Insider Explains Systematic Corruption In Iranian Government

One US dollar now can buy 380,000 rials. Compare that to 1978, right before the Islamic Republic was established and one US dollar back then could buy just 70 rials. No other economic indicator or analysis can portray the disaster so vividly.

The accelerated fall of the rial has led to reasonable concerns in Tehran business and media circles that soon the dollar will surpass the 400,000 mark in downward spiral for the rial no one can control.

The new low value of the rial means that a typical wage earner’s salary has fallen to around $100-120 a month, while food prices climb as the rial becomes worthless. Iran is to a large degree dependent on imports of essential commodities.

The same can be said about many other necessities, including medicines that either must be imported or the raw materials to produce local medicines must be bought from countries such as India.

Reports recently spoke of people exchanging household goods or personal items online for food. “My shirt for a few kilograms of rice,” read one personal ad, as people who were considered middle class just four years ago, now cannot afford the most basic food items.

Amid nationwide protests since mid-September, economic chaos can become a potential disaster for the clerical regime, that just seems incapable of managing an oil-dependent economy, let alone a productive one. Tens of millions of Iranians still have not taken part in anti-regime protests, mainly because of the deadly violence government forces are willing to use.

Security forces have killed around 500 civilians, injured thousands and arrested 20,000 people so far. Many middle-aged people with a family and children are simply afraid to go into the streets amid this degree of violence.

It is not clear why the government does not forcefully intervene in the market to prevent the currency’s fall.

The answer most probably is that the central bank does not have enough dollars to endlessly pump into the exchange market, because everyone tries to buy dollars. The prevailing political uncertainty and the specter of the dollar’s inevitable rise drive the hunger for the US currency and other hard currencies, as well as gold.

The rial steadily fell for 40 years from its golden days before the 1979 revolution to around 35,000 in early 2018. Then came Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the 2015 nuclear accord and demand concessions from Tehran by imposing crippling economic sanctions. The rial began a steep dive in the spring of 2018 and has steadily fallen since by more than tenfold.

The Islamic Republic has been able to circumvent US sanctions on its oil exports to an extent, selling less than half of its normal capacity to China but at a discount, just as Russia has been forced to do after Western sanctions. It is not even clear how much hard currency Tehran is fetching from these illicit exports through intermediaries.

Four years of US ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions have also contributed to the current anti-regime protests that are primarily driven by hopelessness of the young generation, as all they have seen in the past decade is decline in living standards, more isolation in the world and more repression.

So far, the clerical regime has refused to accept Washington’s offer of lifting many sanctions in return for a cap on Tehran’s nuclear program. The latest round of optimism for a new deal was back in August that did not materialize. Soon after the protests began in Iran and now the United States and its European allies are less willing to continue Tehran’s strategy of endless negotiations for getting more concessions.

Abutorabi's statement may possibly signal some kind of diversity in the rhetoric of Friday Prayer Imams, who in calmer times repeat a centrally crafted message to believers attending sermons on Fridays.

He advised government officials to behave based on ethical standards, as systematic financial corruption has become a characteristic of the Iranian government and its officials in recent years.

Abutorabi added that the officials' commitment to ethical standards is the only way to restore the government's lost social capital. Abutorabi's comments are in sharp contrast to remarks by other Friday Prayer leaders who have called on officials to tighten control over the society.

To highlight the difference in messaging recently, the Friday Imam in Mashad, Ahmad Alamolhoda has accused Iranian women who protest against compulsory hijab of being linked to foreign networks and the outlawed Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK) opposition group. The hardliner Ahmad Khatami in Tehran on the same day thanked the Iranian judiciary for its quick verdict in issuing the death sentence for the 23-year-old protester Mohsen Shekari who was executed in Tehran December 8.

Meanwhile, Abutorabi criticized the government for wasting the country's gas and oil resources and paving the way for smuggling fuel out of Iran.

In another development, Hossein Marashi, the leader of the centrist pro-reform Executives of Construction Party has told a local website that "We should not sacrifice the country for the sake of one individual," adding that "We should attach priority to the people."

