Iran’s parliament convened a closed session with senior government officials on Tuesday to assess economic conditions, as lawmakers said subsidy and currency policies had not translated into tangible relief for many households.
The session was held to share information between the government and lawmakers on how to address public grievances, Abbas Goudarzi, spokesperson for parliament’s presiding board, told reporters after the meeting.
He said a five-member joint committee had been formed between the government and parliament, with briefings delivered by the heads of the Planning and Budget Organization and the Central Bank of Iran.
Ineffective policies
Goudarzi cited oil sales, the return of export earnings and unresolved foreign-currency obligations as key factors shaping current economic conditions, saying their combined impact had produced the present situation.
He pointed to the allocation of about $10 billion in subsidized foreign currency for essential goods as an example of ineffective policy design, adding that roughly $8 billion was directed to livestock feed while consumers continued to pay market prices for basic items.
“There is no logic in allocating this volume of currency if it does not reach its target,” Goudarzi said, adding that existing mechanisms had failed to translate support into lower costs for households.
Iran introduced its preferential foreign-exchange system in April 2018 under then president Hassan Rouhani, fixing the dollar at 42,000 rials in an effort to cushion households from price shocks and ensure imports of essential goods and medicines using oil revenues.
“For the first time, one of the first times in American history, what we’re seeing here is they’re not talking about only Iranian citizenship,” Rahnama said appearing on Eye for Iran podcast.
“What they’re including in there is being born in Iran.”
Rahnama said the change is being felt by non-citizens already inside the United States who are pursuing legal immigration pathways, including green cards, citizenship, asylum, and work authorization.
He stressed that the shift does not stem from the passage of a new immigration law, but from how existing immigration processes are now being applied.
“What has happened the last month from the last one policy is that the people who are inside the country who have applications pending… those applications are going to be halted now,” he said.
National security
The developments are unfolding alongside President Donald Trump’s expansion of his travel ban, a policy that restricts the entry of foreign nationals from certain countries into the United States.
Iran remains among the countries subject to a full suspension of entry for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas. The proclamation is formally written to apply to foreign nationals outside the United States who do not already hold valid visas and does not revoke visas issued before its effective date.
The Trump administration has defended the expanded restrictions as a national security measure, citing concerns about weak vetting, unreliable records, and corruption in some countries.
The measures are being described by authorities as a pause rather than a denial, but Rahnama warned that for many people, the distinction offers little comfort.
“What’s happening is a pause,” he said. “Basically, your application is not being processed and just sitting in there.”
He said the consequences are particularly acute for Iranians living in the United States on temporary visas, where delays can directly jeopardize legal status.
“If you are on a visa, you probably wouldn’t be able to renew that visa,” Rahnama said. “That simply means that you have to leave the country.”
'Running out of time'
Rahnama also said the pause is not limited to early-stage cases. Some applications that were already approved, or close to completion, have been reopened or frozen.
“Some of these cases that have already been either approved or in the process of an approval are being revisited,” he said, describing instances in which applicants were removed from naturalization oath ceremonies despite having passed interviews and background checks.
Concerns over immigration processing inside the United States have also drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill. More than 100 Democratic lawmakers have sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security and US Citizenship and Immigration Services condemning the cancellation of naturalization ceremonies and the halting of immigration applications for nationals of countries covered by the travel ban.
The lawmakers cited cases in which individuals were pulled out of oath ceremonies moments before becoming US citizens and demanded transparency about the scope and duration of the pause.
Rahnama said prolonged delays can function as de facto denials for people already living in the United States, even without a formal rejection.
“For some people, that just basically means they’re going to run out of time to be legally present in the US,” he said. “That looks like denial… it would effectively feel like it.”
He added that the broader impact now extends beyond asylum seekers or people attempting to enter the country, increasingly affecting families and individuals who have built their lives in the United States under existing immigration rules.
“Not only the asylum seekers this time are going to be affected,” Rahnama said. “The people inside are going to be heavily affected.”
As the gap between the official and market rates widened – and the rial slid to record lows above 1.32 million per dollar this week – the policy became increasingly costly.
The administration of Ebrahim Raisi dismantled the system as part of what it branded “economic surgery,” arguing that it fueled arbitrage, corruption among importers, and failed to benefit consumers.
Several months later, the government reinstated subsidized currency at 285,000 rials to the dollar, roughly half the market rate at the time. The scheme initially covered 25 categories of goods, though the list has since been pared back.
In recent months, preferential currency has been removed from imports of staples including rice, vegetable oil, red meat, animal feed, and some medicines.
Budget pressure builds
The Tuesday morning session, Goudarzi said, was held behind closed doors, with an open afternoon meeting scheduled with the president.
The government will submit the draft budget to Iran’s parliament on Tuesday for the first time based on the new rial, following the removal of four zeros from the national currency.
The new year's budget bill is being submitted to parliament amid signs it has been drafted as one of the most contractionary budgets in recent years.
Goudarzi described the Tuesday meeting as an attempt to coordinate the executive and legislative branches to manage economic and currency challenges.
He outlined a compressed review timetable, saying the draft budget will be examined by the combined budget committee within three days before being sent to the plenary, whether approved or rejected.
If endorsed, it will then move to specialist committees for further study under strict deadlines before returning to the combined committee and, ultimately, the full chamber.
Goudarzi noted that under parliamentary rules the government was required to submit the budget on December 23, but did so a day later because no open session was held to formally trigger the review process.
