Rouhani government’s bias against the people reveals the ugly face of the mullahs

Nora Bandari

In light of the protests affecting the majority of Iranian cities because of the government’s decision to raise fuel prices in order resolve the country’s economic crisis, President Hassan Rouhani announced his support for the government’s decision during comments he made on November 18. He pointed out that the government had three options to cope with the crisis, namely raising taxes, exporting oil, or raising gasoline prices, the latter being what was finally agreed upon.

With these options, the ugly face of the mullah regime was seen as it takes austerity measures that are borne by the people, who are mostly impoverished, while the leaders of the regime are extremely wealthy and even direct their people’s money to support terrorism.

Public money to support terrorism

The US State Department posted on Twitter on November 18 that Rouhani embezzled an estimated $ 4.8 billion from the National Development Fund to pay to terrorists. Morever, the Central Bank of Iran funneled billions of dollars and euros in 2018 and 2019 to the IRGC’s Quds Force to carry out terrorist acts.

However, in April 2019, a statement on the official Facebook page of the US Embassy in Baghdad announced that financial corruption is rampant throughout the mullah regime, starting from the top. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has assets valued at about $200 billion, while many Iranian people live under the weight of poverty and poor living standards because of the deteriorating economic situation that has reached the country due to forty years of rule by the mullahs.

Despite the huge amount of money that the mullah leaders have, the regime is resorting to austerity options as a result of US economic sanctions, but they are only borne by the Iranian people. Meanwhile, regime officials secure themselves by collecting their own wealth and even channeling the rest of Iran’s wealth to terrorist organizations steered by the regime in order to implement its plan to extend its influence over many countries in the region.

Austerity measures

In a statement to the Reference, Iranian affairs specialist Osama al-Hitimi said that the measures put forward by Rouhani to deal with his country’s crisis are forced options resulting from the United States tightening its economic sanctions on Iran. Compared to past decades, Iran’s chances of circumventing the sanctions have been greatly diminished.

The Rouhani government does not have a remedy to deal with the economic collapse other than to pursue austerity measures, even at the expense of citizens, Hitimi pointed out. Therefore, it raises the prices of subsidized goods such as gasoline, as well as the possibility of imposing more taxes, which will be a new burden on the shoulders of Iranian citizens, who are already suffering from the deteriorating economic and living conditions.

Hitimi noted that the crisis facing Tehran is the result of Iranian arrogance in its decisions following the resumed sanctions, such as provoking chaos in the region by targeting oil tankers and then targeting Aramco. With the Iranian violations, there would have to be a strong reaction from the United States and the international community, otherwise it would be a green light for Iran to do what it pleases without punishment or deterrence.

Some say that Iran is reducing its support for its terrorist arms in the region, but this is highly unlikely for many reasons, according to Hitimi. First, Iran is losing its actual power according to its own perception, where it views the survival of its loyal arms as an important guarantee to avoid the pressure exerted on it.