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Most readers would have immediately assumed that he was speaking about the 83-year-old authoritarian ruler Ali Khamenei, but Marashi, probably realizing he might have gone too far, later underlined that he was referring to President Ebrahim Raisi, who is really not a major player amid the current crisis.

Speaking about the ongoing uprising in Iran, Marashi said: "This movement is fueled by the Islamic Republic's mistakes," adding that "We should not sacrifice the Islamic Republic for Raisi." He further explained that his party believes that "Current protests are the outcome of problems resulting from government officials' performance. Their performance has pushed the country to the point of explosion."

Marashi went on to say: "During the past five years, the county's usual 20% inflation rate increased to over 45% and at times to 60%. As far as foodstuffs are concerned, the inflation rate even reached 90%. The people are facing high inflation and high unemployment rates, and yet the government has not been doing anything about it."

He added: "Goods including medicine have become scarce and the people are angry and what the government did was ban social media and tighten compulsory hijab rules, which further angered the people. In foreign policy the government has been always creating tensions with the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia."

He suggested that Iran should settle its disputes with Saudi Arabia and replace Ali Bagheri with Abbas Araqchi to conclude the differences over the nuclear deal with the United States as quickly as possible. "For how long we should wait for Raisi to solve the problems?" He asked.

Marashi also criticized the use of violence against protesters, which has resulted in about 500 deaths among civilians.

Marashi argued that 75 percent of Iranians are unhappy with the government's performance but only 5 percent take to the street. The government still has a chance to end the crisis, as long as this difference exists.

Iranian Shia theologian Morteza Moghtadaei -- the deputy chairman of Society of Seminary Teachers of Qom told Iran’s Labour News Agency Sunday that the judicial system does not adhere to Islamic law, or sharia, regarding limitation to issuing death sentence.

Himself a former Revolution Court judge and head of Supreme Court of Iran, Moghtadaei said "In cases where a person does not fight with a group and only fights with one person, that person is not called a mohareb," referring to the charge of "moharebeh" that the Islamic Republic’s judiciary has issued for many protesters. 

“Moharebeh” is an Islamic-Arabic term that in the lexicon of the Iranian regime means “fighting God” and its punishment is death.

The judiciary announced on Thursday the execution of Mohsen Shekari, a twenty-three-year-old protester convicted of injuring a security guard with a knife and closing off a street in the capital Tehran. He was charged with Moharebeh that along with another Islamic concept translated as “corruption on earth” are used as broad concepts by the regime to issue maximum sentences against opponents.

Clerical judges who take orders from the hardliner Judiciary convict people to death without a real trial, often with no defense lawyers and behind closed doors. The defendants have no way of challenging state evidence or introducing witnesses.

Moghtadaei elaborated that "If a mohareb kills someone, he should get the death sentence, but if he only threatens and intimidates, even if he is convicted, he should not get a death sentence; which means although he is a mohareb but should not be executed.”

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Mohammad-Ali Ayazi, another Shia scholar and a seminary teacher, also said that everyone has the right to protest and can defend himself against government agents who want to prevent him. That is not committing ‘moharebeh’, he underlined.

He added that "In an important issue such as execution, it is important that an independent lawyer defends the accused and that a public hearing is held in the presence of a jury." If these principles are not respected, the cycle of violence will continue, Ayazi noted. 

Prominent Iranian lawyer Nemat Ahmadi also criticized the judiciary for the prompt decision to issue death sentences for some of the detained protesters, saying that death sentences cannot be issued so haphazardly. He said that according to Article 279 of the Islamic Penal Code, a person is called a mohareb when he takes up a weapon against the people to cause insecurity by threatening others’ lives, property and honor. “Those who oppose the government are not recognized as mohareb,” he explained.

He added that many Islamic scholars believe the term should be used to describe bandits who endanger the security of the society, considering the historic context in which the term came into existence in the first place. It is very important to determine the use of the term with a lot of caution.

Mohammad-Hossein Saket, another lawyer and law researcher, said that “in general, it is not good to mix legal issues with political issues and make hasty decisions.” 

