Iran International
Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is trying to turn Iran’s mounting economic turmoil into political capital, casting himself as a problem-solver while President Massoud Pezeshkian takes political blows for perceived inaction.
As newspapers warned of collapsing pension funds, chaotic currency markets and rising poverty, Ghalibaf this week moved to appropriate part of the government’s plan to shield low-income families from soaring prices.
It was not the first time he claimed credit for a program launched nearly a decade ago under Hassan Rouhani, but the timing underscored his intent: advance precisely as Pezeshkian is too embattled to push back.
Speaking in the Majles on Wednesday, Ghalibaf proposed replacing the 1980s coupon system with smart-card rationing and portrayed himself as the champion of cost-of-living issues.
He said the scheme would stabilize prices year-round, an ambitious promise in a market where staples such as rice and meat have quadrupled in price since 2020.
For Ghalibaf, however, the political optics appear to outweigh economic feasibility.
At Pezeshkian’s expense
Pezeshkian, who defeated Ghalibaf in last year’s presidential race, now faces intense criticism for promises he is struggling to deliver. Some of the failure is his administration’s own missteps; much of it is structural.
Iran’s economic landscape is dominated by quasi-state foundations, conglomerates linked to the Revolutionary Guards, and networks whose interests often run counter to national policy.
Sanctions remain a permanent drag, yet the president has no authority over nuclear or foreign policy to address them. Key domestic and foreign policy decision-making rests with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Tehran’s media and political insiders rarely point to these upper floors of power, leaving the elected administration to absorb the blame.
‘Catastrophe looming’
Iran’s oldest—and relatively neutral— daily Ettela’at captured the depth of the crisis with an unusually stark editorial on Wednesday.
“Pension funds are on the verge of bankruptcy and instability in the foreign exchange market has driven up prices, directly affecting the livelihood of the lower strata of society,” it wrote, chastising the government for placing “massive monetary and forex resources at the disposal of unknown individuals.”
The collapse of pension funds, the daily warned, will be “an irreversible social catastrophe for the country and the nation.”
Ettela’at also weighed in on the sensitive issue of fuel prices, which Pezeshkian has promised to address but finds all but impossible to touch. “You must be too brave to start a losing game of doing away with fuel subsidies,” the editorial warned.
Tehran’s prominent economic daily Jahan Sanat ran three analyses attacking the administration’s “uncalculated” economic decisions. It accused Pezeshkian of “giving a green light to price rises” by scrapping the preferential exchange rate for essential imports, creating uncertainty around the supply of basic staples.
In this climate of economic deterioration, institutional constraints and relentless public pressure, Ghalibaf appears to have sensed opportunity.
By inserting himself into economic policymaking and presenting himself as the official focused on the people’s livelihood, he is positioning for political advantage—likely with an eye on the next presidential race.
Tehran’s unveiling of a towering statue depicting the Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before pre-Islamic Persian King Shapur I has renewed criticism of the Islamic Republic’s appeal to nationalist sentiment following the June war with Israel.
For over forty years, the theocracy purged ancient Persian history from schoolbooks, replacing it with post-Islamic narratives. But after the 12-day conflict with Israel, officials have turned to the distant pre-Islamic past to rally a divided society.
From murals of ancient kings and soldiers to patriotic songs added to Shi’ite mourning ceremonies performed before Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran now embraces imagery once deemed heretical by its own revolutionary ethos.
'Kneel before Iran' campaign
Tehran’s Revolution (Enghelab) Square was the scene of an unusual spectacle on Friday as officials unveiled a massive bronze statue depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling in submission before Sassanid King Shapur I, commemorating Iran’s victory at the Battle of Edessa (260 AD).
The event was held under the slogan “Kneel before Iran,” part of what authorities describe as a campaign to project “national unity and historical pride” following the June war with Israel.
Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, a staunch ultraconservative, said on X: “Enmity with Great Iran can only end in kneeling before this historic nation.”
Municipal official Davood Goodarzi said the installation would be accompanied by visual displays depicting “other victories of Iranians over foreign aggressors,” including the defeat of British forces by local commander Rais-Ali Delvari, Mirza Kuchak Khan’s resistance against Russian troops, and Surena’s triumph over Rome at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BCE.
The goal, Goodarzi said, is “strengthening concepts such as national dignity, social unity, and Iranian identity.”
The statue, he said, would remain temporarily at Revolution Square before being moved to a city gateway “where it will stand as the first emblem of Iran before diplomats and foreign visitors.”
Unveiled women were allowed to attend the unveiling ceremony—an uncommon scene at events organized by Tehran’s ultra-hardline municipality.
The turn to the pre-Islamic past
The sharp reversal also recalls remarks once made by Khamenei. In a 2011 speech, he asserted that “all the great military victories of this nation came after Islam,” dismissing pre-Islamic accounts as “things that are not documented.”
In 1987, he had said that prophets triumphed over kings such as Cyrus and that “nothing remains of these monarchs in history but names remembered with derision.”
Nevertheless, pro-government social media accounts have now gone so far as to circulate posters equating Khamenei himself with Shapur, showing him standing with a staff as Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump kneel before him. The caption reads: “You will kneel before Iran.”
'Hypocrisy'
Pro-government figures have hailed the move as a patriotic success. Conservative political reporter Hossein Saremi posted: “Today’s grand Iranian gathering showed that people and the state share one essence: Iran itself. Nothing can take our homeland away.”
Others, however, called the spectacle “hypocrisy.” Journalist Gholamhossein Pashaei wrote on X: “Every year you close Pasargadae to stop people from celebrating Cyrus Day, yet you unveil Shapur’s statue in Enghelab Square with drums and fireworks during Fatimiyya (mourning period)!”
Dissident commentator Hamid Asafi called the ceremony “a perfect snapshot of the Islamic Republic’s contradictions.”
On Telegram he wrote: “A week ago they closed Cyrus’s tomb out of fear of the crowds, and now they glorify Shapur in the same breath. The Islamic Republic fears living history but poses for selfies with its corpse.”
He added: “They know people no longer respond to rosaries and sermons. That’s why they’ve brought history back to the stage—in a controlled costume. If they can’t erase the past, they’ll try to own it.”
The irony deepened as UNESCO formally recognized Cyrus’s Charter as one of the earliest human-rights documents.
President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on X: “Iran, the cradle of dialogue, justice, and coexistence, can still inspire peace today.”
Users swiftly replied, questioning how such pride could coexist with a government that blocks access to Cyrus’s tomb each year to those wishing to visit it on his birthday.