Long lines to buy meat illustrate Iran’s economic woes

Inflation in Iran continues to rise as its currency, the rial, depreciates. (File/AFP)
Updated 08 February 2019
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Long lines to buy meat illustrate Iran’s economic woes

  • Iran’s oil industry never fully recovered from a strike that paralyzed it before the shah’s departure
  • Part of the economic challenges stem from the re-imposition of US sanctions that had been lifted under the nuclear deal Iran struck with world powers

TEHRAN, Iran: In the frigid air of a Tehran winter, a mother of two stands in a long line of shoppers waiting for the chance to buy discounted meat at a store supported by Iran’s government.
“Yesterday, after nearly two hours in the line, the shopkeeper said: ‘It is finished, try another day,’” Zahra Akrami said recently. “And now I am here again.”
Her struggle represents the economic paradox that faces Iran as it marks the 40th anniversary of its Islamic Revolution.
Despite holding some of the world’s largest proven deposits of oil and natural gas, Iran has seen a return to long lines for food — a sight once seen during the 1980s, when it was at war with Iraq. Inflation continues to rise as its currency, the rial, depreciates. University graduates are unable to find jobs.
Part of the economic challenges stem from the re-imposition of US sanctions that had been lifted under the nuclear deal Iran struck with world powers. Those sanctions have returned after President Donald Trump decided to pull America out of the accord.
But other problems persist, some dating back to policies instituted after the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
That revolt wouldn’t have been possible without impoverished Iranians rising up against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. His land reforms saw poorer rural residents move to the cities and become fresh recruits for the revolution. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s calls for supporting the poor struck a populist tone among the struggling masses, as well as with the leftists who helped overthrow a regime that spent billions on US weapons.
Immediately after the revolution, Iran nationalized its oil industry, its main source of hard currency. Its new leaders also seized industries tied to the shah or companies of those who fled the country. Shiite charitable trusts, known as bonyads, also amassed vast holdings, as has Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Today, economists consider Iran’s a “transition” economy, meaning it is shifting from state control to being driven by a free market. However, some firms that moved into private ownership have seen the businesses collapse, leaving workers without pensions and fueling some sporadic protests.
“No week comes to an end without the closure of 10 to 50 companies,” said Masoud Khansari, the head of Tehran’s Chamber of Commerce. “Last year, 800 out of 1,500 contractor companies in the oil sector collapsed.”
Iran’s oil industry never fully recovered from a strike that paralyzed it before the shah’s departure. Prior to the revolution, Iran pumped about 6 million barrels of oil a day. In January, it pumped 2.7 million.
There are bright spots. Iran’s per capita income has more than doubled since the revolution to $4,838 in 2018. Iran has more than 100,000 locally trained doctors and 18,000 medical centers, and it produces 95 percent of its own medicine, according to government statistics. Life expectancy is around 75, as opposed to about 57 before the revolution. Nearly every Iranian can read.
But for the average person, the only numbers they really care about are those at the cash register at neighborhood grocery stores.
“Unfortunately, high prices have become crippling for people,” lawmaker Mohammad Reza Sabaghian said. “Some goods have seen up to a 200 percent increase in prices.”
Staples like meat have grown more expensive. Lamb has reached to nearly $5 a pound, up from $3. Chicken is 70 cents a pound, up from 40 cents.
Analysts suspect part of the problem may be the US sanctions. As the rial falls, livestock breeders likely want the hard currency they can get selling the meat in neighboring countries. Iran produces nearly 90 percent of its domestic demand for meat, but it imports related items like medicine and corn.
The meat crisis has become a cudgel for government hard-liners who are eager to weaken the administration of President Hassan Rouhani, a relatively moderate cleric within the theocracy. State television repeatedly broadcasts stories about long lines at government-subsidized grocery stores, with those waiting criticizing Rouhani’s administration.
“The bones of the people are shattering under pressure of poverty,” said Kazem Sedighi, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In a dig at Rouhani, Sedighi added: “Economic problems exist, but some officials are careless about the problems.”
Part of Rouhani’s problem is Washington and the sanctions it restored in November. Germany, France and Britain, which have worked to preserve the nuclear deal, announced earlier this month that they have established a new system so their companies can continue trading with Iran without incurring US penalties for doing so.
However, that system has yet to come into effect, and the strains on Iran are clear. Efforts to import government-subsidized meat from abroad through the military saw a cargo plane crash in January, killing 15 people.
Yet the lines at stores continue daily.
“Every day, the radio and TV are reporting about the trial of those officials who took public funds for themselves, but there’s no change in our life,” said Assad Azari, a 63-year-old retired teacher and father of three waiting in line. “We poor people shouldn’t have to wait hours for two kilos (4.4 pounds) of budget meat.”