In a speech after the execution of the first protester, President Ebrahim Raisi announced that "the trial and punishment of the protesters" will continue. Also, Ahmad Khatami, a hardliner cleric and Friday prayer Imam expressed his gratitude “for the decisiveness of the Judiciary, which sent the first rioter to the gallows.” Judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi had announced Tuesday that five more people indicted in the killing of a Basij militia member, Rouhollah Ajamian, were sentenced to death.

Shekari’s hanging after a hasty and unfair trial has sparked deep anger among Iranians, who believe his killing was meant to instill fear among the people, and world leaders who describe the act as the acme of atrocity and a nadir of humanity.

Iran’s top Sunni religious leader has also slammed the executions of protesters as violations of Sharia law and warned the authorities that this will not stop the antigovernment movement.

Nationwide protests that erupted after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini on September 16 represent one of the biggest challenges to the Islamic Republic since its establishment in 1979. So far, around 500 civilians have been killed by security forces and at least 18,000 arrested. While many have been released, around 1,500 face criminal charges, and at least 80 detainees face the death sentence.

Mohammad Sarafraz said in a video message that “beating and killing [protesters] will not work and sooner or later it will reach a dead end, so this method must end.”

The comments by Sarafaraz, which can be interpreted as an unprecedented warning by an official appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, were made in a conversation with Shahrazad Mirqolikhan.

Mirqolikhan was arrested and imprisoned for five years in the US for trying to send military equipment to Iran.

After her release, she went to Oman and later became the public relations manager of Press TV, the English-language Iranian state TV channel, which was headed by Mohammad Sarfraz at the time.

In his unprecedented speech, Sarafraz warned Supreme Leader’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei saying “the method of putting pressure on people and not paying attention to their political and economic demands and their legitimate freedoms will not work.”

“I am in a situation that I know by making these remarks, anything may happen to me, so I have written my will,” added Sarafraz.

The so-called neighborhood youth groups have assumed a leading role in organizing protests when first they separately announced their existence on social media. These underground groups, whose members remain anonymous, use Twitter and Telegram as their main platforms. Several of the groups recently announced they had formed an alliance calling it United Youth of Iran (UYI).

The group said its manifesto circulated on social media on Sunday is meant to “pave the grounds for dialogue and cooperation” among various trade organizations, unions, political groups and activists inside Iran and abroad.

Iranian protesters have made it clear in the past three months that they are not seeking reforms within the system of the Islamic Republic. Their slogans against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei show, they are seeking a revolution - a complete regime change. “This is not protest anymore, this is a revolution,” demonstrators often chant.

The youth groups alliance says getting rid of the Islamic Republic, separation of religion and state, and the “formation of an inclusive, democratic government” form the cornerstone of the 43-article manifesto, The document highlights the strictly secular nature of any future government.

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The first article of the manifesto is inspired by a famous Persian poem from the 13th century poet Saadi, which is also inscribed on a large hand-made carpet at the United Nations headquarters in New York, that says:

"Human Beings are members of a whole

In creation of one essence and soul

If one member is inflicted with pain

Other members uneasy will remain

If you have no sympathy for human pain

The name of human you cannot pertain"

The articles of the manifesto emphasize the right of the Iranian people to self-determination, citizens' equality before the law, full equality of men and women, freedom of belief and religion, freedom of speech, freedom of forming trade and other unions, as well as personal freedoms.

“Political parties must have freedom of action within the framework of law, respect for the country’s territorial integrity, fundamental human rights, transparency, and they must abide by democracy,” article 22 of the manifesto says.

The country’s foreign policy should be based on securing national interests and maintaining global peace, and non-interference, the manifesto says, and underlines that the future government of Iran should be committed to international charters and conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Several of the articles of the manifesto outline the future government’s duties to work for the welfare of its citizens, especially those not capable of providing for themselves without state assistance, provide free education and healthcare to all, protect the environment, and ensure that the rich pay their taxes in proportion to their income.

The manifesto can become an outline or a guide for a new, post-Islamic Republic constitution, reflecting the aspirations of a majority of young and older Iranians.