Iran’s Mullah regime reeling as 2nd round of US sanctions almost in place

Islam Mohammed

The second round of the US re-imposed sanctions on Iran takes effect on November 4. Ahead of the date, conditions seem to be getting worse in the country, as the economic crisis is aggravating, and the regime is increasingly suffering drop of popular support. Grave consequences lie ahead if matters continue as they are.

Signals of further deterioration and potential collapse include unprecedented economic downturn, sharp fall of the national currency (rial), rising inflation rates and higher unemployment. Also, many Iranians have lost their jobs.

These have augmented a state of political, social and economic tension in Iran, leading to popular protests over the last year.

Early in October, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged the economic crisis in the country and ordered officials to urgently find solutions to ease it ahead of the sanctions.

Former Roads and Housing Minister Abbas Akhoundi, who has recently resigned from the post, pointed to a rising possibility of economic collapse due to the regime’s policies, particularly in the area of economy. He attributed the country’s economic crisis to the regime’s “strategic mistakes”.

In an interview with the Iranian daily “Donya-e-Eqtesad”, Akhoundi said that the regime’s approach to the economic crisis lacked strategic planning , and structural steps. He added that the components of Iran’s local economy at present are like “domino pieces”. He warned of a “domino effect.”

The former minister said that the excessive spending from which the Iranian society is suffering at present, was partially caused by the last May US withdrawal from the nuclear pact signed between Iran and the world powers in 2015.

(Former reformist president Mohammed Khatami)

Khatami issues warning

For his part, former reformist president Mohammed Khatami warned of potential social protests to change the regime “if people realize there will be no real change.”

“If the regime’s mistakes stay as they area, criticism will develop into objections, and then it will not be clear what can happen,” Khatami said during a meeting with members of the electoral headquarters for the 2017 presidential elections.

The “Khatami Media” channel on Telegram posted segments of the meeting.

In addition, Khatami urged the regime officials to listen to the advice of the reformists who “believe in the regime of the Islamic Republic and the revolution and who want to make reforms from within.” However, he added that everyone at the current time “is upset and opposed.”

Earlier in July, the former president warned during an event with the Shiraz University’s Students’ Cultural Association, that the regime would collapse if no reforms were conducted.

 Barefoot Rebellion

Khatami’s warnings came a day after an Iranian prominent academic, Hussein Ranan, published an article on the social media under “barefoot rebellion.” He warned that the economic downturn would lead the country into “grave crises that could be sparked by an accident, an unexpected protest or imbalanced speech, or even an irrational movement, prompting the poor and the marginalized to revolt.”

He added that there was only two ways to respond in case the poor revolted, either to keep silent or resort to severe repression, “ No third choice.”

The recent period has seen rising protests for economic, social and rights reasons, not only among minorities in Iran as it used to be, but also amidst the “sons of the Persian nation.” Protests are most likely to escalate in the wake of enforcing the second round of the re-imposed sanctions targeting Iran’s  oil and gas exports, a pillar of the national economy.

On his part, specialist in the Iranian affairs, Mohammed Al-Abadi, emphasized the prime importance of the warnings issued by a leading reformist like Khatami, which reflected the fact that the Iranian people are approaching a “boiling point.”

Khatami is a reformist and has spoken out his fears after conditions worsened. It is a piece of advice rather than attacking the regime, Al-Abadi told Al-Marjie (The Reference).

The deteriorating conditions in Iran show how the US sanctions have managed to put the Iranian regime under tremendous popular pressure to force it to sit to the negotiation table and yield to the American conditions, for Washington to re-negotiate a new nuclear deal that could further serve the US interests better than the 2015 deal in Vienna, Al-Abadi noted.

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