Qatari minister arrives in Damascus on first Qatar Airways flight since Assad’s Fall

Updated 19 sec ago
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Qatari minister arrives in Damascus on first Qatar Airways flight since Assad’s Fall


Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

Updated 18 min 52 sec ago
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Iran foreign ministry affirms support for Syria’s sovereignty

  • Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus

Tehran: Iran affirmed its support for Syria’s sovereignty on Monday, and said the country should not become “a haven for terrorism” after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“Our principled position on Syria is very clear: preserving the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and for the people of Syria to decide on its future without destructive foreign interference,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in a weekly press briefing.
He added that the country should not “become a haven for terrorism,” saying such an outcome would have “repercussions” for countries in the region.
Assad fled Syria earlier this month as rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) entered the capital Damascus after a lightning offensive.
The takeover by HTS — proscribed as a terrorist organization by many governments including the United States — has sparked concern, though the group has in recent years sought to moderate its image.
Headed by Ahmed Al-Sharaa, Syria’s new leader and an ardent opponent of Iran, the group has spoken out against the Islamic republic’s influence in Syria under Assad.
Tehran helped prop up Assad during Syria’s long civil war, providing him with military advisers.
During Monday’s press briefing, Baqaei said Iran had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers.
Sharaa has received a host of foreign delegations since coming to power.
He met on Sunday with Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan, and on Monday with Jordan’s top diplomat Ayman Safadi.
On Friday, the United States’ top diplomat for the Middle East Barbara Leaf held a meeting with Sharaa, later saying she expected Syria would completely end any role for Iran in its affairs.
A handful of European delegations have also visited in recent days.
Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which has long supported Syria’s opposition, is expected to send a delegation soon, according to Syria’s ambassador in Riyadh.


Iran says ‘no direct contact’ with Syria rulers

Updated 19 min 37 sec ago
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Iran says ‘no direct contact’ with Syria rulers

  • Foreign ministry spokesman: ‘We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria’

TEHRAN: Iran said Monday it had “no direct contact” with Syria’s new rulers after the fall of president Bashar Assad, a longtime Tehran ally.
“We have no direct contact with the ruling authority in Syria,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a weekly press briefing.


Jordan foreign minister holds talks with Syria’s new leader

Updated 36 min 46 sec ago
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Jordan foreign minister holds talks with Syria’s new leader

  • It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Bashar Assad’s fall

AMMAN: Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met with Syria’s new leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday, Amman said, the latest high-profile visit since Bashar Assad’s ouster.

Images distributed by the Jordanian foreign ministry showed Safadi and Sharaa shaking hands, without offering further details about their meeting.

A foreign ministry statement earlier said that Safadi would meet with the new Syrian leader as well as with “several Syrian officials.”

It was the first visit by a senior Jordanian official since Assad’s fall.

Jordan, which borders Syria to the south, hosted a summit earlier this month where top Arab, Turkish, EU and US diplomats called for an inclusive and peaceful transition after years of civil war.

Sharaa, whose Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) spearheaded the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, has welcomed senior officials from a host of countries in the Middle East and beyond in recent days.

Jordanian government spokesman Mohamed Momani told reporters on Sunday that Amman “sides with the will of the brotherly Syrian people,” stressing the close ties between the two nations.

Momani said the kingdom would like to see security and stability restored in Syria, and supported “the unity of its territories.”

Stability in war-torn Syria was in Jordan’s interests, Momani said, and would “ensure security on its borders.”

Some Syrians who had fled the war since 2011 and sought refuge in Jordan have begun returning home, according to Jordanian authorities.

The interior ministry said Thursday that more than 7,000 Syrians had left, out of some 1.3 million refugees Amman says it has hosted.

According to the United Nations, 680,000 Syrian refugees were registered with it in Jordan.

Jordan in recent years has tightened border controls in a crackdown on drug and weapon smuggling along its 375-kilometer border with Syria.

One of the main drugs smuggled is the amphetamine-like stimulant captagon, for which there is huge demand in the oil-rich Gulf.


Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 20 people, Palestinian medics say

Updated 49 min 34 sec ago
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Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill at least 20 people, Palestinian medics say

  • Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry till date

Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people.
One of the strikes overnight and into Monday hit a tent camp in the Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children. That’s according to the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
Hospital records show another six killed in a strike on people securing an aid convoy and another two killed in a strike on a car in Muwasi. One person was killed in a separate strike in the area.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir Al-Balah said three bodies arrived after an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli military says it only strikes militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians. It said late Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas militant in the humanitarian zone.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry says women and children make up more than half the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.