from 2011-2016 that Iran imported sometimes useless merchandise instead of getting paid in cash for the illicit oil exports.

Fars quoted oil minister Javad Owji speaking in a television program, who said that “All oil incomes are received at the due date. We receive 80 percent in cash and we import medicines and essential goods with the remainder.”

Owji underlined that the 20 percent of barter was not imposed on Iran, but were cargos ordered based on need and expected quality of goods.

Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr, general manager of the National Oil Company of Iran confirmed the same information to Fars, but slightly in more vague terms. “Oil export income returns to the country, which means receivables are received,” he said.

Suspicions that Iran might not have been receiving cash for oil exports are reinforced by the financial hardship the government faces. Many government-sector workers have not been paid for months while the national currency has lost 25 percent of its value since March.

100%

Facing a large budget deficit estimated to be at least a 50—percent shortfall, the government stopped food import subsidies in early May. Some officials have said the subsidy was costing $15 billion a year and was expected to reach $20 billion with rising global inflation.

The move pushed food and other prices higher in May and June bringing the overall official annual inflation rate to 55 percent while food prices rose by 80 percent compared with May 2021. This led to many protests around the country.

Fars said that oil revenues are collected in various ways as third-party US sanctions restrict Iran’s banking international banking options.

Creating new and undisclosed bank accounts, networking through the informal hawala system or money exchangers, using the potential of smaller banks, barter and receiving payment in the national currencies of oil importers were the main methods used, Fars said.

After former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA, in May 2018 and imposition of sanctions, Iran’s oil exports declined to almost 10 percent of what they were before. The government relied on the National Development Fund, or its foreign currency reserves, to finance essential needs.

Amid its economic crisis, Iran has so far refused to make a deal with the United States to revive the JCPOA and lift the sanctions. This has led to demands by politicians and people for agreeing to the US terms and the hardliner government backed by the IRGC is engaged in a daily campaign to convince the public that overall situation is good and there is little need for a nuclear deal.

Oil exports began to recover in November 2020 as Joe Biden won the US election and signaled his intention to open talks with Iran to revive the JCPOA. Iran’s oil shipments kept rising in 2021 from around 250,000 barrels per day to more than 750,000, raising its income and claims that it had defeated US sanctions.

Citing a report by the mayor, Habib Kashani said on Sunday that Tehran municipality currently faces a deficit of 60 trillion rials or about $200 million only for the first two months of the Iranian year, which started on March 21. 

He predicted that the municipality will be forced to sell other properties, including Shahr-e Aftab (Sun City) Fairground complex -- covering an area of 120,000 square meters – and Hamshahri media institute that publishes one of the biggest national Persian-language dailies as well as dozens of other publications.

Kashani warned that it will be impossible to implement the plans and projects of the municipality if no income is earned in this critical period of time. 

Nasser Amani, another member of the City Council, criticized the mayor’s performance, saying that Alireza Zakani's report did not provide any details about what he had done to overcome the dire financial situation.

Since his controversial selection as the mayor of Tehran, the hardliner politician has frequently been criticized by the media and opponents for his poor performance, disorderly hirings, and nepotism. He is particularly accused of appointing individuals from his circle of friends and family such as the appointment of his son-in-law as his adviser.